1. I wish that I had more time!
Food, people, culture and scenery absolutely incredible! It is a little bit like Thailand and Malaysia but totally unique and inspiring in its own right. I love the locals clothes they are not ashamed of wearing their native clothes and I love that! They are not trying to be like anybody else or like any another country and that is a very beautiful thing. Again I was surprised by the Muslim influence getting woken up to the loud prayer speakers was a bit unnerving the first few times but other than that I saw and experienced for myself that they are a very cool and relaxed set of people. This is a Hindu country and they take it very seriously, much like in Nepal the signs of their devotion are absolutely everywhere! It was has been quite humbling to see their devotion in action every single day, it never ends and neither does their kindness to each other, to themselves and to strangers.
2. I wish I knew more before I came here.
It is my first time taking a journey like this and my very first time to Asia, I have worked with Asians my whole career, and honestly I never understood them in a way that I truly wanted to, I have had a lot of ah ha moments visiting their ancestors lands. I wish that I would have done this a long time ago, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me. I love my Country and my native State with all my heart, but we have a lot of things lacking that we should be doing better at, like kindness, its free, no budget no committees needed, it’s just free. For me I wish I knew about certain places beforehand but you really don’t know because its not touristy, you find out from people in bars from other Countries, and by then its kind of too late. So again I would visit some smaller Islands next time, I don’t like the pollution of the traffic and throngs of people, buuut… as a first timer I feel ok about my choices.
3. Instagram…You bastard!
Instagram tours are everywhere in all Countries, they go someplace to only take a picture, look like they are having the time of their life or the most religious and serene moment, but its fake, as soon as the pics are taken the person looks bored and is now ready for the next picture opportunity they are NOT living in the moment, such bullshit. We, that actually want the experience in full, have to wait for these Dotards to get the fuck out of the way, it’s excruciating to be around these people, they have no shame in taking 30 minutes or more to get that perfect shot, then the next Insta-grammer and the next…It’s a real nightmare. I hear my Guru’s from Nepal, so Im going to stop complaining now.
4. Eat local and from a motorcycle restaurant!
The absolute best food that I experienced have ALL been local places, you can taste the goodness and freshness in every bite. I have sat on a side walk, next to a trash can, at a plastic table, with workers at a nail salon, in front of a pharmacy and so on. My hats off to those culinary miracle workers on bikes, and I had the best seat in the house every time! I asked a local in Thailand why they had so many Western restaurants, he said because that is what the tourist want, they want the same as back home, I guess it’s true, but why? Support the locals after all, that is the point of it all, isn’t it? I wish that I could give you the names of the places that I ate in all Countries but there was no translation and outside of my hotels I did not have WiFi, but if you see a bunch of locals eating somewhere -go there! If you see a food bike go there!
5. Its Christmas Eve and Im in Indonesia!
My first stay was in Kuta it had great bars with nice live music, they had nice shops, a lovely beach, plenty of walking opportunities. I walked to several towns away with no problem, was it hot as fuck? yes, but you really get to see a lot more and find a lot of hidden surprises by walking. If I did take a Taxi the driver was always surprised that I knew where I was, I could have rented a scooter but I just didn’t feel like it. I stayed at the Manggar Indonesia Hotel a very nice place, I had a simple room facing local living (meaning peoples houses and yards) the pool was refreshing the breakfast simple, the atmosphere relaxing and peaceful and in Indonesian style. It was down a long narrow passageway, on your way out to the busy streets if you hang a quick left there is a fabulous local restaurant. I did also stay at the Holiday Inn Express they had a great roof top pool with views of the ocean, a nice buffet, do it yourself washer and dryers, and a gym. Next I stayed at the Champlung Mas Hotel my room was gigantic nice and simple with a bath and shower plus a balcony facing local living. The hotel was in Indonesian style had two great pools one downstairs and one on the roof with a pool table, a nice buffet and a chill atmosphere. An Aussie named Annie Hogan I met there invited me to see a boxing match, Little people boxing , who knew? Annie was super fun and her accent and lil Aussie sayings had me laughing up a storm.
6. Moved on to Echo Beach
Echo Beach was full of everyday type people and that really appealed to me, people just wanting to hang out and be together as humans enjoying each other and nature together. I saw a few Insta-grammers with hired photographers they didn’t look like they were ever having fun, just taking pictures for likes. Again I walked everywhere, and Im glad I did, I found a Main Coon cat cafe! My cat Echo was a Maincoon, and here I was at Echo Beach hanging out with some Maincoons! Found a place for yoga shorts got myself into a size medium for the first time in a long time! A lil tight but that just means I have more work to do and Im ok with that, I also found a swimsuit shop having a crazy sale so I bought myself a bikini for the first time in over 20 years! I sat on the beach steps and watched the sunset with people from all over the world it was a fantastic experience, took me to Church baby! There were butt cheeked girls and fully covered Muslim women, South Korean, Chinese, German, French, Irish, Aussie, Turkish, and Indians. All there to see the beautiful sunset upon the ocean. I had a beer with a guy from Turkey, we talked like old friends and then parted ways when the sun went down. What a kind of dream come true is this!? Don’t wake me!
