Welcome to Indonesia.

I've been here now for a little over two weeks now and it's been a warm, wonderful, visually stimulating, hospitable, friendly, and awakening trip so far.

I arrived in Bali and promptly left for the small island of Nusa Lembongan where I met some amazing people, surfed for a number of days, and got certified as an open water scuba diver.  The course took three days and I ended with four open water dives which granted me access to a whole new world that exists under the sea.  I saw manta rays, amazing coral, fluorescent fish of all colors and sizes, barracuda, surgeon fish and so much more.

From Lembongan I took a boat to Lombok where I have discovered wonderful people and a breathtaking countryside.

Traveling provides some truly remarkable gifts sometimes.  Yesterday, myself, and my French friend Florence who stays next door to me at Diyah's Homestay met with his two other friends Yan and Beat.  Yan is a German, Chinese, Indonesian who grew up in Jakarta and speaks Indonesian, English, German, French, Spanish and Portuguese.  And Beat is from Switzerland.  So the four of us took a 35 minute motorbike ride to a great beach west of Kuta, Lombok.  It was absolutely breathtaking and untainted by tourism.  Just locals and a couple foreign land owners.  They had obviously discovered paradise and decided to buy a piece of it.  But the colorful boats, crystal blue water, green hillsides, white sand, smoke in the air from cooking fires, and the people there were amazing.  Naked kids playing soccer and running free on the beach, old women cooking fish over a fire, and old men roasting corn over hot coals.  It was spectacular.  We had a feast of epic proportions including corn, rice, vegetables, chicken, fresh tuna, and barracuda, followed by a stout cup of coffee.  All for less than a few dollars a piece.  We played with the kids on the beach, and body surfed waves crashing in.  We took a lazy walk down the beach with a homely looking dog who took a liking to us and then rode our motorbikes back to Kuta through valleys of green rice fields, past men and women toiling in the paddies or chopping corn, through groups of buffalo being walked down the road to greener pastures, and by families in small villages sitting outside their homes exclaiming bright hellos, smiling and waving as we drove by.  The people here are beautiful.  Bright eyes, warm smiles, dark brown skin and glowing personalities.  Very friendly people they are.