Its been quite awhile since I last had a working computer with which to actually attempt an update. You'd think that if a sleepy little town like Ubud had cheap fast internet that other sleepy towns would at least have worknig computers. Well, they don't. We found that out as soon as we jumped on our Perama shuttle bus and left on our eastern circle of Bali.

North
Our first destination was the town of Lovina. There wasn't too much happening on this main street or anywhere else for that matter. It seems that Lovina has become an expat hangout for those who really want to get away. There were a few nices houses if you could see over the gate. Those Buddhas on top were pretty cool. Lovina was a decent place to chill but didn't have much to offer. We did meet some very cool people though. Nick Sherrington and I played some giant chess at a local hotel there and we met up with him a week later in Kuta. We decided to explore the north of Bali with a hired driver since we were totally lost and didn't even know if there was anything worth seeing. Our driver/guide, Wayan, turned out to be a really nice guy who helped satisfy Amanda's endless need for smalltalk! He took us to Git-Git Waterfall and over to Kandicuning for the temple on the lake. It turned out to be a major Balinese religious holiday when nobody works so the place was packed. We later learned that the tranquility and nice view of the temple we'd seen in all the postcards was from the early 80's when people hadn't taken over. It was a let down but interesting to see how the Balinese spend their "day off" if that kind of thing really exists here. Most of the time they sit around all day here anyways!

From Kandicuning we drove up to a local hot springs stopping to let Amanda feed the roadside monkeys. A crowded Balinese temple and garden kinda sucks. Tons of semi-naked Balinese in a dirty hot spring is worse. I was looking forward to soaking in the relaxing, volcanically heated hot water but there wasn't an ice cubes chance in hell I was getting in there!! At least, not without a few totally naked, young Balinese hotties and there none to be found. Oh well. We took in some northern views and then on to the last stop of our little tour, the one and only Buddhist temple in all of Bali! It was the first spiritual place I'd been on the island that was actually about God and not about a donation. I was touched. It was a good ending to our cool little tour of Lovina and some of North Bali!

East and South

Amanda and I then headed east to the very little town of Tulamben which is only a collection of scuba diving centers and lousy homestays. We snorkeled the wreck of the Liberty but all the pics from that are on our underwater film camera. You're not missing much. Trust me. We were running out of money there since we hadn't seen that luxury of technology, the ATM machine. We scraped together enough to head acroos the top of Bali and then south to Candidasa. This was more of what I was wanting to see! I would have loved to sit on the beach but it got washed away when the Balinese decided to dynamite the coral and use it in concrete during the development craze several years ago. That was a blunder! Doh! It still turned out to be a nice place. We ended up at Ari's Homestay which was the first place that included a decent, real breakfast! (That plug was for Gary the Aussie owner who obligingly let me eat a great deal of Skippy Peanut Butter!) While we were sitting aroudn Candidasa amanda thought it'd be a great idea to head up to Pura Besakih, the mother templeof Bali. I'll tell ya how we got up there when we get back! The temple itself was quite an impressive sight. The surrounding trash was not. You'd think the mother temple would get more respect. I was amazed at how many different sections the complex had to offer. There were more temples inside of temples than we could have visited this trip. Plus, our guide was ever so slightly annoying in that grease us up for money kinda way. (Hey, I guess I know how my Dad feels! Sorry Dad. NOT!) Besakih was great and the view on the road back wasn't too bad either.

More to come soon!!! I have alot of catching up to do!!

I love you Grampa! Rest and heal. You are in our thoughts and hearts, may it strengthen yours! I'll see you in no time at all!