Bali Hotel Tugu...Just Stunning

My dear friend, Francoise, provided me with the brochure for Hotel Tugu, Bali.  She is the type of friend you go to for the best masseuse, foreign hotels, nail salon and more. She's the wife of a U.S. diplomat, still highly respected in the MENA country where they spent many years.  She raised her children abroad, still travels widely and what I hope to be when I'm in my later years.

Check out this beautiful property.  Need I say more?

Returning to....pure joy!

It was an early morning flight out of Cairo (4:30 a.m.)...the layover in Frankfurt, an airport I truly detest...and the long 9 hour flight in Economy Plus with a sick passenger behind me who worried the flight attendants that he might have swine flu. Somewhere along the way, I picked up a bit of stomach bug so the flights seemed even longer than usual.

Yet, somehow I kept thinking about what was awaiting me on touch down. And it was worth it to see the expression on my daughter's face when I surprised her at school....and her pure delight at her Halloween costume. My little Asian princess was truly a sight, don't you think?

Bali Dreamin'

It's spring break season and we're headed north...not south...nor as far flung as Southeast Asia. But I can always dream. And so I've been thinking about years past spent in Bali, during those adventuresome months I spent working and living in East Timor. Sunny afternoons spent overlooking the sea at Ku De Ta....with a glass of wine in hand and nothing to think about except where to go for dinner later that night. Jazzy music and a warm breeze on the outside porch at the Living Room. A totally self-indulgent spa treatment at the Villas. I was rereading my journals a few nights ago from those days....nice to travel back, if only in my head.

Happy NewYear

Happy 2009! Pregnancy; work trips to Jordan, Australia, Thailand, the DR and UK; a new Australia-based company and new corporate position; the beginning of our house renovations; and the sad death of my father at 74. Yet, as trite as it sounds, with every ending, there IS a new beginning as my son will be born 9 months after my father's death. I'm looking forward to this year and the arrival of our little one in the next few weeks...and all the chaos that chapter in our life brings.

In the meantime, it's hard not to be reminder of how fortunate we are -- and the plight of so many others around the world less fortunate, as Nick Kristoff points out in his column today about trafficked sex workers in Cambodia. Like him, I'm amazed by the courage of the young women who broken out of these bonds -- but sadly, the odds are still overwhelmingly against those forced into this horrific businesses. Here's just one local organization trying to make a difference, that I encourage you to check out. The founder, Somaly Mam, has been recognized internationally for her courage -- and I need to pick up a copy of this book, The Road of Lost Innocence, which tells her story in poignant terms.

Cambodia -- 7 years later

It was 7 years ago this December that my BFF and I were on a three-week chic vacation throughout Thailand and Cambodia, complete with daily massages, shopping adventures for Thai silk and celadon, a beachfront luxury resort in Ko Lanta, late nights on the beach with a lovely crowd of British "boys" and many a drunken evening throughout. Ah, what great memories from our single girl days. Sniff, sniff.

From what I've read today in the New York Times Travel Section, 36 Hours in Siem Reap, Siem Reap is not the place that it was back then. We stayed in a run down hotel and had a comical, bureaucratic entrance to the country at the minuscule airport, but it didn't dampen our spirits for the awe-inspiring visits to the temples and ruins. Today, it seems, you can stay in some very cool, relaxing places and a thriving art scene is taking hold, not to mention numerous places for "foodies." Just check out the Viroth hotel... looks very trendy chic.

Now, the only question is when can I get back?

Photo courtesy of New York Times

Bali Lust

Well, she did it. She succeeded in causing extreme lust. Not the kind focused on a food. Or a man. Or a vice. The kind focused on a place -- a wonderful, mystical paradise otherwise known as Bali. I'm referring to Elizabeth Gilbert, the witty author of Eat, Pray, Love and her love affair with the small island nation. So, now I can't get Bali out of my mind. The rice paddies I overlooked the time I stayed at the Chedi in Ubud. The beach lounge chairs at Ku De Ta in Seminyak. Even the music that lilts through the tiny airport as you arrive.

Where I stayed: http://chedi-ubud.com/rooms.htm

The Little Sister

She was a beautiful little girl, helping her older sister sweep with a broom made out of palm leaves at the temple we were visiting that early Cambodian morning. We were near Angkor Wat, visiting one of the less popular temples devoid of Japanese tourists with their long camera lenses and loud colors. She came to us shyly at first...but then her little smile made us smile and provided a perfect photo. Old and young juxtaposed in harmony.