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To Bali & beyond....To Bali & beyond....
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To Bali & beyond....

January - April 2024
with Anne & Edie. Read more
Currently traveling
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  • TravelerTo Bali & beyond....
    2
    1
    Day 1

    Ubud 1

    January 28 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    I 've never been here so when Anne suggested a stop on our way to India, I quickly agreed. Rainy season & it's steamy. Our accommodation is in the traditional Balinese style, very comfortable.
    Day 1, we went to a tourist place, (I know! But remember we are travelling with a 10 year old) which was actually really good. Special Nasi Goreng was perfect for brunch. There is a lot to do here and Edie decided on the giant swing where, from a great height, you are launched out towards the rice paddies. You can hire a flowing dress for additional effect for Insta. Then it was onto Ulu Patanu for a waterfall fix & the troops are pretty happy.Dinnwr was at Alchemy, a wholefoods restaurant - lovely decor, delicious plant based food, very slow service but we still enjoyed. Getting around using Gojek cars, like Uber except very cheap & so easy. Liking Ubud a lot so far; the Indonesian people are so kind & helpful 😊. P.S. no rain yet.Read more

  • TravelerTo Bali & beyond....
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    Day 3

    Ubud 2 cont...

    January 30 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    More photos of this fabulous place.

  • TravelerTo Bali & beyond....
    Day 3

    Ubud 2

    January 30 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    Anne promised a surprise activity for today but it was off to town first for breakfast & an explore. Breakfast at Nourish was excellent & my first latte a success! It's a busy place despite it being low/rainy season. Scooters everywhere. Not quite as bad as Hanoi but quantity & bravery right up there. No road rules apparently but it all seems to work. The streets leading into the town centre are a mish mash of shops, temples, bike repair places, crumbling footpaths and shrines, all combining to give a quaint ramshackle feel. After a spot of shopping a Gojek whisked us up & out of town to Bambu Indah. An extraordinary place which I won't be able to do justice to here. It's a kind of resort, the likes of which I have never seen! A beautiful lush landscape including many individual crystal clear pools, sits alongside a rushing river. Extraordinary architecture using natural materials (lots of bamboo) combined with contemporary copper- tiled roofing alonside yraditional Balinese thatching. A set price was paid for the afternoon & we could laze, swim in any of the pools, have food & drinks delivered to our bamboo hut & generally relax & enjoy. Not many others there & staff were plentiful & quick to respond to our every need. It felt very luxurious but actually it was excellent value. Some challenges for me included a bamboo lift which took us 2 floors down from the street to the pools & the restaurant. A couple of swinging bamboo bridges also added to the anxiety but I did well!! It was a fabulous day & wonderful to see my girls so happy; they were in their element. We missed JuJu though!!
    P.s. I will add another post just with photos.    Read more

  • TravelerTo Bali & beyond....
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    Day 4

    Ubud 3

    January 31 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    More exploring around town today finding new areas; this place is growing! Wish I had been here 20 or 30 years ago. Sights, sounds & smells often remind me of Thailand. Grateful for our pool in this humid weather & the delicious food. 😊. Aussies have definitely had an impact; you can get smashed avo on sourdough everywhere! 😂
    Escaping the hustle - off to the beach tomorrow!    Read more

  • TravelerTo Bali & beyond....
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    Day 5

    On the move....

    February 1 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Leaving the hustle of Ubud behind we travel by car up the west coast through the real Bali to Lost Lindberg, near Medewi. A beautiful small hotel set in lush grounds by a black lava sand beach. LOST LINDENBERG operates as far as possible in an environmentally friendly, low-waste manner. Solar panels supply our property with energy, and fruits and vegetables from LOST’S own permaculture are used in the restaurant. All products such as soaps and toilet paper, are produced regionally and fairly; litter is collected in weekly beach clean-ups; and our restaurant is entirely plant-based (free of animal products). Idyllic. Very grateful.💚🩵💙Read more

  • TravelerTo Bali & beyond....
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    Day 6

    Coastal day trip

    February 2 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    A beautiful floral birthday surprise 😊
    Then a trip north to Perancak for lunch by the river - bbq prawns & calamari with a cold beer, perfect! Onto a famous Hindu temple, Rambut Siwi, on the cliff top overlooking the Indian Ocean with rice paddies alongside.  Rambut Siwi Temple is one of the biggest of all the Hindu temples in Bali and is located in the Jembrana Regency. An interesting day but oh so humid!! Grateful for a cool plunge before dinner. 💧💧Read more

  • TravelerTo Bali & beyond....
    1
    Day 8

    To India

    February 4 in India ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    It was hard to leave Lost but exciting also. A long day travelling, via Singapore, then a 2 hour + car drive in the early hours to reach Sri Narayni Peedam. Located in Tamil Nadu state at Ariyur, near Vellore, this ashram is an oasis amongst the colour & movement that is India & home to the famous Golden Temple & seat of The Divine Mother. In order to completely understand the how & why of this place I recommend you have a look at the website.

    https://www.narayanipeedam.org.

