Indonesia

  • Asia,  Indonesia

    The time I ACTUALLY stopped talking: My First Silent Retreat

      Duck Tape.  That’s what we thought may be the only thing to keep this mouth of mine shut for our silent retreat, but luckily I didn’t need to walk around for days with it on and I ended up learning to be quiet on my own. I had thought about going to a silent retreat when a friend went in Thailand and when she said it was an “interesting and challenging experience” I knew I wanted to see if I could test myself and really try to go outside of my comfort zone by being in complete silence for several days.  Thinking more about it I realized that even…

    read more
  • Asia,  Indonesia

    Nyepi: Celebrating a New Year in Bali with a Silent Day in Bali

     Only .7% of the American population practices Hinduism, so it is a religion that I had been pretty unfamiliar with. Before going to Indonesia, I knew that it was predominately a Muslim country, but the island of Bali is largely Hindu and I was intrigued to learn more. When one of my trips coincided with New Year in Bali, it was an opportunity to find out about the unique religion on the island and the traditions that coincide with the holiday.  Balinese Culture and Hinduism  Balinese Hinduism is a unique religion that is deeply rooted in their culture. Hindu is a deity religion, where there are different gods and spirits.…

    read more
  • Asia,  Indonesia,  Malaysia

    Monkey Business: Borneo and a day with the Orangutans

    Borneo The region evokes images of sprawling jungle, dark forests with murky rivers running through them, exotic animals lurking in tall, towering trees.  I’ve always envisioned it to be a mysterious place full of wildlife and dense uninhabited rain forests, a place where you could explore the unknown. Borneo is about the size of Texas, and is comprised of three countries, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei and houses some of the world’s oldest rain forests.  This small island makes up about 1% of earth’s land but the tropical paradise is home to over 6% of all the world’s species making it a region with incredible biodiversity.  Here’s a couple of facts that…

    read more