Dreams at the Door

Knocking at the Door

Once upon a dream

a young man stirred quietly in the field

waiting for that moment to become he

waiting for that instance

when the world turns its head

and allows his quiet confidence to be the ear

for all his village to see

however, he waits forever for this moment

Years pass by

Centuries disappear

and this man who once desired to be free

has now becomes the man he always wanted to be

awake from the destruction

akin to the world

awaiting his life to unfold into the grace he always foretold

for his mother was right

and his father told him so

he has become the man the world always wanted him to sow

he fell broadly upon the plains

he bloodied strongly amongst the estrange.

for now he admits the answer that he so boldly always knew

was waiting at the cold of his destructing former ego once sold...

for, the time is now

the dream is here

the instance of his day pushed quietly at the mist running astray

for this man to which we push away

may just be the man we always wanted to see.

So surpass the bias

undermine the fortunes less told

and belittle yourself into the mass appeal for letting go

for the ego is lost

the self has disappeared

this man to which we seek

is only the one knocking at your front door...

ESCAPING

CONTRADICTION

In an escape from the contradiction

and an applause from her freedom

she dreams of the day to come

alive into the pieces that placed her together

her mangled tears

intermeshed into the illusions of her past

she yearns for the moment, when peace overwhelms her soul

when the aching to become free in this present world

Overextends the magical moment of simply being she

when she can overcome the bursting of fears

to walk gently into the shadow of her darkest hour

when the earth speaks softly into her awaiting ear

when the sun opens her shadow to broadcast her beauty broadly upon the world

when her realization that today marks the day of dropping all games

her power of awakening comes full circle into the beauty of the day

for this moment stirs silently like all others

awaiting for that push of desire

and that stir of inspiration,

for the very thought that today is unlike all others

and this magnificence shines openly for all to see

is the answer we all know some openly

for the illusion of her contradiction is only just a broadcast away

its only just a simple year away from the moment when her heart melts

her fear trembles away,

and she is left melting into the illusion

s of comfort

that used to wrap her astray

for this moment is here

this moment is now

stand up and applaud for the crowd has awakened

to the beauty of she...

Moments of inspiration...

Some recent poetic inspiration for all of you.

This is a small taste of how I put my books together, using my poetry as a voice of spirit, and my photography as a way to synergize that which we can never quite put to words

So as you read through,

feel the flow

gather the taste

and simply unwind into yourself...

Breaking the VEIL

Whisked away by the tempting through the breeze

The soft caress of your gentle thighs sends shivers through my spine

As the veil to which you operate your life

Begins to unwind itself upon the projected beauty of your existence

You come full circle into the unbelievable reasoning

that stems success within your life

As you begin to realize that which you desire greatest

is simply the false yielding of your unprojected truths

You will fall suddently into this calm docile world of truth and friction

For the growth to which you want to possess

Calmly falls to the process that you wish you would become

but as this gentle earth heals the wounds that tore you in two

you begin to realize that all that you seek is simply falling gently

into this petite heart of yours

but as the time passes by

and the years begin to fade

the torture to which you want to run from

only violates the ground to which you walk

as the core of your existence is only a falling facade

into the charms of just the docile few

so put down that guard that challenges your evolution

allow the free flow of spirit’s walk

bring gentle and passive peace to the parts inside that hurt

let the freedom of your existence be the breaking point of your greatest demise

for the pain to which you fear

is simply the dreams to which you forget to surrender.

For the unyielding dream of God, only grants us but one wish

falling forever in love with the soul that surrounds the flesh of our meaningless body...

