I'm back! Day 10...I think...

Wow, it's been a few days since the last time I blogged, and so much has happened. On the 1st of May a friend from Huntington Beach flew in from Perth, Australia. Matt, a photographer, will be staying with me for a few weeks here in Bali. And I couldn't be happier, he's a great guy and he loves getting in the water and getting photos of me surfing. I've got some great shots so far and should have them up asap. I've spent the last few days basically showing him around the area, getting him accustomed to his new surroundings. He's lucky, I wish I had someone to pick me up at the airport and show me to my hotel.

Well, here are some of my photos from the last couple of days.

This first photo is of Matt and I on our balcony just enjoying the Bali heat. We've been just talking about Orange County, mutual friends, and how much traveling means to us.


I took Matt to Uluwatu, where he got some great water shots and was even able to sell a few to some Aussies, making us some money for food and Bintang. This is a photo of the sunset at Uluwatu on that day. Simply priceless...



So today, Friday the 4th, we rented a truck and Salmon took us to Tanah Lot, a sacred Hindu Temple, and Monkey Forest, in Ubud. Here's a photo of us on our way. There's nothing like the driving in Bali, it's like the Indi 500 without seatbelts or an emergency medical team. But we're still smiling!


Our first stop, Tanah Lot, was the filming location for Raider's of the Lost Ark, or one of the Indiana Jones movies. It's been here for centuries, and a very respected and holy area. The temple is built on an outcropping rock formation. As you can see below, if the tide was high, there's no way off the temple. I could only imagine the storms that this place has survived.


One of the priests approached me on the beach and asked me to follow him. I grabbed Matt and he lead us over the reef to the temple. They asked us to drink the water of the holy temple, followed by a dosing of holy water, a simple prayer, placed rice on our forhead and a flower in our ear. It was a very surreal experience that I will never forget. I snapped a shot afterwards. Here it is.


On the way back to the car we saw this scooter, it had a great license plate and it's actually from the movie Indiana Jones.



Once we left Tanah Lot we headed for Monkey Forest. I've been waiting for that quite awhile and I can now say I don't want to see any more monkeys! Lol. Don't get me wrong, they're a great animal and fun to feed, but they're very aggressive and if you don't have food, well, they'll just take your hat, camera, glasses, whatever they want. I had this little bastard jump on my head and try to steal my hat. I had to take a photo of the little guy so I could remember the monkey who tried to steal my stuff. He seriously came down from a tree onto my head and I couldn't get him off. We all got a good laugh, I'm just glad I still have my hat!

Here's a photo of the rainforest that we were in. It really couldn't be any more beautifull, with monkeys swinging on the branches and greenery as far as you could see. What a great experience that was. Thanks for all your help Salmon!



Hope you liked the update, I will have my surfing photos shortly. We're trying to get them off of Matt's laptop. Hopefully tomorrow!