I haven't updated my blog recently, I've just been too busy having a kick ass time. And when I am near a computer I am checking email and pay pal and feeling overwhelmed at the generosity of my friends and family. But tomorrow we leave Ubud, so I want to take some time to write about what we've been up to.

When we arrived in Ubud, we spent the first 9 days at our friend Sven's house. We loved staying there, but then new people were moving in and it was time for us to find a new place.

At the Alex Grey, we had just happened to sit next to two ex-pat Japanese women, one named Yasuko and one name Risa. It would prove to be an excellent seating choice, since Risa was the woman who ended up taking me to the orphanage, and one of Yasuko's many businesses is a villa, which was where we moved next.

We love Ubud and our new home!

Our bed at Yasuko's

View from where we eat breakfast every morning

On my birthday, we woke up and had breakfast upstairs with Risa, my birthday twin. Since Yasuko also owns a restaurant and bakery, every day we get pastries and buns and fresh bread.

Risa and I the morning of our mutual birthday

After breakfast, we headed into town. Elesa and I planned to hit the spa, but when we got to the main road in Ubud it was packed. With hundreds of people wearing the same shirt, with my birth date on it!



We realized that the entire main road had been closed down, and a giant parade of people were headed our way. In Bali when someone dies, they are buried. Then after several years, when the timing is auspicious, the body is exhumed and cremated. It sounds a little weird, but I love the idea. In North America after someone dies, the death is not often spoken about. But here, after they have had time to grieve, everyone comes together and celebrates life.

So from what I gathered, this massive parade heading towards us was the cremation ceremony for some important people. First came two enormous black cows, followed by two towers. The power lines had to be cut because they would have been too tall to fit otherwise. They were all supported by bamboo, and carried by dozens of people. Between each one were people playing music. It was such a wave of people that we climbed to the top of a (very safe) building that was under construction (don't worry Grama, we wore hard hats and steel toed boots of course).

Building we climbed to get a better view

View from the top

One of two giant towers

Pictures of the people to be cremated

That day was one of the hottest days we'd experienced since coming to Ubud, and after watching for a while we climbed down and headed to the spa. Hitoshi dropped us off and we enjoyed 4 hours of bliss - 1.5 hour full body massage, a hair cream bath (very popular here, it's basically what it sounds like with a pretty rad head massage as well) and then a facial. And all for $40!

After we were as relaxed as humanly possible, we met our old house mates, Sven, Yoshi and Russ, along with Mark Lee, at a Mexican place.

Mexican for dinner on my birthday - delicious of course!

A few days after my birthday, we decided to explore a little more of Bali. Elesa was itching for beach time, and we wanted to check out the two volcano's, so we headed north.

The first day we drove to Guntug Batur, not the largest volcano in Bali but the most active. Near the top is a large lake, surrounded by a few small villages. People who want to trek to the top of the volcano usually stay in one of the villages so they can wake up at three am and get to the top in time for sunrise. Feeling neither the need to trek or wake up at such an ungodly hour, we opted to simply stay in one of the villages overnight and enjoy the view from there.

Less than an hour after we left Ubud, we stopped on the side of the road for a water break. After I took a picture of my traveling companions, I put my camera back in my bag and pulled out my water bottle. And that's the moment my camera tumbled to the ground and cracked.

The last pic I took with my camera before it fell on the pavement and cracked

Oh well, onwards and hopwards. We made it to Toya Bungkah a few hours after leaving Ubud. As we were driving into the village, people started riding their motor bikes along side us, asking us where we were staying and trying to get us to follow them. Ahh, off season. I love your discount prices and the special attention I get as an only guest, but I'm not so into the desperate feeling of an empty town. We realized that Toya Bungkah was a virtual ghost town, and we had our pick of places.

Our hotel in Toya Bungkah, where we were the only guests

It was a little lonely being the only guests in this three story hotel, but luckily Hitoshi made a friend right away.

Hitoshi with his first beetle

It wasn't a very eventful night, we ate dinner at the hotel and went to bed early.

View of Gunung Abang (Mount Abang) from our hotel in Toya Bungka

The next morning Hitoshi woke up early and went to the hot springs. We were told it was $15 each, so Elesa and I opted to sleep in. But Hitoshi found out it was only $8, including a towel and a shower, and at 7 am he had the whole place to himself.

