From monkey fights to meditation

Okay, I’m trying to keep my promise of, “Yeah, I’ll totally keep you updated on my trip!” that I’ve made so many times in the last few months. So, in the last few weeks I...

- Went on a solo 4 hour bike trail, which became a 7 hour frantically-trying-to-get-home-before-dark tour as I repeatedly made the wrong choice at several unmentioned forks in the “road,” got stuck in the mud on multiple occasions and ended up carrying my bike along the narrow pathways between rice paddies while taking directions from several helpful yak herders along the way to get back on track…all in the rain.

- Found another beginner and tried my hand at surfing at Kuta Beach, Bali with a surfing lesson from a local.

- Rode motor bikes through the countryside and down the southern peninsula of Bali to Ulu Watu and Dreamland… only after barely surviving the chaos that is Indonesian traffic in the cities.

- Had two monkeys fight on my chest… literally.

- Climbed Mt. Bromo and surrounding viewpoints with a ridiculously early start at 2:30am to enjoy the sunrise.

- Visited Borobudur Temple (largest Buddhist temple in the world) only to be, along with every other westerner, more of a tourist attraction than a tourist.

- Nearly got swept out to sea at Pangandaran, Java while only splashing around at waist depth (after reading about the regular drownings in the area), but felt less embarrassed, and more terrified, after my surf instructor had a similar scare all his own during my lesson.

- Met a woman who, having lived on the same street her entire life, was my father’s neighbor in the 1950s in Bogor, Java and possibly remembers my great grandmother!

- Lived at a beautiful temple in the wooded hills over-looking Chiang Mai, Thailand for 21 days studying Vipassana meditation and Buddhism while rubbing shoulders with everyone who’s anyone in the monk world.