Hands & Wind

Okay, I lied. Yesterday was worthy of its own blog entry, and I don’t want it to get muddled up with the trance festival this weekend! The last real thing on my list to see and do in Bali, outside of going to a 3 day party in the crater of a volcano of course, was to see Tanah Lot. Tanah Lot is a collection of temples built in and on the black cliff shore of the ocean. It was absolutely breathtaking and if you ever come to Bali, I highly recommend seeing it over any other temple.

I left on my two hour journey to the sea without really any idea where I was going. I have given up on my map which was given to me…they have built a lot of new roads since it was published and none of the roads have street signs anyway! So, I made my way by pulling over at every intersection along the way (about 10 turns in all) and asking some kind-hearted soul for which way to go. It was quite amusing to them, I’m sure, to see someone cruising along on motorbike knowing where they wanted to go without a clue how to get there. Luck and the help of strangers was on my side, because I made it!

It was high tide when I arrived at high noon (read: hot) so I could not reach the main temple to partake in the Holy Spring Ceremony which is a supposed highlight of a visit to Tanah Lot. I did, however, spend a long time watching waves crash all around the beautiful main temple. En route to the other temples, I came across an old, bearded Chinese man who was leading a yoga/meditation type thing next to the sea over looking the temple. All of the other participants were Chinese also and I was mesmerized. I stood and watched and snuck pictures for a solid 15 minutes…so peaceful. When it was finished, the old, bearded man came up to me, smiled and grabbed my right hand with both hands and shut his eyes. I followed suit and shut mine too. He held onto me with a firm grip and I could literally feel his presence coming into me. It was awkward at first for me and then amazing. He held onto me, eyes shut the whole time, for a good 45 seconds. Then he opened his eyes, lightened his grip and smiled again. I said ‘thank you sir’ in Chinese. The entire time, he never uttered a word. Maybe he was Japanese?! Heritage aside, it was an incredible experience and something I won’t soon forget. I couldn’t stop smiling the entire ride back to Ubud…

…until tropical storm force winds started blowing strong enough to make Jim Cantore jealous he wasn’t in Bali today. In addition to dodging oncoming traffic, pot holes and dogs, I also had the added luxury of trying to keep the bike vertical due to the wind gusts. I threw on my garbage bag material poncho (compliments of Mendy from the Blue Mountains in AUS!) and braved the wind and rain. I got home safely, slightly unnerved, wet and wearing a poncho that had been ripped apart from all the blowing. Jim, if you’re reading this, I’d say the gusts were easily pushing 34 mph.