Selamat Datang Di Bali!

It's like falling into a dream. Sitting here writing in the gentle air carrying wafts of flowers and the caress of the garden plants. It can only be Bali. Back in the same compound, in the same village, the whole world seems like a living, breathing painting.

The fact that we awoke at 3:15 am, were out the door at 3:45 to make our 6:15 flight already had us tired and weary. My addled mind was ill prepared to absorb the reality of being back in Bali.

This time, I'm back in Bali with my wife – which in itself is a wonderful dream come true. I have wanted to share one of my favorite places on Earth with her since we met. It's a living fantasy.

Like a game show where the prize packages continue to mount, waiting for us outside the airport was my good friend, Chad. We met when I worked in Taiwan and we later worked together – living between Bali and Singapore developing a business to recruit foreign nurses. Chad and I have remained close friends. But despite years of calls and emails, we haven't seen each other in more than five years.

I have always found the the people you connect to with your heart never change. You always share a familiarity, a comfort, an understanding of one another that transcends time and circumstances, making it so that it never feels as if time has passed. Chad is one of those special people for me.

Chad lives here still in Ulu Watu with his Javanese wife Rina. For awhile they lived in Chad's native Virginia before Chad developed ideas about how to create an off-shore tech recruiting operation in Indonesia. He came back to the very same compound, rented the house next to where I had lived and began a very successful business.

After awhile and some changes to his business, he moved down to oceanside Ulu Water at the southern tip of the island.

The whole ride to our house was filled with exuberant and joyful discussion. He's a smart, warm and fun guy. It's great to have not just a friend – but such a great one waiting here.

Emily and I are staying in the house next to my old one. The owner has renovated the property and built a brand new house where two small guest houses used to be. We reside in our very own two bedroom, two bath, Balinese-modern villa in a compound next to a stone carving village, overlooking the rice terraces.

We have WiFi and the connection speeds has so far been very good. The smell of the air, the memories, and the excitement for the present and future are even better.

There are no words that encompass Bali. It's about colors, smells, textures. It's also about culture, people and the Balinese drive for beauty. The Balinese worship the Hindu gods, and in so doing, they worship everything esthetic. I once read that they spend 30 percent of their time working and the other 70 engaged in family, community, worship and art.

We are on the outskirts of Ubud – the cultural center of Bali where the sound of gamelan from the nightly dance performances fills the night air. Painting, stone carving, wood carving and fabric art abound. These days so do wonderful restaurants, yoga studios, boutiques and artisan jewelry shops. Ubud's wonders are admired and enjoyed not just by tourists, but by a thriving expat community

"Oh, I'm wanna' go shopping! Do we have to work?! I need to go shopping! I need to see all of this! There's so much to do!" Emily kept saying.

"I don't want to work – at all!" Emily said several times.

"Neither does anyone here." I replied.

"That's what happens here," Chad chimed in within seconds. He later added his key piece of advice for Emily, "Don't go crazy doing stuff at first. It's easy to go crazy…"

Chad spent most of his first week in Bali sitting, staring out of the house he and I shared at the time – watching the rice terraces and jungle lands. He didn't want to go anywhere.

There's no explaining Bali. All I can say is that I've never seen anyone whose jaw doesn't drop. There's a quality to it that can only be understood in person – much the way that I've never seen anyone photograph our compound or my old house in any way that truly captures it. People have tried. All you can do is get little pieces. The whole cannot be captured or conveyed. You can only experience it.

"I don't want to ever leave this compound," Emily finally said at sunset.

As I mentioned, this is a common reaction.

"What about food?"

"Okay, except maybe to grocery shop….and to buy dresses…."

"What about massages and dances?"

"Okay….maybe….but not too much…."

I happens to the best of them.

Because our house is significantly outside town, we need transportation. We're doing as I used to and renting a motorcycle until we our expected guests arrive at which time we'll also rent a car. Our brand new motorcycle cost $50 per month. Only, we had to take a different one for the first day.
"This motorcycle is new and I need to take it to be blessed," Kadek the motorcycle man explained. "I hope you don't mind. But it's full moon. I will take it to ceremony tonight and have it blessed. Better for me, better for you."

I couldn't imagine it any other way. I'll run back and switch bikes tomorrow. We'll take our new bike properly blessed after a visit to his village Hindu temple.

This is Bali. Today begins two months of falling down the mystic rabbit hole. We have walked into a land which despite progressive development, particularly in the southern parts of the island – continues to elude time.

Time goes by slowly one day, quickly the next, five minutes warps into an hour and days turn out to be only an afternoon. People here believe in the Hindu gods. They believe in ghosts. They believe in magic.

Having lived here for two years, I came to understand. Being here with Emily, I have proof.

Our housekeeper just finished making our dinner and it's waiting out on the gazebo overlooking the rice terraces. So I have to go now.

Salamat Datang di Bali.

*All photos of house and compound

Sent from my iPad