i guess i'm on a roll of staying high above see level. that said, this spiritual, ubud region is truly rejuvenating. i arrived with my wife for her yoga retreat (she is teaching) with a sinus/ear infection from my body-surf session in rio and a pretty flared up lower-back from all my travels- that said, i've enjoyed 5 relaxing days in the hills. running, stretching, connecting with the locals- the balinese are truly a warm and generous people. i can feel my body getting stronger each day.
the one thing i've noticed, in what is a tourist region, is that the craftsmanship of the locals is unreal; sculpters, woodworkers, artists -- i am so impressed. i've tried to snap a few portraits of local faces along the way.
o a surf note: i did sneak down to echo beach near canggu for a surf - the tide was too low on the reef and the swell had dropped, so the bali-bobby-dazzler did not get wet but i did find a corner dumping onto a shallow sand-bar; so i grabbed the fins and body-surfed into my first bali shacks. i look forward to finding some more views in the near future.
via the Drifter surf shop in seminyak- i got word that chris del moro is nearby and i look forward to hooking up with a friendly face to take on some unfamiliar reef breaks. chris rides for bing and my old friend and long time shaper matt calvani makes his boards - so it will be pretty classic to have two haoles rolling around on tylers and bings in bali high. hana hou.