The first leg, 14 hours to Taipei, no doubt will be filled with short sleep, followed by a lot of movie watching, interrupted by meals. After three hours layover, I will continue with the five hour flight to Denpasar.
I'm looking forward to being met by my family at the airport, after one year of being away from them. After hugs and kisses all around, they will then whisk me away in a two-hour drive to our home in Ubud, the official "art center" of Bali. I put a quote mark on the word art because to be fair, pretty much everywhere, you can find enclaves of artistic people creating things, but for a long time, most people head to Ubud to get a fill on everything from painting, sculpture, dance and music. Anyway...
Half of the journey from the airport is through busy urban streets, and if this is your first time to Bali, you'd probably be disappointed. You may think, "I traveled all this way for THIS?" ... traffic jam, chaos, noise. But wait, somewhere along the way, you will notice the air becoming cooler, the roads narrower, and you start to see this...
...and you feel relieved. And you'd hope for more of this and better. Trust me, you will. You'll find on your walk on the edges of town some white lotus flower...
or the vibrant pile of passion fruits and mangosteen in the market...
or a surprise ceremony happening right there in there market because you happen to visit on the day where they honor the God of Transaction...
This time, I will be in Bali for 60 days, as my Visa allows. And that's about the only plan I have. Otherwise, I'll just go with the flow, carefully paying attention to what gifts I might encounter during my stay. And I can assure you, on the Island of the Gods - Pulau Dewata in Indonesian - there is always some gods who can't wait to give you gifts. I promise I'll share mine with you all through my stay there!
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