Cremation Ceremony Video (Ubud, Bali)

Walking to get the holy water in the afternoon of the cremation ceremony.

The End

My last few days in Indonesia were blissful.  Saturday, I went on a walk around the northern end of the island where the resorts end and the local neighborhood begins.  Locals work outside gathering seaweed, loosening it from the sea floor, gathering, hauling it ashore and then drying it out in the sun.  Women and men of all ages spend the sun light hours out in the shallow sea.

The tide was low that afternoon, the sky was clear and the water was still.  The reflections of the clouds on the water with the Balinese mountains in the background and the multicolored fishing boats near shore, I was overwhelmed with the beauty of thescenery.  I think I took about 50 photos on that walk alone!

On my walk I met three young boys who let me take their picture.  Back in Ubud I did three days of classes in Bahasa Indonesia, and I am so glad that I did.  Bahasa Indonesia is one of the easiest languages to learn in the world because there is no conjugations, no present, no past.  You simply say “yesterday I go to the store” or “tomorrow I go to the store.”  Easy peasy.  So, with these boys I knew enough to say hello, how are you?  what’s your name?  They were so adorbale.  The kids on the island I found to be more personable, more laid back than the kids I was with in Ubud.  Perhaps it is because it is a poorer community and a place without so many Westerners, so maybe I am more exciting to them, but I loved just talking with them and playing around for a bit.

Then I met an older woman carrying seaweed who wanted me to try carrying the seaweed on my head.  I objected, only because I could totally see myself dropping the whole thing and she’d just spent hours collecting it!  But I felt welcomed by the locals on the island.  It seemed like a warm community.

The following day, yesterday, Kara and I went snorkeling in the morning with two very nice Swedes, Pontus and Diana, and an odd older American man (honestly, the first guy my whole trip to creep me out.  Good thing I’ll never see him again!).  Besides the oddball American, the snorkeling trip was awesome.  The water was so clear you could see the coral and fish perfectly.  I wish I knew more about marine life, because I cannot tell you the names of anything I saw, all I can tell you is that it looked exactly like Finding Nemo! Haha.  Red, blues, greens, it was neat just to watch the different plants sway in the water.  There were iridescent scaled fish and the sun shining through the water made everything sparkle.  In the second spot, you could see 50 meters down.  It was the perfect final day experience.

At the end of the evening, as we did every night on the island, we watched a magnificent sunset.

The end of my trip was filled with beautiful sights, good food and good company.  I feel completely blessed to have had such a successful and enjoyable journey for the last few months.  I began to tear up waiting in the immigration line here at the Denpasar airport.  I am ready to have some home comforts for a bit, but I must admit I have already gone through my travel book and planned out a month long trip through Laos.  Perhaps next summer!  I am trying to think of this as Part 1 of 2.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be back sooner rather than later.  There’s too many places left to see.

But for now, I head to Hong Kong in about an hour, from there San Francisco and from there, Chicago.  I will be back in the States in 18 hours!

Once I’m home, photos to come.  Promise.

P.S.- If anyone has any freelance writing work for me, I will have time this summer before classes begin!  Feel free to contact me via the blog or pass along the address to anyone else who many want to contact me.  Essays, articles, what have you.  Thank you!