Home From Bali!

Well it certainly was an exciting 12 days. The trip there was about 37 hours all together. The longest being a 14 hour stretch on EVA air. But I was middle class so the seat reclined and other than the guy next to me coughing all the time it was very pleasant. The layover in Taiwan was fun. All the shops were manned by young kids in suits, black with pink shirts. Very high tech looking and professional. Arriving to Denspar was hot.. the air port was hot and there was my first real exposure to Bali. Lots of fast driving cars.. tons of scooters. Mothers with high heels and kids on scooters, and 3 people piled on with no shoes. The scooters drove really fast too and even when it rained they still drove fast. I asked on driver how come I never see anyone walking on the streets.. he said it is cuz they scoot everywhere. The hotel was considered a 5 star in Bali. It was really a beautiful resort with lots of old Indonesian charm and charter. The registration was open air, and there were many lush gardens and the ocean. I had a Balinese massage to start the time off. Monday started the 6 day "Date With Destiny" program with Tony Robbins. 800 people were there and it was fantastic. Long days. Most nights we got back to the hotel about 12:30. In fact the day after the event I was going on a tour and forgot something in my room. When I went to get it I realized that something was different.. I had not gone to my room in the day time up till that point. For 2 days after the event I was able to see some of the Bali lifestyle.
Went to the market.. Where you need to offer 1/3 of whatever the item is marked. Had the privilege of visiting several bathrooms. OMG Pay for the toilet, ( I have a feeling any guy puts a box there and charges you) and you have to pay more for paper. The toilet usually doesn't flush and there is a bucket of water there for you to pour some into the toilet. And the floor is usually very wet from people spraying water around. I saw a sign in the airport that said.. This toilet is free. And then there was a sign in another bathroom showing how you are supposed to sit on the toilet not squat on it. In some of the department stores again I saw a huge amount of young workers in uniforms.. A driver told me they get about 120 per month to work full time.
I had lunch in a mountain resort overlooking the rice fields.. and it rained so beautifully.
All in all in all... I had a great time.. and I am really happy to be living in a place where you can count on a reasonable bathroom (other than the occasional gas station), and where you drink bottled water for fun rather than it being a must. The Bali people that I met were very sweet and soft spoken. Tony was outstanding... and I think EVA air was great though I never want to fly American Airlines again. Ill post photos as soon as I can get them off the camera.