Bali

My faith in humanity
When you need to get from point A to point B in Bali, find someone who looks trustworthy and smiles, offer them a good price, and you have a ticket out of sketchy places (and there are several).
En route to Semarang, I met some fellow bus passengers.
These guys did not expect to see a traveller in their town of Probolinggo, but they were very welcoming.
I bought all of my tickets from this great merchant I met on the streets of Ubud, Bali. We had many laughs.

On days when chaotic people around me seem overwhelming, in that place called life and the real world, I always seek the solace in what I know to be universally true. And that is the goodness in others.

I ignore the emotional tornadoes who suck energy from others, and I bring back memories of people I have met everywhere in the world. Today, on a day when the whirlwind people were a bit too much, I got a jolt of the “rest of humanity” through some friendly old smiles. Here are a few of their faces, taken from my travels in Bali and Java, in Indonesia, in February 2009.

(Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

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The ducks were made for walking

Seeing happy ducks in the muddy wetlands not far from my home on a rainy night this week made me think of other happy ducks. Here is some footage I shot in the rice paddies outside Ubud, Bali, way back in 2009. (Ouch, that is so long ago already.) Now tell me, do these ducks have moxie or do these ducks have moxie. You can see a larger version of these critters on YouTube too.

Java and Bali, looking back five years ago

I used a very low-tech Canon hand-held digital which was breaking down on this trip. Even then, it still performed like a champ. Use a few Lightroom tools, and voila, something completely different. Needless to say, I loved my time in Indonesia. These are, admittedly, touristy, but I was, admittedly, very much a happy tourist.

Balinese temple
Mosque drum (bedug), Java
Temple flower petals, Bali
Kecak performers, Ubud, Bali
Traditional Javanese classical dancers, Yogyakarta
Java bus operator
Balinese Statue
Balinese temple
Sunrise near Ubud, Bali

Fire, Trance, and Dance in Bali

Right after I posted my video I found nearly duplicate videos, some from 2009 as well, of this performing troupe from Ubud, Bali. I guess I was not the only tourist and traveller who was impressed by this fire trance dance performed nearly every night in the cultural center of Bali, Ubud. I loved, loved, loved this performance. I still throw down my Kecak catcalls when describing what it was like to see one of these performances on this touristy but still amazing island. Maybe I’ll post another later.