PULSATING MOMENT

The feeling that pulsates within

let it be the magic that amplifies the vibrance of your greatest gift

let it be the sunlight that charms the spirits only seeking for peace

let it be the goal of your unprecedented fears

For the pulsations that soothes your soul

and calms the placid part of your dwindling self

Is the calm cool collect part of your being

that yearns for a moment to come alive

that yearns for the moment when you push away your boundaries

and become lifeless to the amplitude of your spirit

pushing you to fulfill your greatest inner desires

for as you listen to this voice and

push away those cobwebs of endless demise

you fall gently into the hands of ever present circles of grace

the grace that pours you into the calm, swift angles of lull

Giving your purpose a driving force into the parts inside of you

that yearn to come alive

yearn to be the falling grace into life and love

so be one with that pulsation

allow it to be the soothing endless sensation that picks you up

and throws you into an endless world of personal captivation

captivation that yields your highest self

the one that shows up fully for the meeting

becomes alive when the day begins,

and falls in gently at night

in full knowing that earth has seen my greatest self

and the purity of this moment pulsates you to be free!

Awakening in Lombok..

As a writer, photographer and simply a child and student of this globe, I love the moments in this beautiful life when awakening happens. It can be those moments that sometimes come strikingly out of the blue. When you feel directly on purpose and full of life and light, yet there is nothing that is really wrapping at your soul for greater self discovery. It is in these moments, in neutral peace, that suddenly your greatest opportunity for evolution pokes you out of the corner of your eye. These moments can occur daily, hourly and even by the hour, however for many they occur often yearly. It also happens in those moments that life literally takes your breath away.

Now I will admit, there have been times in my life where awakening happens all the time, yet more often that not, it occurs very seldom. However, I do feel that when I feel grounded, on purpose and surrounded by souls who are also seeking for greater expansion, these moments tend to multiply.

So let me describe one of these moments that fully awakened my soul on my last traveling trip....

First, I begin by bringing your senses to the lush island world of Bali. This is an island with well over 150 different shades of lush beautiful green at every step of your day.

As you enter into the rice fields, you become surrounded with spirits and souls so sweet for your liking, that their vibration just pours out of them directly into you. Let me be clear by stating that these are not often money rich people, these are just spirits directly tapped into universal guidance and truth, yet there life is quite bare bones and basic. They connect daily to the divine and their life is honored and lived through the waking brilliance of God and spirit...

Ok, blah, blah, blah, I get it Aaron, they are exquisite beings living in a poverty stricken world.

Plainly, yes: more deeply; no, but that my friend is simply for you to feel and know through your own travel experience.

So, after spending a few weeks playing in the waters, fields and mountains of Bali, I decided to take my trip into the neighboring island of Lombok. With a motorbike, a small backpack, a sweet Nikon D90 and the courage and willingness to open my heart to the beauty of Lombok, I departed on a multi-day journey!

Upon arriving, I, being a prudent navigator, looked charmingly upon the map of the island and found the shortest route to our first destination, Kuta, Lombok. Kuta is a small quaint fishing village beach area, with a strong international surfing community and the taste of relaxation and bliss in the area. It makes the island of Bali look like NYC. For those of you who have been to Bali, but not Lombok; here is an opportunity to just get a light taste of what is possible.

My traveling friend, Pierette and I looked at the map, picked the shortest route and off we want along the far south western corner of Lombok, to find a culture and community of people just waiting to be discovered. As we ventured along the road, we noticed that these roads were far less cared for and developed than almost any road we were on in Bali. We noticed as the time got later in the day, the potholes on the road got larger and larger and then just almost impassable. Now, for those of you who have not traveled on the joy of a small motorbike, let me first just say, these are not exactly all terrain vehicles. (However, it was only about 4 years prior on the island of Sumatra, where I completely immersed my motorbike in a gigantean puddle, only to realize that after I let the glow plugs dry, it would start up again. It was a good thing as I was surrounded by complete jungle, about 4 hours away from any kind of civilization.)

