just over 3 years ago I went to my beloved Bali to meet my best friend Greg and his partner Marcos who live in Argentina. I had been reading Eat Pray Love before I left and completed the Bali section on the plane. Since I was going to Ubud for a week and was having some personal problems I decided I simply had to see Ketut Liyer and Wayan. The taxi driver knew exactly where to take me. We had to wait a few hours in the heat before my time came. There was another foreigner and a few locals ahead of me. Ketut held my hands and told me my marriage was ending which in my heart of hearts I already secretly knew but it did take another 18 months before my marriage collapsed. I had tears streaming down my cheeks and was quite emotional so I don't remember much except I would start my own business (tick) and that one of my children would help me with it. I am in the photo below with Ketut and his wife.



My next stop was to see Wayan the healer which was most definitely a life experience. It was a 6 hour extravaganza which Greg also did with me. It started with having to fully disrobe and wrap myself in the teensiest, tiniest sarong. I am not the smallest person so felt quite silly and uncomfortable. After being scrubbed and washed down we then lay down on a massage table in a room where there was about 6 other people. So there I was naked in a shared room with young boys massaging AND in view of the passing traffic in the street if they looked up. Lets just say it was very very confronting. It took a while but I did eventually relax and succumbed to being massaged for hours sometimes by 2 or 3 people at a time, hot lemons were rubbed up and down my spine. Every now and then Wayan would come and do her magical healing stuff. I drifted in and out of consciousness. When it was finished I had to go downstairs in my tiny sarong where a very relaxed Greg gave me a funny grin. A young girl took me into the wash room and to my surprise stayed with me. She got a bunch of leaves and washed me all over, she then indicated I spread my feet apart and put my arms out and said in the only English I heard her speak "I now wash your vagina". I stared out the window at the chooks in the yard and imagined Greg receiving the male wash and had to try and hold my laughter in. Wayan then fed us an amazing lunch. It was a great experience but not sure I would do it again. Not a great pic but this is me with Wayan.
I saw the movie last night and no it's not as good as the book or the best movie in the world but I enjoyed it and dont understand why it is being canned. It just so happened that when I was in Bali again last year with Greg and Marcos, it was being filmed. I tried to do some Julia and Javier spotting and had my zoom lens at the ready but no luck.

I did enjoy seeing beautiful Bali and the area I know so well that I have been going to for 20 years. Here are a few more of my favorite Ubud images.

We attended the Casa Luna Cooking School which was fantastic. We started with an awesome Market tour, I so love the colors, smells and sounds of the market. We came back to Casa Luna for a beautiful breakfast before cooking the most amazing feast. This is me with Janet De Neefe, an Australian who runs the cooking school and the beautiful Honeymoon Guesthouse where I love to stay.








I think that was the most epic post I have ever done. Hope you enjoyed it. What did you think of the movie?