Dispatches from Bali.

Hello out there, I am going to start posting some photos and writing from my trip to Bali.  Some of you may have already seen these photos but for the rest of you, here you go.  They will not be posted in chronological order.

I spent yesterday, last night and the majority of today on a tiny island called Gili Air.  I had planned to stay three nights but it was quite a bit more expensive than Lombok or Bali and it was hard paying $60 for a room, when for the previous 3 nights, I had been paying $15 for a bigger room.

The island though, was quite beautiful.  I went snorkeling twice.  Well, the first time I went swimming with a mask and fins, because the snorkle I brought didn't work and I ended up with a mouth full of salt water.  I only went for about 30 minutes that time but saw a large sea turtle scavenging for food.

The second time that I went, I went for much longer and saw all kinds of amazing fish.  There were tiny blue ones that seemed to glow and others with the most beautiful and intricate patterns on their bodies.  Snorkeling always puts me in a meditative state.  Watching the fish gliding effortlessly and feeling the soothing roll of the tide, makes my fast moving brain remember to slow down.

Sadly, the coral bed there has been completely decimated and shows no signs at all of life.  It washes up on the beach in millions of tiny broken pieces.

Today, while I was killing time waiting for my boat, four small children pulled up on two small bikes.  I would guess that the smaller two were four and the bigger two were five.  They were riding two to a bike and it was funny to see the way they managed to cram their small bodies onto these tiny bikes.

Three of them stripped down and went swimming in the ocean while one of the smaller boys occupied himself making a balance beam and singing to himself.  There was something about him that was so pure and joyful and I could tell that he had an incredibly innocent spirit.

At one point a tourist was taking a photo near him.  He walked right up to the tourist, pointed at himself and said, "Photo?".  The tourist obliged and right away, he wanted to see the picture of himself.  Satisfied, he immediately went back to his play.

The other boys soon joined him.  One of the older boys got on his bike, while the others were not paying attention, and left.  The other three, noticing their friends abscence walked into the middle of the dirt road and looked up and down for him.

Realizing that he had lost his ride, the younger boy who had been swimming in the ocean, began to cry.  The older boy yelled at him but he continued to cry.  Some words were exchanged and being the industrious children that all Indonesian children seem to be, they all three clambered on the bike and away they went!

(The boy on the back of the bike, in the picture was the one who was playing alone.)