When he got back we hit the road, heading north down the other side of the mountain towards the beach.

Cabbage Patch on volcanic rock in Toya Bungkah

The drive was nice but pretty foggy, we donned our ponchos to stave off rain but it never came. Those ponchos do a great job of keeping you warm anyway.

Gates on the highway from Kintimani to Amed

About an hour into our drive my tummy started getting pretty upset, and it seemed like it was my turn for Bali Belly. Elesa and Hitoshi had both had it in Ubud and I thought I'd escaped but no luck. The drive to Amed took about 4 or 5 hours but it felt much longer. When we got there, we saw that this popular dive was also a ghost town, and after some searching and bargaining Elesa got the three of us our own bungalow with an ocean view for only $18 a night. Perfect, a place for me to be horizontal for the next two days.

The gecko in our bathroom in Amed

Elesa did get some beach time, and Hitoshi went fishing and caught a ton of fish, but I spent the whole time in Amed reading so I don't have much to report. After being gone for three nights we headed back to our beloved Ubud.

The drive back was one of the most stunning drives I have ever done, I was so glad to be on the back of a bike where I could just take everything in. I took a ton of photo and video, but non of them do it justice. I wish I could post video, but my internet connection here is just too slow, so these will have to do:

All the pics of our gorgeous drive

We made one stop on the way back to Ubud, at the Besakih Temple. It is over 3 square km and it is where the Balinese believe their ancestors live. It was very beautiful, but a complete tourist trap. You have to pay entry, parking, you must take a tour guide, you are followed by hawkers selling you stuff and asked for donations inside the temple. And then they tell you your donations are too small! Overwhelmed and frustrated (and still not feeling 100%), I walked around a bit and then waited while Hitoshi and Elesa did the full tour.






Until then, our drive had been rain free, but after that the skies opened. Our last hour to Ubud was a downpour, and we were so happy to make it back to our home at Yasuko's.

Since coming back, we have been trying to enjoy Ubud as much as we can. We went to a gamelan concert, with all female musicians and dancers. We've eaten more great food, and visited friends.

I think Hitoshi hearts you and Elesa is eating a burger

They want your love at Mojo Burrito

Bali Buddha

Statue at the end of the main road in Ubud

Demons that locals are making all over the island for Balinese New Years

Ogo Ogo

We went and did batik for the day, which is drawing a design on fabric with wax and painting it. Then the wax is removed and creates white lines. Many sari's and wall hangings are made with this method. Risa recommended a place that she has been going to and learning batik, so we went to check it out. This tiny little shop has some very talented and busy people, who make sarongs for many festivals in North America, including the Oregon Country Fair and Mile High in Colorado. They also make ones for bands, and had a ton of Dave Mathew's Band ones laying around.

We went in the back and chose a design to do. Elesa did a mandala, and I did one with flowers for my Grama. Hitoshi did two drawings on t-shirts.

Me sweating my ass of and doing Batik

People at the Batik shop free-hand drawing designs with wax, really cool to watch
Phew! So tomorrow we leave Ubud and head to Seminyak. Two nights there, then we part ways with Elesa as she heads home and we head to the Philippines (with a night in Kuala Lumpur on the way). Until then, Salamat Malam! (Good Evening!)

Thank You!

Just to update on the fundraising, as of Feb 20th people have donated over $500! I am filled with gratitude. Donations are still coming in, and I think that we will reach my goal of raising $900, which will pay the orphanage's electricity bill for a year. Thank you for everyone who took the time to read this and donate!

Visiting a Panti Ashuan (Orphanage) in Bali

On February 12th I went to an orphanage here in Bali, and before I leave this beautiful country I would like to do something to help the kids. My goal is to raise enough money to pay the electricity bill at the orphanage for one year. The following is about my experience, and how you can help if you feel moved to do so.

I have experienced some restless energy since I got to Ubud, a need to Do Something. It was an undefined something, but this is a place where people are doing things, and I wanted to do things too. The Something became very clear when Risa mentioned she was going to visit an orphanage and asked if I wanted to come along.

Risa hired a lovely man named Wayan to drive us the three hours to an area called Jembrana. The orphange (a Panti Asuhan) was called Giri Asih, and on the drive I asked Risa how she had found out about this orphanage, and what made her want to go.

She told me that she has visited orphanages in other countries, and getting involved in helping orphans has been something she has wanted to do for a long time. A while ago, she saw a poster raising awareness about molested children in Bali. She called the number to ask for more information, and through various meetings came in contact with a doctor who oversaw several orphanages. He was unable to make it out to Giri Asih with us, but gave us directions and told us we were welcome to go there.

We picked up some rice, cooking oil and noodles, as we were advised by the doctor that this was something that they needed, and arrived at Giri Asih at about 1 pm. We were welcomed by the director, a name named Purwanto and all the children who came out and shook each of our hands. There were 25 kids in total, 7 girls and 18 boys.

There were four buildings on the property that I could see, three of them housing the children and one with an office, kitchen and lunch room. We went into the lunch room where they offered us some water, and then they showed us around their property.

The own about 2.2 acres of land that looked pretty wild, but there were coconut and papaya trees and apparently they are able to grow other fruit and vegetables as well. They had a pig and a few chickens and a cow that the kids help raise to sell.

The buildings were freshly painted and kids looked fairly healthy, it wasn't some tragic, ramshackle place. Their rooms were tidy, but they were sparse. I didn't see any toys or games. I guess I'm just used to kids having so much stuff, but these kids really have nothing.

The kids were all polite but shy, and since most didn't speak English I couldn't really communicate. One 15 year old boy named Wayan could communicate fairly well, and told me he studies English from books, since they don't learn much in school.



Giri Asih is run by a foundation that has one other orphanage, and both are almost completely funded by donation. Purwanto the director of Giri Asih has lived and worked at there for two years. The director before him was caught stealing money that was donated by the community, and although he was replaced it gave the orphanage a bad reputation and people have been less willing to donate.

The government recently started giving them money, $0.30 a day per child, which is about $9 a month. The Four Seasons hotel in Denpasar also pays for the kids to go to school, so they are able to attend with other kids in the village. They also get rice and clothing donated from the local people, and a doctor comes once a month to give them a check up.

They seemed to have the most basic necessities covered. We took the girls aside and asked them if the needed anything. We took two of them to the store and loaded them up with sanitary napkins, shampoo and lotion. It seemed like such a small thing, but it was something practical we could do right then.

When we got back, we asked Purawnto what the orphanage needs. He said they do have trouble paying bills, since they rarely get cash donations. To pay the last electricity bill, which was several months overdue, Purwanto had to sell one of their goats. He also told us they would like to raise more animals, and also plant more fruit trees.

After spending a little more time with the kids, we thanked them and headed back home. On the drive, we discussed for a long time what the best way to help would be. Buying them animals, fruit trees, art supplies, toys, so many ideas.

Risa is planning is in Bali indefinitely, and has time to focus on something, and the connections to make it happen. I wish I could stay here help start something, but our time in Bali is almost over and any kind of long term solution is going to take some planning. I am planning to go back at least once before we leave, and I'm hoping Hitoshi and I can have some fun building or creating something with them. But I would also like to leave them something that can help them after I leave.

So I have narrowed my focus, and here is where I ask for help. What I would like to do is pay their electricity bill, so at least one bill is off their shoulders. The bill is $75 a month, so $900 could cover it for the entire year.

I am going to collect money in my Pay Pal account, and then use that money to pay the electric company directly.If you are reading this and feel moved to donate money, log into Pay Pal and click send money. My email address is krisgossen@hotmail.com.

If you could re-post this, that would be amazing as well.

Thank you so much for reading this

Where Are You From?

This is something you will hear in Bali at least once a day, if not ten times. It is the standard question that all Balinese people ask a foreigner. We ask them back, Where are you from? And they usually seemed surprised. They laugh and say Bali! Then they ask Where are you going? It is important to know where you've been and where you're headed.

Where are we headed? The beach! Yesterday began with a day trip to Padang Bai, about an hour and a half drive. We ate at a small warung, and the food was...you guessed it, amazing! We headed to Blue Lagoon beach, a resort right on the water. It sounded exotic, but it was basically a small guest house with a few hundred meters of beach. We left Elesa on the beach, situated in the sun with a book, and went to find someone to take us out in the boat.

