Since we left you last...

It has been a few days. Sorry about that; we were out being amazed by Bali. We left you last after our day trip to Ubud (see last blog entry). So much has happened in between. But let me summarize the basics like this: sleep, yoga, surf, eat, beach, chill, repeat. Good, that’s covered, so now I can only focus on the extraordinary events of the last couple days: our pilgrimage to Ulu Watu and our last day at the Surf Goddess Retreat (I’m sure you feel our pain!).

Ulu Watu:

Have you ever been feeling pretty darn good about yourself only to be swiftly and slightly painfully reminded that you’re a mere mortal? You know, thinking, “yep, I’m looking pretty hot today” and then seeing an old photo of, say, Brigitte Bardot that puts you right back in your place here on earth? Or thinking you were so clever to have just filled in the last clue on a crossword puzzle only to be reminded that some kid from Cleveland just improved on Einstein’s theory of relativity? That’s exactly how I felt when we came out to Ulu Watu to watch the real surfers. I was thinking I had started to get this surfing thing down. Ha. Ha! Watching these guys was aaaa-mazing. The waves were huge (in this very poor photo, those teeny-tiny itsy-bitsy dots are surfers. that huge blue mass behind them is the wave one of them is about to surf).

They showed no fear. I was in complete awe. They were INSIDE the waves. I wish I could take a ride on the back of their boards just to have that feeling. Must be incredible. And, honestly, the spot we had for viewing was pretty great, too. A cliff-side village of little cafes, over-looking the sea (see photos below)

We also went to a traditional Kecak dance at the Ulu Watu temple that evening. Fantastic, but you had to be there. I’ll summarize with these words – “monkey god saves the day after being almost set on fire” and these 2 photos:

And, finally, a dinner at Jimbaron Bay. Choose your own fish from the aquarium; head out to the candle-lit tables on the beach and prepare for a feast of grilled seafood and a cold beer. I feel a cliché coming on: it was the perfect end to the perfect day.

Our last day at Surf Goddess:
Yesterday was our last day at the Surf Goddess retreat. And our last surf here on Bali (as we headed out to the interior of the island). The waves were tough (very powerful and dumping instead of spilling, for those of you for which that means anything) but we all got up and rode a few last waves. We also got our amazing surfing/music videos (of ourselves in which we look like we totally know what we’re doing!) which we will be boring our future children and grand-children with for years to come. The worst part of the day was definitely the goodbyes. We had an amazing group of guides (the women that led us through our week there) and students. On our last dinner together we discussed what had made the group so special and we realized that in our little group of 6 guests, not a single person was negative. We were all excited, energized and optimistic. We all thought the other 5 women were amazing. And they were.

We arrived in Ubud last night. And gave ourselves one day to sleep in (and write in the blog). More soon. Take care of yourselves.