Blogs from Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, Asia - page 10

The Ashtanga Yoga Bali Conference 2015 was described on the Conference poster as " A once in a lifetime epic event with senior teachers of Ashtanga Yoga sharing their most profound experiences after decades of exploration" . The conference has now come and gone, and it truly was a legendary experience, the presenters all being North American icons of Ashtanga Yoga. One of the presenters - Nancy Gilgoff - was the very first North American woman to have been taught the Ashtanga Yoga method. Three other of the presenters were her students who followed her back to India in the late seventies to study with her teacher, Sri Pattabi Jois. They all later returned to North America to introduce Ashtanga Yoga to the Western world. The conference presenters also included Eileen Hall, the Australian woman responsible ... read more

After being on the road and moving regularly every few days for the past two and a half months, visiting new territory and revisiting some familiar places, we welcome the opportunity to once again settle in Ubud, Bali, for the next six weeks, where we will build a routine around our daily yoga study, my continuing study of the Indonesian language, music (of course), and just enjoying the cultural richness of this very special part of the world. It was here that we spent the last few days with our son Tanner and his partner Annie before they returned home to Canada, bags overstuffed with a few samples of amazing Balinese artistry and craftwork. I also tagged along with them on a visit to Ubud's famous Monkey Forest, a tourist destination I had been well aware ... read more

Ubud / Bali Von Java aus gings mit der Fähre nach Bali, und ich verbrachte 4 Tage in Ubud bzw. hab ich wieder mal auf einem Moped die Gegend erkundet. Zu sehen gab's den Sacret Monkey Forest, viele Reisterrassen und den Vulkan Batur. Die Reisterrassen waren die Entschädigung für den braunen Sumpf in SaPa und den Regen in China 2013 :-) Mt. Batur Normalerweise braucht man für den Aufstieg auf den Mt. Batur einen Guide. Nicht weils so schwierig wäre, sondern weils eine Abzocke ist. Nachdem ich das gehört habe, hab ich mich schlau gemacht, und bin ein bisserl hinterwärts herumgefahren, um nicht am "Haupteingang" vorbeizukommen, wo die ganzen Schlawiner ihren Opfern auflauern :-P Durch diesen schlauen Schachzug hab ichs geschafft, dass ich den ganzen Berg für mich allein hatte :-) Ach ja, die ganzen Touren ... read more

It takes three days to cruise from Australia to Bali, so it is a great time to get caught up with blogs, emails and socializing. On this segment we had some very interesting guest speakers. John Stainton was the manager and friend of Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter. He had many personal insights into the man and the celebrity. One night at dinner he told us about a film he made with Steve and his family which featured all of the Midwestern National Parks from North Dakota to Texas. They rented an RV and drove through the heartland of America. One night at dinner John told us that a favorite of his was the Black Hills of South Dakota. Another speaker was General Michael Hayden. He was the director of the CIA from 2006-9 and was ... read more

Ubud, Bali - Saturday, 20 December, 2014 After a not so quick ferry ride (we actually got passed by a boat that left after us) we are finally leaving the island of Java and on our way to relaxing Bali. Getting off the ferry we needed to find transportation to get to the other side of the island. After some searching we found the bus station and haggled a price for tickets. Eventually we agreed on 60K IDR each for an air conditioned bus. This seemed a little expensive but we were willing to pay for the added comfort considering the last ride. The trip took approximately five hours. What we have learned about Indonesian pubic buses is that there is one driver and one guy that sells tickets. The ticket dude on this trip was ... read more