    It will be my home for the next 2 weeks. I like it here despite feeling as though I am on a film set! However, not quite the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel!! Our rooms are spartan but very clean with everything we need & all requests are swiftly dealt with. There is a dining room where we can go for included meals & the "Divine Cafe" is nearby.
    There are devotees of Amma here of all ages from every corner of the globe. Some come for a week, others months or years. Activities have been slightly curtailed as Anne has been quite sick since we arrived. High fever, (slowly coming down) & flu symptoms but she has been checked out at the hospital & we have been told to wait a few days. Fingers crossed. So I have just been exploring, sometimes with Edie & chatting with some very interesting people. Daily ayurvedic treatments will ensure I come home a new woman. I've also been witnessing the poojas conducted by Amma each night which is considered very auspicious. These are quite fascinating ceremonies of worship to the Hindi goddess Narayani. You can see them on the Sripuram Sri Narayani Peedam Facebook page. I am getting used to life here - not eating with my left hand (usually there are forks), not forgetting to wear my scarf, learning slowly about the food & the meaning of the head wobble! Waking to the sound of chanting is a lovely start to the day.
    Unfortunately, no photos are allowed on the Temple grounds, so I have stolen them from a book. When there is no chanting there is devotional music piped everywhere. Sometimes discordant with loud trumpety noises & lots of drumming. You get used to it!!    Read more

  • TravelerTo Bali & beyond....
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    Day 11

    A walk around the temple

    February 7 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Anne no better so her friend Praveen, who has been here a long time, invited Edie & Me to take a walk to see the Temple animals & Green Sakthi plant nursery. The Temple owns 700 cows, which are, of course, sacred animals here. They are beautifully looked after & although there is no opportunity for them to graze (a work in progress), some are taken for walks!! The objective is to preserve & propogate the native breeds. Cows are also donated to those in financial hardship to provide families with dairy products plus the opportunity of extra income through the selling of milk. Amma donates 100s of cows to poor farmers every year. I am unsure as to why deer, geese, doves & an emu are kept, but again, they have good lives. Apparently, it was decided to import emus to India as a source of protein, but the idea didn't really take off!! Speaking of protein, I have no idea where Induans got their protein from apart from dairy products. It's one of the great mysteries!! Anyway, it was a beautiful peaceful walk following the Temple wall. The Green Sakhti Afforestation Program donates many thousands of saplings & fruit trees to the surrounding area. It is one of many charitable projects initiated, blessed, and guided by Sri Sakthi Amma. Others include the Anna (food) Dhaanam (giving) - nutritious food using locally grown ingredients is served free to more than 7,000 people who visit the Temple each day; Mathoura Ganga - the distribution of drinking water to villages in the Vellore district who regularly experience drought. Water is pumped 20km & stored & supplied to villagers in tankers. Bores are also sunk & donated each year; Primary & Secondary schools have been built & for some children they are the first to attend school & also have the opportunity to learn English; to provide quality medical care at affordable cost to the rural public & free of cost for the needy, Amma built the Sri Narayani Hospital & Research Centre along with a College of Nursing. There are future plans for a Medical College giving local rural people the chance to train & move back to their communities to set up clinics. So much amazing good work being done here. 💙💚🩵Read more

  • TravelerTo Bali & beyond....
    1
    Day 13

    A trip to Vellore

    February 9 in India ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Edie & I went to Vellore in a tuk tuk to buy her some India appropriate clothes. A fun 10km ride amidst the organised chaos! Also, some photos of pooja (devotional ceremony) in the original Peedam temple which was built before the Golden Temple. Days are quite busy, lots to do here! Edie made friends with a little girl yesterday, so that was nice. I took them to see the horses & the elephants after pooja last night. One horse, a cow & an elephant had just come back from being blessed at the Golden Temple, which is a daily ceremony. We'll try to get to that one tonight. Poor Anne is much the same. Off for blood tests this morning. 🫰Read more

  • TravelerTo Bali & beyond....
    1
    Day 14

    Elephants & more....

    February 10 in India ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Anne has Dengue fever (picked up in Bali) & has gone to hospital to be on a drip & have her platelets monitored. She has improved quite a bit, but she will spend a second night there & hopefully be back with us tomorrow. Edie is fine & has been a trooper. By some miracle the Dad of Edie's friend organised for them to ride one of Amma's elephants yesterday, with her blessing. Amazing, as this is rarely allowed. The girls had a wonderful time & the mahouts were very kind & gentle. After visiting Mum this morning we went back into hectic Vellore for lunch. It is a sprawling, bustling city, the administrative capital of the region. The Vellore region is the largest exporter of finished leather goods in the country. It is also home to Vellore Fort, a large 16th century fort built by the Emperors of Vijayanagara. The fort was at one time the imperial capital of the Aravidu Dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire. It is known for its grand ramparts, wide moat and robust masonry. The first significant military rebellion against British rule, the Vellore Mutiny, erupted at this fort in 1806. A relaxing stroll around the temple when we got back, though it was very busy due to it being Sunday.Read more

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