Bali High

The first two locations of this honeymoon could not have been further apart on the cultural scale. Bangkok was the picture of a sprawling metropolis, and from what I've heard from many people who have lived in Asia for long periods of time, the perfect representation of the urban Thai people. While their downtown city center was being set alight by rural protesters, our taxi driver drove us past the burning piles, turned to us with a smile and asked "how you like Bangkok, it very beautiful city, yes?" The Land of 1,000 Smiles definitely lives up to its name, but what you don't realize is how much anguish and anger is sometimes behind those smiles. When we touched down in Jimbaran Bay, Bali we immediately switched gears and began to sink into the life of the resort-swelling beach comber. Endless hours in a beach chair with toes in the sand, enjoying ice-cold Bintang beers and fresh seafood caught earlier in the morning and grilled right in front of you is not a bad way to spend a few days. Staying at the Four Seasons ratchets up the spoiled notch a bit further. You know life is good when the biggest complaint you have is that the private plunge pool in your villa isn't just a little bit cooler, and you have to wait 5 extra minutes for the golf cart to pick you up to give you a ride down to the beach-side gazebo for your ocean-front spa treatments. Yeah, shit gets rough, son.

From Jimbaran we moved into central Bali, into an area called Ubud. Getting around in Bali is very easy. Taxis are everywhere, and drivers are willing to work off the clock for a negotiated day or hourly rate. If you talk to a few different drivers and do a little research, you can manage to find one who speaks English well enough to tell you about the Balinese culture. We had a great driver yesterday who told us all about his family, his religion, and his culture. Bali is a very spiritual place. Everywhere you look there are small offerings. He explained to us that unlike many other religions, in Balinese culture it is not the size of the offerings that matters, the only thing that matters is that it comes from a good place. If you're dirt poor and you pick a beautiful flower and present it as an offering, and you present it with love in your heart, the gods will accept it with open arms. However, if you are a very rich person, but your money comes from dishonest, illegal, or corrupt means, your heart is corrupted and black, and even if you offer the gods, say, a Rolls Royce, the gods will still not smile upon you or your family.

Pulling into the Four Seasons Sayan is an exercise in spiritual awakening. The architecture assures that the resort blends perfectly into the jungle and the river below. There are lily ponds everywhere. They grow much of their own food on property. The entire property has a spa-like atmosphere that is worlds apart from the hustle and bustle of southern Bali. This Bali is more in tune with the metaphysical, the spiritual, and the emotional parts of the relationship we share with the environment. To experience central Bali is to experience zen, and looking out into the jungle and the river valley below it's very easy to see why the people here thank their gods for such a beautiful place to call home.

Maybe we should all think more about the intrinsic beauty of where we call home. If we learn to appreciate what we've been given in this world, then perhaps we can learn to live with richer and more pure hearts. I know I'm getting all zen here, but trust me, when you're in a place like this you really start to think about how you live life.

Luckily enough I have a wonderful wife, an amazing family, and the best friends a person could ever ask for to share my life with.

And no offense to the gods, but if I had a Rolls, I'd probably keep it. The flowers here are prettier anyway.