The Beginning

Hello friends and family,

This here is a blog on my travels in Southeast Asia. I'll be here for about 5 weeks. It' has started off well. I'm in Ubud, Bali staying at the Budi Shady Gully Guest House. If any of you come to Bali, you have to stay there. I told Budi (the owner) that I'd send all my friends to him (he gave me a good price...). My total travel time to arrive here was something like 30 hours. Crossing the international date line is pretty trippy. It was Friday when I got here, not Thursday...
I flew through Tokyo and had time to eat a mushroom and fried rice omlette and take pictures of all their weird candy and chocolate covered potato chips. Upon my arrival in Denpasar, Bali I got a cab for $17.50 to take me an hour north to Ubud. The driver was clever in his maneuvering. When we came to a red light he would turn left (they drive on the right side of the road here), drive around the median of the perpendicular street, and take another left to continue heading north on the street that still had a red light. Really cute. There are tons of stray dogs here. Some people do have them as pets, I met an adorable puppy today who decided he was my best friend. Seriously, couldn't stop jumping on me. Don't worry- he doesn't have rabies. There are chickens all over the place. Walking the streets, chilling in flower pots. Leah, my friend who has been living here for 6 months. Has shown me the lay of the town. We've walked the main streets and I've gotten a pretty good sense of direction. I purchased a pair of Prada sunglasses yesterday for $5 bucks. Pretty sweet!! Leah is on a spiritual and physical journey over here and has befriended many healers/yogis/masueses/raw food chefs. I'm meeting them and learning from them. Its all about believing in your potential and accepting your fears so that you can move past them. Really cool stuff. I already feel more relaxed. We took a great yoga class yesterday looking out onto the rice patty fields. We also got foot reflexology... I'm hoping to head north tomorrow to tackle the Island's largest volcano and then hopefully head to the black sand beaches. I met a physical therapist from Hawaii who is here in Bali for three weeks. Actually, I noticed her at breakfast and realized she had been in my visa line upon arrival in Denpasar, so I decided to chat her up. We may make the trek north together. I'll prob do a 5 day thing and then head back to Ubud to finish my stay here with Leah. We'll visit the monkey forest, walk through the surrounding rice patties and villages and maybe take a short trip south. She has a motor bike which has been very useful. Not that you need it for the immediate town of Ubud. Don't worry mom, I have a helmet.
That's it for now. I'll report more as I continue to explore. Its so wonderful to be here and I look forward to the people and cultures that I may come upon. Its all a blessing!!
Much Love,
Rebecca