• Asia,  Indonesia

    Best of Bali: 8 Things to Love About Indonesian Island Life

    Back to Bali.  I returned to Indonesia for the second time to visit a friend and get back to spending winter in my favorite place: Southeast Asia. I wanted to return and dig into the culture and the country to find out a little bit more after only scratching the surface the year before. It is easy to see why I had returned and I quickly remember what drew me here in the first place.  Here is a list of the best of Bali, and some of the many reasons you’ll continue to travel back to Indonesia year after year. Intriguing Religion Bali is an island of spirituality and its…

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  • Asia,  Indonesia

    Snapshot Sunday: Balinese Cockfight

    Driving back to town one afternoon taking another way through a small village to get back to Ubud, we sped by a line of men, all sitting together with roosters in their laps.  It looked like they were all laughing, talking and enjoying the afternoon all the while sitting petting these chickens.  I immediately hopped out of the car, asked if I could take a photograph, everyone smiled and a few gave me the thumbs up.  I later learned from our driver that they are all grooming their specific birds for cock fighting, an event still practiced here in Bali today.

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  • 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…

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  • 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.…

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