A speedboat took us to Menjangan, a national park known for its reef and coral beauty. Warm wind blowing my hair back Fonzy style, san the sleek, crystal blue water and the site of a huge volcano appearing above the clouds in front of us. takes us on this white and blue wooden boat to snorkel off the boat and off from shore. Swimming along the reef, with an amazing array of colors and shapes, both fish and corals, and some stinging mini jellyfish. After lunch on the beach we head back, I sit on the top front end of the boat loving the sun and the wind as the boats speeds ahead. We go towards some fishing boats and slow down a lot, as we see some tuna jumping out of the water, which means dolphins, are here too. I thought that what makes the tuna fatty, yummy and healthy is the fact that in order to survive in the cold water it has higher levels of fatty acids which allow it to keep moving and not freeze. If that is the case, what is it doing here in warm waters, and does it have less omega 3’s because of its ability to swim without it?
Sure enough, dolphins were there, one, two, wait, maybe ten, wow, too many to count! We saw large schools of them, just swimming leisurely as if the Internet was never invented. No worries about real estate or even being on time for yoga, just swimming through life, opening their mouths and swallowing tuna whole. What a day. We were like little kids jumping from one side of the boat to the other, following more dolphins, full of excitement and delight!
A long drive back to Ubud, maybe too long, I am ready to see it. Trying to stay present, I still found myself having an image of what it would be like. A town, not too big, no high rises, lots of shops, a cool market, tons of restaurants, some nice hotels, but none huge and overwhelming. Ubud has its touristic side, yet it has charm. Massages for ten to twenty dollars, “Kafe”, that served amazing lemon ginger tea, or lemongrass, ginger with Indonesian leaves along a raw black current cashew cake, art galleries (or shops), lots of crafts, wood carvings, boutique clothing stores, a yoga store, and lets not forget the monkey forest. We arranged for a temple tour seeing the elephant temple as well as another great temple, beautiful sculptures everywhere.
I entered the Zen massage place, and enjoyed the soft music. I was led through a tunnel, walking of stepping stones set amidst a flow of water, entered my room with hand painted rice fields on the wall, got undressed and lay on the massage table covered with a sheet. The little Balinese woman came in, and moved her hands along my body, first over the sheet, and then with lots of oil, rubbing my body. Next came the spice rub, cinnamon, cloves or other spices were mixed and spread on my skin. She left the room, allowing me to feel abandoned, wanting more hands on as I wait. She returned to spread the dried spice mix a bit further, and then added a freezing cold layer of yogurt on top. I became a whole meal. When she finished one side, I flipped and received the same treatment on the other side. Then she told me to shower. I waited for a second, but she encouraged me to get up. It was funny, it’s almost as if I forgot I was naked. I was showering as she as cleaning the massage table. “You take bath twenty minutes, you drink tea, eat fruit and finish, OK?” Ok I replied. So easy to be obedient to some one demanding me to relax and enjoy.
I bought some Yoga clothes at a cool local shop, spent a few hours there contemplating importing some goods back to the US, even created a whole business plan for it. We ate at Clear Water, which was absolutely awesome. Live bamboo separated the fantastic modern meets local Bali style restaurant, in a way similar but different to the Buddha bar in Paris, amazing detail, great music, wonderful food and reasonable prices. The food was exactly what I love, from a plate of Middle Eastern dips with raw flax seed crackers and some pita crisps, through tofu sachets in yummy peanut sauce, dragon bowl similar to the one in Manhattan, tuna with black pepper along wit a side of wasabi mashed potatoes, and delicious raw chocolate coffee cake or lemon strawberry cake for dessert.
From Ubud we head to Sanur to the Hyatt, hosting a huge complex with lots of pools, a long stretch of beach, and a few restaurants. This was our last stop with the group. I had a wonderful time with them, and felt a great connection. Like all my retreats, the people and my interactions with them, the sharing’s are what make the trip a highlight. We had some bumps relating to the organizing part of the tour, which I was not in charge of. It was hard for me to not be completely in charge, trusting someone else with such a large part of the trip, but a great learning experience, and I am truly grateful for the support, patience and trust of my students.
As I write this from the beach on the Gili Island, I have now created the perfect itinerary for the next one, scouting and figuring out every detail, as Lauren says “ When Doron plans something himself, he has it down to a T.” This phrase does not make sense to me, but I like it. Off to connect to the slow Internet with lots of gratitude, as I still remember sending a handful of letters instead of this easy blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment