To the Other Side of the World

A mere 27-hour trek, and here I am, on the other side of the world. The enervating humidity hit me like a wet sock, but who’s complaining, when the alternative is New England in January?

I’m doing one of my occasional gigs as the trip manager for a photography expedition — actually two groups back-to-back. We’re staying at a peaceful place called Alam Indah, where the only sounds you hear day or night are frogs, lizards and monkeys, along with assorted other unknown tropical creatures. There will be nine attendees in the first group and ten in the second, along with my partner in crime, Shelly, our photographer leader.

This morning we met with our local guide, Nyoman, who will take us everywhere. He is an amazing photographer, which is a real bonus, as he won’t treat us like tourists. The price to be paid will be getting up at zero-dark-thirty a couple of days to capture sunrises at the beach and the rice fields.

Otherwise I spent the day catching up on sleep and reading while listening to the rain and not-too-distant rumbles of thunder. Blood pressure reading must be 60/40. The photos below I took with my phone as I walked around getting my bearings. Shelly and I walked to town for dinner along a road next to the Sacred Monkey Forest right next door — we saw dozens of monkeys, but it was too dark to take pictures. We’ll have plenty of opportunities over the next two weeks though. In town we fell upon a restaurant called Monkey Legend with quite an eclectic menu: Indian, vegan, Tex-Mex, Balinese, burgers, pizza and more — something for everyone, and the food was excellent.

First impressions are how warm and relaxed people here are, but still the hotel staff quickly respond to anything we need. And two weeks without TV — what a gift!