People/trance festival/Kuala Lumpur/goodbyes

Hi everyone! I'll be home not too long from now, in a month. I leave Bali in a few days to go be a photographer in Darwin Australia for a music/arts festival (in exchange for tickets of course). I'll be there 2 weeks and then back to Bali for another 2 weeks, returning to Oregon September 12 or so.

I'm looking forward to getting home. Parts of my community here are solid, but many are moving on right now. People come and go in waves here.



Uneasonably beautiful Bali.











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Filled with unreasonably beautiful people.











Doing unreasonably wonderful things.

This is Bex, from Scotland, who is living with me for awhile at the Villa. She's a yoga and scuba instructor (not at the same time) as well as an excellent writer and a good friend.







Rob and Kavi. Rob and his partner Rachel own a beautiful piece of property that is slowly becoming permacultured. It slopes from a big house with rotating tenants to a river that is swimable and muddy.








Ubud street scene.












Alright, so I went to a trance festival. The Mayan Day Out of Time inspires these kinds of things all over the world apparently and it was supposed to draw quite a lot of people.

About 30 were there the night I went, 10 of whom were our group and we were mostly asleep by 11pm, but the music went on as we camped under the stars.

Upon arrival we watched the sun set behind Agung as Zack and Sam played thumb pianos.


Quiet time at the festival.











































It was in the east of Bali, on the coast, maybe 2 hours drive away by motorbike. I went with Bex, Holger, and Brita on two bikes.

It was on the coast and swimming with everyone in the morning was one of the best parts. The water is warm and buoyant.

















Zack on the Mbira, or Zimbabwean thumb piano.

















Agung, from the east, in the morning, Bali's spiritual epicenter.

















While many of us didn't exactly "trance", we occupied ourselves happily as the music thumpity-thumped. Atom and Allana doing acroyoga.









Allana is a remarkable hooper and photographer.

















Holger, from Germany, is also staying with me right now.











Here I am wrestling with a yoga hammock. A sweet contraption, I think I'll bring one home!












Putu, daughter of the owners of a warung Bex and I stopped at in Candidasa. Obviously enjoys posing.















I think this dragon looks like it belongs on the Simpsons.











Stephen from New Zealand, telling me about Mayan calendars, red dragons, hemp seeds, solar flares, cerebral circuitry and similar common topics of conversation

















Brita, from Germany, who stayed with me for awhile and just returned home yesterday. she teaches sports to kids and was a terrific acroyoga partner.


















Bex, making malas for a yoga retreat.






































I went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to renew my Indonesian Visa. I figured I may as well take a couple of days to explore the city since I had to go anyway. I loved it! I stayed in a cheap place near delicious Indian curry houses and I walked circles for hours and hours.

Jay here, from England was my first encounter and regailed me with tales of scams and adventures from California to down the road in KL.










Detail of the Petronas Towers.

















Street scene in KL.


















As I sat in a park for 2 hours enjoying the comings and goings of thousands of visitors to Kuala Lumpur, I watched at least 20 people do this. Someone is photographing her so it looks like she's holding up the Petronas Towers. A necessary cheesy photo for most.

Other tower-holders included Indians in brilliant silk, a Buddhist monk, and Muslims covered in full-body black shrouds.









The famous Petronas Towers, twins that light up KL each night, the tallest buildings in the world before 2003. 1400 tickets are given out every day to go up them and they're gone by 10am.

They really are beautiful, as I acclimated to tall buildings once again.













I think I remember Sean Connery climbing this skybridge in a movie once.











In Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur. Zoom in and tell me this guy doesn't look like an older, Chinese Obama.











At the National History Museum. I spent a whole day in KL exploring the museums...worth doing for anyone if you have a layover or time to spend in Malaysia. There is a series of museums within a kilometer of each other on the west end of the city and they all are very well done. This is a 200-year-old Koran.






At the national planetarium. Malaysia is very obviously proud of their two Malay astronauts who were sent to the space station a few years ago. A quarter of the building was dedicated to them, including spacesuits, engines, videos of their training, and photos of their childhood homes.














Back in Bali:

The state of the garden at the villa: the herbs are delicious, the pumpkins and sweet potatoes are growing faster than I can trellice them, the tomatoes are starting to fruit, and there is a newly planted orange tree in the center. I hope to harvest some things before I leave next month.





Sam, in the permaculture center garden, with one of the first cucumbers of the crop!

















Today I said goodbye to a few friends leaving Bali; we had a potluck a couple of nights ago. Jo left this afternoon, back to Holland. She's been an acroyoga partner and a big potluck fan.
















Hernan (middle) is leaving as well, in the direction of India. The couple, Nacho and Belinda are Spanish, on holiday and have put out an invitation to their beautiful-sounding island home in the Mediterranean...hmmm...














Love to everyone! See you all soon--

--Trav--