Elesa heading to the beach to 'read'.

We got a driver and a small boat for about $15, and he took us about ten minutes around the bay to a spot that can't be reached by road. Hitoshi and I jumped in (thanks Jon for lending me your snorkeling gear!).

Here is Hitoshi on the boat, taking his magic Chinese medicine for an upset tummy.

There were plenty of fish, some crazy purple ones and long skinny ones. At first it seemed like the water was murky, but then we realized it was actually millions of tiny jelly fish. They were so small you could just barely make out what they were, and we just swam through clouds of them. I did see about two full grown ones as well, eek. We got out of their way quick.

Over all not too bad for snorkeling, except the coral had been completely decimated and was almost completely dead. I heard they only recently made floaters the boats can attach to, where before they would just drop anchor anywhere and pull up a bunch of coral when they left.

After we climbed back in the boat, we headed back. We passed Blue Lagoon, so I decided to hop out and swim to the beach to meet Elesa. It was fairly similar to the place we had just come from, so I'm not sure how worth it it was to rent a boat. Hitoshi came back and we hopped on the bike to head home. Here's a video of us driving down the highway.



There were mountains on the left and the ocean on the right. And Balinese beeping there horns all around us. They beep to say move over, we're passing, go ahead and pass me, look there is a monkey, hi grama, whatever.

On our drive home.

That night we went to see a Kecak dance. The Kecak (pronounced Ke-chak) dance was originally a trance ritual. In the 1930s a German painter named Walter Spies worked recreate it into a drama that could be performed for Western tourists.

In Ubud there are quite a few places that put on large Kecak dances, for large groups of tourists. We opted to head to the small village down the road from our house. With only 700 people living in the village, over 80 of them participate in the Kecak dance once a week. The story we saw was about the opposition of Prince Rama's Kingdom of Ayodya to the Kingdom of Alengka, ruled by the wicked giant Rahwana.

We were seated in front of the entrance to the small temple, and since there were only about 20 of us watching we all got front and centre seats. The dance starts with all the men coming out, wearing sarongs and topless. I hear in some performances there are 150 or more men, but in ours there were about 75. They had lit a large fire candelabra type thing, and they all sat in a circle around it. They were chanting, with one man leading the beat. Here are some of the videos Hitoshi took.










It was wonderful to watch, and I love that we saw it in such an intimate setting. It was a small glimpse of life in a village, where at least one in ten people come to participate in something together once a week. There are so many ceremonies and rituals here, and people are so tightly bound to their home.

For the first time I can see beautiful things about living in a small, tight knit community. Growing up in Lethbridge I felt so constrained and out of place. Granted Lethbridge is not that small, but it formed very solid opinions of small town life for me. I can see here, they know exactly what there place is in a tiny village, and they all support each other. They praise their gods, they raise their kids, they grow their food, all together. It was nice to have some of my long standing ideas shattered. That's why we travel, isn't it?

Alex Grey and An-ten-nae

Wow, what a day! For a few hours I stepped out of Bali and into some parallel universe, where I get to go to an intimate evening and listen to world renown artists talk, then dance under the stars at a private house party to a dj I've only ever seen at Shambhala.

The day started with a delicious meal (don't all days here start that way?). Cadek cooked us fish and veggies, which we enjoyed outside with our housemates Yoshi and Russ. Hitoshi had gone off to the bug park in search of beetles. Unfortunately he learned that they don't come out here until June, so all his bug hunting plots have been futile. On the upside, they let him play with bugs there, and he got some frozen in resin to bring home.

After a trip into town, we had a nap to get ready for the evening. Then we headed about 100 meters down the road to a house called The Mike's. It was a huge villa, with guards (or the local moffia?) waiting on the street to direct us in. It was a desert potluck and Elesa had picked up some treats for us to bring form Kue, a bakery in town.

We went upstairs to a large circular room with about 50 people seated on the ground listening to a band. We found some spots in the back, and about ten minutes later Alex and Allyson Grey came in.

