Batur Lake, Bali

This is surreal. I'm in a tiny internet cafe on the outer rim of the Batur Lake crater in the northwestern section of Bali. There is so much to tell and I don't have too much time so I'll keep it short for now. I made a freind in Kuta the first night I arrived. His name is Will and he's from London, England. Together we have rented motorcycles (it's okay Mom, only 110 cc's and we have helmets) and we've been travelling around the island. Parts of the roads we've taken go through jungles, into craters, over rivers, and beside the ocean. Of the few rules on the road, none are obeyed, yet once you get used to the free-flowing movement of traffic you realize how safe it is. The only danger is driving at night - which we will absolutely not do - because drunk driving is legal here. Basically, Indonesia is a lawless land and the ones that are enforced are easily averted through bribery. In all of these ways, this is precisely why it's a paradise. Anything goes.

There are trees, flora, and animals I've never seen before. Parts of the island look like the magma just cooled yesterday. And riding around in these cycles is an absolute blast. If I hadn't have met Will I don't know if I'd be doing this. Yesterday we stopped for lunch not far from the infamous Bali bombings of 2003 and I met a fascinating man. He was an older white man from Hawaii and reminded me of Ernest Hemingway. He did 2 tours in Vietnam and builds custom homes for people all over the world using the tropics for his decorative inspiration. He even owns 10 acres of rainforest in Bali and harvests his wood using a Balinese workforce and waterbuffalo! Not an ounce of pretentiousness or arrogance about him whatsoever. He told us with a glint in his eye that "corruption works!" in Indonesia. He is friends with the U.S. consulate and many other influential Balinese figures and is allowed to stay in the country without a visa through bribery. So much more to tell about him and I didn't get his name, but he let me take a picture with him - he got a good laugh out of that.

Anyways, we just took a road through the most amazing volcanic landscape at the bottom of Batur Lake. Stopping at temples and batcaves along the way too. Every single local waves and smiles in these parts because foreigners are quite rare, and we buy gas out of 2-litre Pepsi bottles. I don't know where we're headed and ATM's are extremely scarce but this island is a gem and we don't mind. The Balinese people are some of the friendliest I've encountered, rivaling the Cubans in my mind. We're going to try our best to climb Mount Batur tomorrow - a large inactive volcano that my Mom and Dad once climbed over 20 years ago. The only problem is that Will has been unable to withdraw cash from the ATM's here, so we might have to go to a more centralized location which could be hours away. We'll do our best. I'll try to send a more detailed message when we settle down but, in short - Bali is ballin'.