Basically these are good transport bikes, but they always bring you some sort of engineering surprise while on the road. As my Estonian friend and I ventured through these villages we were happily greeted by not just local young boys and girls saying, “Hello Mr, How are you?” but also local elderly people with some of the largest grins of joy surrounding their faces. I had never been to a place in the world where the older people were just as friendly, kind and sweet as those of the spirit filled childlike souls. I recall vividly, one older woman, clearly well into her 70’s with the age of sun, earth and life surrounding her body, only holding one large tooth in her mouth, giving us one of the largest smiles of purity and authenticity that I had ever seen. It was through these eyes of self reflection and spirit, that joy just came pouring through her, as clearly she was overjoyed to had the opportunity to see these Westerners come strolling though her small little village. As we continued down the road, we began thinking to ourselves, this must be a very underdeveloped community, as it would take some serious time and nerve to be willing to pass along this road. However, this confused us, as we had been reading into that this area of Kuta was being developed as a huge resort area. Clearly, any “normal” tourists would have turned around along time ago on this road, so it simply did not make sense how people were getting out there. It was not until the following days, when we realized that taking the longer, yet paved road, that this was the way of “normal” travel for those going to Kuta...

After my experience and fun in Kuta, we met with two of Pierette’s Indonesian friends whom she knew from her work in Singapore. Our next journey would be to the Gili Islands for some of the world’s finest diving. We met with them, journeyed to the far north western portion of the island and took our ferry to the Gili’s. Now, this was all the while of tasting local cuisine, engaging in a negotiation battle with a ferry captain and just simply soaking in the sunshine of this enchanted place!

The Gili’s were fantastic, filled with rich culture,

a bit of a western party scene, (which we engaged in for one evening, and then had enough), and just a calmness and serenity that is unmatched almost anywhere in the world. On one of our evening’s on Gili Air, which is the middle sized island of the three, I had an experience, that as I indicated in the start of this entry, was an awakening point for me. A moment of absolute gratitude and soul recognition that poured slowly over every morsel of my body.

The evening was set right, we all settled into our beautiful bungalow, we caught some late afternoon-evening snorkeling and we picked out our prize fish for an evening of lush and overzealous feasting. The fish on these islands were incredible; I could dive with them during the day, and the locals picked out the “right” ones at night for the Westerner’s delight. I emphasize on right, as this practice could be contrived as a little strange to some, but when the fish is good, its just good all around, such is the flow of life on this planet!

While waiting for our fish to cook over the freshly prepared grill, I excused myself from the conversation and made my way to the toilet. Nothing was unusual here, until I made my way back to our table bungalow at the beach. I began to feel my body quiver inside and feel very “uneasy.” It was a feeling I had had before, when feeling or being sick, just a general nausea. This began to increase, as my friends food came first, and I realized that even after a day of diving, swimming and exploring, I was not feeling hungry. It was as though I was loosing my appetite as the evening went on. In addition, I began to feel dizzy, with a sense of headache and lightheadedness coming over me. When my plate of food finally arrived, I had absolutely no appetite and my body was really warming up. However, through every moment of warming up, I would get these chills running through my body. As the evening progressed, the chills were getting more intense and the fever was increasing. Soon enough, I excused myself from the table and tried to venture to get some sleep. Once I laid down, the real nightmares and fear began to take over my body. I knew something was happening inside of me, and as I began to run through the possibilities, it felt like the symptoms of Malaria.

I called my friend in Bali, who had told me about her boyfriend getting malaria one time, just to see if the symptoms I had were the same as his: and they were spot on, every single one of them was similar, if not the same as what was happening through my body. I was completely overwhelmed in this situation and was constantly seeking and asking for spirit’s guidance for this journey my humanness was struggling through. It was through this evening and challenge of my body breaking down, where I began to be floored with insight and guidance into a greater purpose and feel for this life I was leading.

Spirit decided to place three intelligent, witty and extremely charming women into my life, whom I would call my three guardian angels. Since Pierette’s friends were Indonesian, they could speak the language and help arrange for me an early morning transport to the ferry and to get off the island. One of them had great experience with message, relaxation and reiki treatment, so she assisted in calming my body.

I realized at about midnight of this fiasco, that with this parasite running amok through my system it was decreasing my life force energy and I was loosing stability through my whole system. I decided I needed to get to a hospital and get a blood sample taken by the morning. This decision however lead to an evening of being pampered by my angels while trying hard to fall asleep. I had an overwhelming fear of not waking up, running through every morsel of my being. My angels tried to calm my anxiety, but I knew something was going wrong with me. I was without the knowledge, doctors or the wisdom to know what was happening...