For those of you that don't know Alex Grey (http://www.alexgrey.com/), his best known for his collection Sacred Mirrors (http://www.sacredmirrors.org/mirrors_view.html) and his psychedelic art. In other words, his is a very talented hippie who's done a lot of acid in his life, and out of that has come some amazing art.



Although I am not as into his art as other people I know, I have a deep respect for his talent and vision. It was a once in a lifetime experience to hear him talk about his passion. He is very calm and patient in answering questions about his life and work. But he also doesn't take himself too seriously, and is easy to laugh. He also gives huge props to his wife, which was awesome. I think she keeps him on task.

After he was done speaking, it was off to another once in a lifetime experience, heading to the house of a Frenchman who has lived in Bali for over 15 years. Still a little awestruck at the villa we had just come from, I was blown away when we got to the next one.

We headed about ten minutes out of town, out into the jungle. After parking on the road, we walked down about 60 stairs to this massive..house? It doesn't seem right to call it a house. It was straight out of an artists mind. We walked by a huge communal kitchen, and art gallery space, and down to a dance floor. The dance floor was covered, and in front of it was a dj booth, surrounded by four tall pillars carved like vines. Behind the dj was a rounded balcony, which opened under the stars. I gather that there was a huge canyon behind it, although I couldn't see much in the dark.

The dj was An-ten-nae, who had just played at Rainbow Serpent Festival in Australia. For those who have no idea who he is, I don't know how to describe how rad this was. For those who do, rad eh?

We found our dear friend Mark Lee, who Hitoshi lived and worked with on the Sunshine Coast. He had just arrived in Bali the day before and was staying at this artists paradise. He was also doing the visuals for the party, so we only got to chat for a few minutes. But I look forward to going back there during the day to visit him, and see that place in the day light.

Elesa and Hitoshi danced away, but I am still suffering from a sprained ankle. I hurt it in Mexico right before Christmas, and it flared up with the flight and humidity and all the walking we are doing. So I'm trying to take it easy, no mad dance partying for me. (Also no yoga, which I was planning on enjoying a lot of, but I have plenty to occupy my days.)

The music was killer and I had a perfect night sitting under the stars and listening to it. I guess these are the benefits to coming to a country and staying with people who live here, you get to find out about all the secret little things going on around town. We never would have seen Alex Grey if we hadn't been staying with Sven, and really it was chance that connected us with him. We all notice how well things are lining up on this trip, and can't wait to see what else Bali has in store.

In Love With Ubud.

Everyone said I would love Ubud, and I did instantly. It is a small, quiet town, but also has lots going on. It is surrounded by rice fields and tiny villages. The villages each specialize in some kind of craft, there are whole villages with glass blowers, wood workers, bone carvers, stone masons, silver smiths, you name it. The villages are all along the highway, so as you leave Ubud you just drive through one town after another.

Our first day in town Sven took us on a drive to the Bone Carver village. It was a beautiful drive, through jungle and rice paddies.




On the way, Sven took us to a tiny warung (restaurant) that served amazing fish. There was fish on a stick, fish ball soup, and random fish something something. So yummy, and for less than a dollar each!


From there we parted ways with Sven, and he pointed us to Terta Emul temple. We went in, Elesa had to wear one of the sarongs provided. It seems like if you aren't wearing clothes that cover past your knees you have to cover up. I had wrapped a scarf around my shoulders since I was wearing a tank top, but the man told me to take it off. I felt like maybe he just wanted to see some cleavage, rather than there being an actual religious significance.

The temple was bustling, with some kind of ceremony going on. I gather ceremonies happen frequently in Bali (daily, from what I've seen so far). The temple was very interesting, lots of ornate carved stone covered in moss. There was also a large pond of holy water with something bubbling up into it from deep down in the earth somewhere.

After the temple we drove to the bone carvers village. The main reason for us to head there was to look for earrings. We heard almost 70% of the gauged horn jewelry you can find at home is made in this village.

We went to a store Sven recommended called Mantra, and I went crazy. Shopping is not my favorite, so I like to be fairly efficient. I went through that whole store and within half an hour I had found about 15 pairs of earrings I wanted. And guess what, they all cost less than $35, which is about what you would pay for one pair at home. I was all shopped out and very satisfied after that!

The horns of water buffalo, used to make earrings.

