far away in time, echo beach

Our day started with some pre breakfast swimming,

And some bombing practice

Kate and I then lounged around waiting for our in room massages ( which were sensational, and @ $12 per hour they will be a daily occurance!)

The we had a lovely wander around our villa, were the cows are everywhere amongst the fields

The terraced rice paddies are beautiful

Its very startling to see the luxury and space in our villa, then step out the door and walk past people farming, living in tin huts with no running water, heating or cooling! We are in a remote area north west of the famous Kuta, and are really enjoying this.

Its very spiritual, with offerings made daily be everyone to the Gods, to reduce their adharma (bad vibes) and increase their dharma (good vibes). We have a fresh offering placed at our villa door each afternoon

Its interesting to see the Balinese symbol for harmony everywhere, its a swastika with the arms going the other way, apparently the germans took it and reversed the arms. Certianly makes you look twice!

We are near Echo Beach, but I can't for the life of me remember who sang that song, Far away in time, Echo Beach???

Then it was on to some shopping, and a great lunch.  You catch cabs here, and the roads are crazy, with heaps of people on bikes, and numerous pedestrians and random dogs! We are really enjoying the flavours of the local food, and the fact that it is really cheap!

Tom is working his way through the local beers, and Kate is working on her haggling! After that we needed a nice relaaxing drink at Echo Beach.