Today is October 8th, it is 9:30pm. I am sitting at a food stall at the main bus terminal in Chiang may in northern Thailand...I just got the most entertaining foot massage. (More details at a later post)
To my grand surprise, my last day in Indonesia ended even more magically than my first day in the country. Ah, I still remember that first day, when getting off the ferry boat, in Tarakan, Borneo, with Fede and Giulia...totally lost at the end of the world, and scouting out places to stay for a couple of nights...
Anyhow...my last days were in Bali, as you know. It so happens that Karina, a friend who I had studied with in Washington is from Indonesia, is was in Bali at the exact same time. Haven't seen the girl since 2002! Well, unfortunately, she had signed up for a meditation retreat, so she was unable to hang out, however, she connected me with her sister for my last evening in the country.
Well, well, well...Kartika is not only a magnificent woman, but she is also so incredibly interesting, educated, and well traveled. I was literally blown away when we met up. Funny thing is that we had actually already met once in DC she she was visiting her sister, back in 2001...but back then, she was totally different. Lol
So Kartika took me to this heaven of a restaurant for diner. The place was so simple, yet so well put together. Comfortable couches and chairs overlooking numerous rice fields, where rice paddies had very recently been planted, which for those who are familiar with the process, means that the rice field turns into a giant patchwork of water mirrors, which at night, reflect the magical blanket of stars from the sky. And since the town where Kartika loves, Seminyak, is away from the city and the city lights, you can only imagine the spectacle laying before us. And to top it all, a white heron had decided to hang around, solo, in the rice pond right in front of during the whole time we were there.
The perfect evening.
My plane to bkk was at 5 am, so Kartika and kept chatting until 2:30am non stop.
Ouffff...she has a degree in psychology, and one in middle eastern architecture. And she grew up between Japan, Indonesia and Canada. (I hope I got all the details right...)
So it was hard to run out of topics.
So there was my last heavenly night in such heavenly country.
When the plane took off from the tarmac, I did feel a little pinch inside.
Indonesia, I miss you already. You gave me so much, and so many friends.
Thank you!
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