I booked a place called Caroline Guest House, I got a notice from Priceline and Agoda so I thought that I had booked it twice, I cancelled it on one of the two sites, I get to the place and discover that since I cancelled on whatever site, it cancelled everything, another lesson learned, maybe its all one big Corporation with different names for taxes I don’t know and I don’t care. Luckily I found another spot just doors away called Papillon Echo Beach directly across the street from a bar called the Far Away every night a local Indonesian band played and rocked the hell out of that place, any band that can sing Queens Bohemian Rhapsody and absolutely kill it, deserves to be mentioned. I also watched the World Cup there, I was hanging off the window ledge outside of the bar, and still got served a beer! Had a great conversation with an Irish guy from Belfast that was inside the bar, He said “What the feck just happened? I went to the jacks and the fuckers scored twice!” My hotel had three midsized swimming pools a decent buffet, great lattes and a great staff, the room was simple but cozy and safe. The Wifi spotty, the cable was good for late night chilling out. The Caroline Guest House had great secured Wifi which the Manager Pippin let me use so thank you to her.
By the way Echo beach is big on surfing so if you want smooth ocean, maybe don’t go there to stay, but definitely go for a visit!
7. Finding peace in Ubud.
Right off the bat Im going to tell you that I stayed at a place called Rena House and it is actually someones house it looks like a hotel, and feels like a hotel, I had a spacious room with a big bed, a big bathroom and a private balcony, it is very quiet and very peaceful here, it has a nice desk for writing, a simple but nice breakfast the grounds are immaculate showcasing a beautiful mid sized pool. I almost didn’t stay here because of peoples bad reviews, but decided like many other bad reviewers they might be just …well… assholes, and I was right. This place does not offer you a TV or a kettle but it has great secure WiFi! It allowed me peace and quiet to update my Journey. It is close to everything, it is located in Bisma Ubud. One more thing cars cannot drive to the gate there is a short narrow paved passageway that you will have to walk down to get there. The Main Street is loaded with many upscale and other scale restaurants. I have yet to see my beloved motorcycle restaurants, so I have been kind of forced to eat Western owned, it wasn’t in my budget for a lot of eating out but that’s ok. I decided to take a peddle bike tour, it was awesome! got to see a lot of places and people that I would not have otherwise, met some cool fellow riders from the Netherlands and South Africa as well as Aussies. Went to a home, I did not like being surprised like that, I was told it was a village not an actual persons home, it was uncomfortably interesting.
8. Trying something new.
For every place that Ive been I have tried something new, a bamboo raft, snorkeling in Thailand, a shelled out tree canoe going down a jungle river, trekking in Nepal, going to at least 12 malls, and walking on a skywalk in Malaysia, and now a peddle bike tour as well as riding a quad through the jungles of Indonesia, They might seem like simple things to you but I just don’t normally do these things. I have been to malls, but usually for Christmas, or a gift for someone, its not really something I normally enjoy. Since I have never been to Asia I guess you could say everything has been new for me, and what an eye opening glorious experience it has been so far. The whole world has been affected by Covid it’s been no different here. People lost jobs, houses, cars, had to sell family heirlooms important to them both in heritage and religiously. It was tough on them and you can tell. Still they maintain kindness, humanity, good deeds to others and are trying to pick up the pieces. There are many Europeans here that have kinda taken over..a new type of invasion without a war. Please go to local sellers! There are many slick feel good yoga places, stores, and spiritual whatnots. My advice, go to Nepal or India or find a local here. These types of places were described by a reviewer as Starbucks for white people, and I can’t say that I disagree. I met up with a girl I met in Nepal, from Canada, in Ubud she had taken a vegan cooking class and was graduating she asked me to be her guest. I must have looked out of place, they gave me that rich people look ( ahhh, she is not one of us) gladly so, they were full of themselves, and the food sucked asshole, she paid 5,000.00 to make food that is mostly inedible. One lady said ahhh! You have been to Neeepaaal I have been there thrreeee timmmmes (looks at me squarely and says, because it was worth it.) Well number one, I didn’t ask why, and number two, I can’t tell that she learned anything from it. My Guru’s said, Get truthiness or get illusions.