My temperature was extremely high,

Cold flashes were running through my system

I was lightheaded and dizzy beyond belief..

and I was on a third world island in Indonesia, far away from any kind of medical support..

So I turned my thoughts to pure gratitude.

I began to think about all those whom I love.

I began to have absolute and full appreciation for this play of spirit to put me in this situation, yet surround me with three beings who were nurturing me every step of the way.

I began to just simply surround my soul in the pure light of humanity, grace and love.

And simply, as crazy as it sounds, I let go into this perfect moment of soul awakening...

Now for some, I know this may sound kind of crazy, however, it simply worked. Through every thought of gratitude that poured through me, my heart began to slow down a beat, my body began to cool to a more sacred temperature and my overall well being just felt a bit more at peace. This was either meeting, matching or po

ssibly beating whatever virus was trying to have its way with me...

By sunrise, I had slept for maybe 30 minutes through the evening, my body was tired and I was exhausted. My temperature had slightly decreased, but I knew it was time to leave the island to get some extra help...

After an hour ferry and a three hour car ride, we arrived at Lombok hospital to the sight of a local woman being dragged into the hospital by a few other men, with dripping blood covering the not so clean hospita

l floor.

So my convictions of third world hospitals, were fairly accurate...

I had always heard stories of “these” kind of hospitals, but now the stories were live and in person, with my life at hands. My local friends helped me along the way, buying the needles I needed for my blood sample and finding me an almost clean area to wait while the tests came in...

After around two hours of waiting and hearing stories from them about the real hospitals and health system of Indonesia, I was ready to get out of this sickening place.

My body was weakening through every “sick” soul who walked through the door..

The tests had come in, it was not Malaria, but Dengue Fever was not ruled out. We escaped away from the hospital, found some half way nutritious food and began about the rest of the day.

Somehow by about 8 pm on this awakening day, I was feeling almost back to health. I had no idea, way or how, something that had overwhelmed every part of me, was now feeling like just a memory of my being.

Either way, I was grateful. This situation, may be a bit intense for some, others not so much, but what it gave me was this sense of respect, indignation, and purpose for the following days and years of my life. I realized from this situation, that this voice of intuition that guides me so clearly, is there for my use.

I realized that these situations are only and always for our own growth, and I truly felt through these moments the overwhelming power and resource of gratitude.

Let me share, that there were hundreds of other insights and wisdoms that occurred through these moments, but it was through this willingness to overcome and say yes to it all that got me through the fever, through the chills, through the pain, into a space of complete peace, gratitude and thankfulness.

I did not realize that this situation was simply prepping me for the journey and challenging experience I would endure at 16,000 feet in the Himalaya Mountains later on this traveling voyage, but thats more for another writing inspired day...

the child within you...

On the evening before my next excursion into the Himalayas,

my mind rests with greater ease, for I have seen the flow of these mountains,

I have received a feel for the way of the hiker

and I grasp a greater understanding of the road ahead

Its a road I will be traveling with 1,000 more meters of elevation than before

its a road with many more tourists along the way

but this trail meets everyone at a different pace

at a different stroke

with a different meaning

for in this hour and days of play

as our world begins to see catastrophe

and our minds begin to find answers

we seek meaning to our lives

we seek purpose to our walk

we seek a bigger vision for our existence

for life can simply take us by surpise

and Poof, we disappear

but the real question lies

are we living our dreams?

are we questing for OUR answers

are we seeking the meanings to the questions we do not know....

or has the innocence of the child within you

drifted away

fallen to pieces

been overwhelmed by fear?

or will it overcome these challenges

find its inner resources,

and begin to live

to breathe

and to love

with determination in your veins

with a fire of heartful flow in your fingers

and the willingness to let go

to surrender

and fall gracefully into the hands of the unknown

For me, unknown means

adventure

insight

evolution

answers

and most importantly

a forver questing to see

to feel

to comprehend a universe

so big

so wise and

so full of an endless stream of flowing love.