That evening Elesa and I went to get a massage at a place recommended by Little Woo, called Bali Healing. It was great, there was a nice garden, it was clean, the massage was top notch. It cost $8, a few bucks more than our ghetto experience in Kuta, and a hundred times better.

After that we went home to relax, and watch the fire flies dance in the rice paddies.

The next day the house cook, a woman named Cadek, came for the first time. Sven hired her to come and cook one meal a day for us, and Elesa and I were excited to meet her. We went to the market with her, then learned how to nasi gorang, the fried rice. I'm going to be able to make some delicious dishes when I come home.

After that we headed to Goa Gajah, also known as the Elephant cave. Built about a thousand years ago, it was pretty interesting to see. Sven had told us to wander around the back of the temple a bit, which proved to be as interesting as the front.

We walked by a small shrine, where about 30 locals were praying. An old man gestured us to come in, and we sat at the back. One man went around giving people holy water. He had what looked like a paint brush, and he dipped it in the water, then flicked it on a persons head. Then you held out your palms, right one over left, and three times he sprinkled water in for you to drink. We were encouraged to participate, it felt so welcoming.

While everyone was getting holy water, people were chatting with their neighbors and laughing. They all watched and smiled when it was our turn. Pretty different from the Catholic church ceremonies I went to when I was young.

After that we wandered off into the jungle a bit, and found another cave. Then we went back to the main area, where there was a giant tree and a giant fallen statue in a river, which we were told was a Buddha but was fairly hard to make out. We went down in the river and a little grandpa showed us the back. We took pics and then he took some of us, and we took some of him. He got really excited, I don't think he gets to use a digital camera often. And he wanted us to take more and more pics of him.

Part of a giant fallen Buddha statue.

After that Hitoshi and I headed home, and Elesa went to use the internet. We realized when we got home Elesa had the key, and with no way to call her we broke in, although we could get into our room we couldn't get into the rest of the house since the bedroom door locked from the other side. That was fine with us, as we passed out for a nap pretty quickly.

After Elesa got home a freed us, we headed into town and had wonderful curry dinner and the went to check out a shadow puppet show going on down the road. There were hundreds of people watching, and we crept to the back to check it out. I had heard that these shows can be long and hard to follow, and I can see what people mean. Although it was interesting there was not much happening, so we only stayed about 20 minutes.

We did walk around to the back of the stage and got to get a behind-the-scenes glance, which was fairly interesting. The puppets were huge, and there must have been more than 30 people back there working them, and playing live music.

Every night in Ubud there is dance, music and all kinds of cultural things to check out. I can't wait to explore more.

Up to Ubud

After two nights in Kuta, we were ready to head out. Our plan was to rent bikes and just ride all over the island, with the first stop being Ubud, the cultural heart of Bali. Hitoshi and I packed one bag between us, so we could fit on one moped, since I'm happy to let him drive.

Equipped with bikes, helmets, gas and a map, we were off. In a car the drive is a little over an hour, but we took it nice and easy and arrived in about three. We did have a little detour as a 'helpful' local giving us directions lead us into the jewelry shop he worked at.

We had arranged to meet a friend from Vancouver, Sven, who lives 4 or 5 months of the year in Ubud.

Not sure what's making Elesa so stoked in this pic, she must just be happy to be in Bali.

He met us at Bali Buddha, my new favorite restaurant.



We ate a delicious meal (tacos in Bali are amazing!) and followed Sven back to the place he had rented, and where we would be renting a room for the next 8 days.

When Sven arrived in Ubud he found out prices for houses had gone way up. Since Eat, Pray, Love came out, people took five year leases on properties and then rented them out at higher rates. Worried he wouldn't find a place, he ended up taking one a little more high end then he had planned. We appreciated it though, it is stunning, and we get to live here for the next week! Pool, rice paddy view, tons of space, I love it.



So now I sit here, looking out over this amazing view, with a belly full of breakfast cooked by my best friend, and I am as grateful as can be.

Side of our house

Tower that many houses seem to have, still haven't figured out why.

Our front entrance.

The house alter.

Our bathroom. Beautiful but if it's raining at night when you have to pee, you get a little wet.

Where we eat.

Ahh, life is good!