Only on Bali

I hadn’t realized how relaxing Bali was for me last time I was here.
I visit a lot of sites when I travel, and I like to see as many people and as much of the local culture as I can wherever I go. But Bali has a different speed to it that you don’t experience anywhere else.
No matter how fast my friend Westi drove his truck or how many appointments I had, it never felt rushed. I never felt pressed for time. I sort of forgot about that until I came back these last few days.
I had a completely different sense of time when I was in Africa. Like I didn’t have enough of it to do everything I wanted. I stayed there longer than I had planned because I kept meeting more people and discovering new places and traditions I wanted to study…

There I Was With Almost No Clothes…

“I didn’t know you had cactus in Bali.”
I had never seen anything like it. I looked down at my bleeding calf. It had almost torn a hole in my only pair of shorts.
I hadn’t meant to walk into it, but I swear, you step off the sidewalk in Bali and you’re in the jungle.
I live in Florida but this was different. It was plants on top of plants. The thickest, densest green I have ever seen. When you’re in it, you know you’re on the other side of the world.
And here I was almost without any clothes.

I Almost Fell Over Backwards…

“This is a cananga flower…” Westi picked one off of the small tree behind his shop.
“That looks like ilang-ilang (ylang-ylang).”
“Yes. It is from the same tree family. Smell… it’s very fragrant.”
I took some of the yellowish green petals from Westi. “That’s beautiful.”
“The ilang-ilang tree is very tall. Cananga is small, so I can have one here by the shop. Lelir will use the flower to make Jamu.”
Jamu is the name for the ancient group of natural cures and medicines they use in Bali.
The Balinese don’t like pharmaceuticals, and don’t really trust Western-type medicine. So they…

“What Was Julia Roberts Like?”

The most famous man in Bali right now is Ketut Leyir. He’s the healer who became famous because he was in the book and movie Eat, Pray, Love.
The star of the movie was Julia Roberts, one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood these days, and probably the most famous.
I asked him about her. What she was like, and what is was like to know her. He laughed and said, “She very, very nice. Has great smile.”
Julia stayed there while they were filming Eat, Pray, Love, at a place close to Ketut’s home.

Sweet, Pure Tropical Water

“Did I tell you he gave me a knife?”
“What is it? Like, a machete?”
My marketing manager C.S. knew I’d been hacking my way through the jungles of Bali.
“It’s called a Bali knife. It’s cooler than a machete. It’s like half knife, half hatchet. It’s got a big thick blade and a heavy handle to balance it out.”
“How’d you get that home?” she joked.
Of course, I just put it in my suitcase and checked it on the plane. I’m sure glad I didn’t put it in my carry-on and forget I had it in there. They’d probably still have me in Bali …

The Biggest I’ve Ever Seen…

He drove slowly, careful not to scrape the sides of his truck as we drove. The streets of his neighborhood are paved but narrow, with barely enough room to get by. Ancient stone walls topped with strange carvings pressed in from both sides. Wild cacao trees, the biggest I’ve ever seen, loomed overhead.
As we made our way toward his hidden garden, the roads narrowed even more, now no wider than a sidewalk. Man-made walls gave way to thick foliage and immense trees. There were plants on top of plants as far down the road as you could see.
We drove into what looked like a tree tunnel, made a quick right and squeezed the truck through a tiny opening … and what I saw amazed me. A huge field with walking paths and more plants growing everywhere.
How could this be right here, with no hint of it from the road?
We got out of the truck and the first thing I saw was peppermint, just like I have growing in my yard in Florida. There was tapioca, which grows so thick the locals even use it for fences.

He Smiles with His Liver

“Keep reading, Sandy.”
My assistant looked back down at the glossy brochure covered with photos of tropical paradise.
“…But the city of Yuba is a far cry from the bikini beaches of Kuta in the south.”
“So maybe you should stay in Yuba.”
“Are you crazy?” I laughed. “What’s the matter with a bikini beach?”
I was looking for a place to start my trip to Bali because I knew I was going to the remote town of Ubud. I had made three important connections who all lived there.