This adventure is yours...

are you living it?

are you loving it?

Are you waking up to your own greatness each and every day?

Only you know these answers

only you can feel that heart

listen to it

feel for it

and love with it...

see you soon...

on the eve of the Himalayas...

I wrote this the evening before I left for my first trek into the Himalayas...

As I sit here on the evening of my first Himalayan trekking adventure, my heart swells up with gratitude. I recall being a young man in I believe 8th grade reading a book entitled “surfing the Himalayas.” It was a story about seeking and attempting to understand “nirvana.”

Now, as I think back to this experience, I have a slight chuckle, as it was only around ten years later or so I finished a program in Spiritual Psychology, while helping people share stories about being grateful for things such as murder, death and rape.

Crazy how this world works, but anyways let me regress by sharing the strange and incredibly insightful path that lead me to this quiet home here in Kathmandu, the evening before I embark on my first Himalayan adventure...

So, while beginning to plan out the possibilities for this trip, I receive a message from a long time friend of mine who inquires where I may be in the world. After brief back and forth discussion on Facebook, she proposes the idea of doing volunteer work in Nepal. Now, my original plan on this trip was spending around 2-3 months in India, but like the way spirit works, there was another plan in mind.

While working in Singapore, doing my two weeks of time as a reserve naval officer, I attempted to apply for my India visa at the consulate, as the books and traveling friends had suggested. This seemed perfect to me until the lovely Indian consulate head informed me that this would not be possible and I would need to get my Visa from an embassy in the states since I was not a Singaporean resident.

So, my mind began to run, and this was right around the time I receive this message from my friend about Nepal.

Now, let me regress one additional time, a short traveling tip that I learned the very hard way this past summer at the border of Turkey and Syria. I know I am diverting in many directions here, but just stay with me and you will feel why gratitude tears down my face in this quiet lonely moment in Kathmandu.

So, while trying to cross the border from Turkey to Syria, I was with a group of around 12 people from countries across the globe, France, Korea, Canada, Australia, etc. There was just only two Americans; my friend James and I.

Well my stubborn difficult lesson transgressed when the border official gave every other individual in my group a visa at the border and told my American friend and I to simply walk away, and get our Visa in Istanbul.

Now, clever Aaron comes rolling in, and thinks “maybe I will just try another border, and the guards will be friendly...”

Well after three borders in two days, covering entirely too many scary, dark, and just down right strange border towns in Turkey, I was still without my Syrian Visa (even though I had met other American travelers, who had received their Visa at the border, so my stubbornness had an ounce of research.)

James and I were stuck, the only other way I could catch my flight from Tel Aviv back to the states was through Istanbul, so we bused our way back to Istanbul, loved the city where the west meets the east, and kept a challenging yet lesson filled story behind our belts.

So, after that just short regression, my point I was bringing forward was when there is Visa difficulty, I have learned now to just take the consulate official’s advice and simply figure something else. And in this case, I was not about to fed ex my visa across the world back to the Indian Embassy in DC, and hope it would return in time for me after my two weeks of work.

So instead, my plans were two weeks in Bali, followed by a short flight back to Singapore then off to the mountains of Nepal.

Well once again, spirit had new arrangements for me in mind: After two weeks in Bali, I wanted more, at least another week for diving, exploring the neighboring island of Lombok, and filling my heart and soul with Indonesian culture and adventure. Upon checking my email just a few days before I would be flying out, my long time friend messaged me indicating she had a terrible health problem and she would have to delay her flight to Nepal. My initial reaction was one of support, blessings and love for her, but now I realized I could take some more time in Bali, and fly out a week later.

TRAVEL TIP # 459

Always book your tickets directly with the airlines, as usually when you are not in the United States, the airline company will charge you only a minimal fee for a flight change, not the at a minimum $150 fee one often occurs in the states, which often is closed to the price of the initial ticket fare.

So, after changing my tickets, adventuring and playing in Bali for another week, it was time to begin my Nepalese adventure.

I left Bali with strong new delightful friendships, and the taste of sweet mountain air on my eager and awaiting tongue.

Now, see, I am almost back to where I started....

I arrived in Kathmandu, and WOW, its a dirty, smog ingested, motorbike honking gorgeous valley surrounded my small mountains close by with the Himalayas towering in the near distance. My friend Birendra, a couch surfing friend met me at the airport and introduced me to this beautiful land of Nepal and the craziness that exists in Kathmandu. I explored the Thamel area, walked amongst beautiful temples nearby and ate in some of the dirtiest pigeon holed restaurants I could find. The food has been great, the people filled with character and the photography astounding...

So, after just a day in Kathmandu, I once again receive a message from my friend, and she informs me she is listening to her body and health, and flying across the globe is not going to be for her highest good. I once again completely understand, and once again I am at the drawing board, as I had planned to meet her on Friday, a few days after I had arrived in Kathmandu.

So my drawing board was empty and now I filled it up.

Ahh, I sit her now about to hop on a bus in about 6 hours and begin two days of volunteering in a local village, followed by a seven day trek.

Since the power is out in the small house I am sleeping in (this is a interesting part of life in Kathmandu, planning your days around the power outages), I will not post this blog until I return from the mountains, at which time I will be writing and sharing about the magical experience, especially since I am going to be up with the Tibetans for their new year festival!

Wow, this whole experience, this whole journey to this moment, alone, about to embrace upon a new Himalayan world brings a few things forward.

Yes, I would have loved to share this experience with both of the two sisters who were supposed to join me.

Yes, my heart fills with joy to the thought of trekking and hiking for the next week through remote and beautiful mountain side villages,

Yes, I am beyond grateful that I have the opportunity to experience these places and people in this lifetime,

and Yes, I am even more grateful to have this forum to share some of my experiences with each of you and bring travel life to your own personal PC.

but beyond anything, gratitude pours through my being for simply saying yes to experiencing the joy, bliss, surrender, sorrow, shame, freedom and pure spirit exhilaration that lurks around every corner of this globe.

Like I mention to all of you often in this blog

Adventure

Clarity

Freedom

Truly exists around every corner of our life

Whether it be taking a new way home from work today

Whether it be trying that new breakfast organic cereal that is too expensive

or whether it be taking the flight to Kenya, instead of Queensland

let it be known

that our souls desire the freedom to be

the freedom to live within the glory and the creation of our deepest dreams and deepest darrk truths

by laying our life on the table and simply being the ones to play with our food

our dreams become our reality

our reality becomes our life

and our life brings us to the abundance of appreciation that awaits for you inside of each and every day of this magnificent creation of life!

Volcanic trails...

Ubud, Bali

Volcano trip to Mt. Batur

It started at 2 am, with a new motorbike at my heels

and a beautiful young estonian lady on my back,

with a thought of mountain climbing

I conjured up a few other hopeful souls

an american-canadian, only out for what he believed was a 3 am hike 2 hour hike

with a night shirt and his red vibram five fingers laced to his feet,

on his back, a romanian ex real estate agent, finding her way in the world

with cigarettes attached at her hip, an “I love Bali” white bag crossing her shoulders,

we were all in for a whirl of adventure, having only met all the night before

at an asian style karaoke evening....

The last comrade in our adventure; a jakarta indonesian, Mimi, with zero motorbike experience, funny one would think

Indonesian=I am born on a motorbike!

but not in jakarta, where cars are more of the norm, little did I know...

Our destination: Mt. Batur!

I led the way, having only done the trip a few days prior with my local friend leading the way

at 3 am, through the hills and streets of Bali, most of the world asleep,

with yesterday’s dreams of a expat sales of their fine wood carvings left hanging in their windows

it was a calm, graceful drive through the night

until the ill prepared pseudo american guy, Dave, realized that his once half tank full of petro

was slowly decreasing, as the hike he thought was just up the street, was a good hour and a half via motorbike.

as his petro decreased, the other ill prepared indonesia woman, Mimi, realized her tank was slowly drifting down and petro was imminent for the completion just to the volcano trail head

we came across some local men moving some late night bags of rice off the side of the street, our local friend Mimi discussed with them our petro issue and they

the proposed way to the all night petro station....

and then just a matter of minutes later, Mimi, far ahead of the rest of us, came to a startling stop,

staring at her back tire

this bike would no longer be moving, with a large gash across the back tire...

So, we created a young fruitful “indonesia” family and all three of us continued on my one bike, with the american/romanian combo on the other motorbike dreaming of a drink of petro

soon, after realizing that the petro station that we knew would be closed, was actually closed,

we came across a local indonesian, trying to make a midnight western sale of us, attempting to sell us a package to the base of the mountain.

after simple deliberation and a generous overpriced offer, he informed us of his local home, and the possibility that a large can of petro maybe waiting for us to fill up....

so, after just a few small late night hiccups, we were back on our way to the trail head of the volcano.

upon reaching the trail head, the standard group of aspiring indonesian greeted us

trying to swing their way around the system and sell us a guide to the mountain

gracefully and willingly, we made our way to the base center, found a guide and began our way up the mountain...

The climb was joyous, slightly lava rock filled, as my experienced legs were used to through many similar hawaiian style hikes...

upon reaching the summit, night time still fell upon us, as the glimpse of sunrise was still a distant dream...

So, Piret (the beautiful Estonian woman), and I waited at the top for the rest of them to join,

the american guy realized the lava rocks were slowly outbeating his “five fingers”

and the joyously complaining Romanian, was filled with sneers and comments throughout the hike from her sneakers, that she happened to forget needed socks...

So after around twenty minutes of waiting, they appreared from mountain climb...

The summit was magical, the clouds drifted slowly across the village

the white haze surrounding every inch of us, just waiting for those few minutes short enough to snap a profound picture and capture this glorious achievement.

Summits, for me,

release a real sense of achievement

the inner child within gets to look down over the mountain he just climbed

with joy in his heart

and overwhelming appreciation through his spirit

truly capturing the sense and release of one’s true inner freedom.

So, as we ventured around the ridgeline, Piret happened to find some other

traveling Estonian’s, and in a country so “large”, such an occurrence is absolutely natural :), not so much..

so her joy was overwhelming, finding her homeland comrades on top of this mystical mountain top in the beautiful land of Bali

And after paying outrageously for an overpriced tea and attempting to get warm in the clouds, we began our descent

slowly along the way, we picked up the other stragglers, Mimi, who decided not to climb the ridgeline, and Dave and Catalina, who only made it to the pseudo summit

considering, he is a pseudo american, this seemed righteously fitting, in love and just :)

The descent was not quite as adventurous, but upon reaching the bottom, we discovered a beautiful floating restaurant and filled our bellies with delicious and spicy indonesian fish!

After a long morning and a long day, it only seemed perfect for the clouds to rain down upon us on our way back. We decided to join others and find this beautiful white sand beach on the east side of the island.

It was here, that I realized that Dave thought our 2 am departure would mean he would be back home by around 9 am. Considering it was now nearly 5 pm in the afternoon, with still a 2 hour motorbike ride back to Ubud, where we had met and were sleeping, he was filled with strong loving opinions for me.

I took them with a kindred spirit, as he had a sense of playfulness in his heart and really had quite an adventure on the day.

After a local beachside message for about $7 US, and a fresh young cocunut for $1, the time had come to make our way home.

It was at this point, that the God’s really decided to cry down upon us, and literally we were driving through torrential downpour

Joy, was still the name of the game, as I sang at the traffic lights, with a smile on my face, the beautiful souls of Bali were filled with the same sense of joy that came striking through me...

Once we finally reached back to Ubud, a delicious indonesia

n homestyle meal greeted us at a local restaurant, as we laughed and delighted with other couch-surfing friends in Ubud...

I did not realize, that in that local evening meal, I was signing myself up for a three part adventure starting at 9 am the next day...