Just Spectacular

Passing through unspoiled villages and natural rice terraces, we enjoyed the spectacular scenery of Bali. A little Balinese gentleman by the name of Teko knew exactly where to take us. He was our guide for the day.
First stop was Taman Ayun Temple, a World Heritage Site built in 1624.

        
From there we climbed up through mountain villages to view the spectacular rice paddies formed in terraces. To watch the people at work and what they go through three times a year during rice harvest was amazing.

On to the mountain village of Bedugul with its breathtaking view of Lake Beratan. On the shore of the lake is Ulun Danu Temple.

The Balinese love for ritual and art is brilliantly combined in their extravagant temples. Everywhere you go-temples, on the side of the roads, car dashboards, sidewalks and every home, shop and hotels-are delicate offerings which are necessary to maintain the cosmic balance of the Balinese world.  Some are simple, some elaborite; all have the same meaning-love and energy from the heart.

                                              Mike and our guide Teko sharing a good laugh

Hello Bali, Good Morning Sun

So, after approximately 30 hours, we have arrived here in Bali on Monday at 12:30 PM. We are staying at the Bali Hyatt. The last time we were here was in 1994 and I had forgotten how beautiful it is. It took all of 10 seconds to fall asleep at 5:30PM  so our body's wake up call the next morning was at 2:00 AM!! Sooooo....Good Morning Sunrise!

Some good Balinese coffee, computer time and a nice beach stroll to watch the sunrise was a wonderful way to start our first official day of this journey. Throw in some Yoga on the beach and I am ready to go.

Sanur Beach is one of the nicest beaches in Bali. It is a two mile stretch of fine, yellow sand fronting the Bali Hyatt plus a few other hotels. The Hyatt was once an 80 acre coconut plantation and is now a beautiful, lush oasis, with just a short walk into town.

                                                  Beautiful, Colorful  Balinese Jakung Boats

                                                                 Just outside our room

Tomorrow we are off to do some Island exploring..."Jatiluwih" means truly beautiful. We plan to visit the monkey forest, unspoiled villages and natural rice terraces, plus two temples (one on a lake) and the fruit and flower markets. So, we'll see you tomorrow....





For The Love Of Charlotte

'For The Love of Charlotte' by tuscanroad

"No, no, no", fair Charlotte said, and she laughed like a gypsy queen. "To ride in blankets muffled up, I never can be seen".

Frozen Charlotte DOLL s... AlliesAdornmen... $28	2 Antique Two Inch Porc... CaityAshBadash... $9.95	Antique Frozen Charlott... MelancholyMind $13.49
Angel Doll Ornament, Fr... JeepersKeepers $36	Mixed Media Frozen Char... Queenoftorts $16	Bisque Doll Head Antiq... HappySteiler $9.25
Antique Frozen Charlott... primitivepincu... $58.99	3 ea Frozen Charlotte R... TandZSupplies $14.95	Frozen Charlotte Angel ... BridgetBlue $19.95
Antique DOLL & BUTTON n... AlliesAdornmen... $38	3 frozen charlotte head... okiedokieartic... $17.5	Frozen Charlotte Locket... tuscanroad $29
Joy Frozen Charlotte Sc... loreliekaydesi... $12	Vintage / Antique Froze... ThirdShift $13	One Vintage Frozen Char... artjoystuff $4.5
Antique Frozen Charlott... FOUNDLINGS $16

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Panama Canal Time Lapse

This is back-tracking some, but I just want to share this because it's way cool.
When we took the Panama Canal cruise in Panama City, Tanner filmed the whole start-to-finish process while in one of the locks. In this instance, the watered lowered, then we went thru to the next lock. The whole process took about eight minutes, but he made a time lapse, shortening it to one minute. Check it out....

Last Day in Panama

After saying goodbye to our lovely beach in Las Lajas, we have headed over to El Valle for our last night in Panama.

El Valle is a pleasant little town nestled in the valley of a huge extinct volcano. The valley floor is about a 2000 foot elevation, high enough to make this area significantly cooler and fresher than the lowlands.
So we took the opportunity to see some beautiful scenery and do some hiking.

The Chorro El Macho Waterful was a beautiful hike through the lush rainforest, across bridges and streams...very cool and refreshing after our last two warm and humid days.

The waterfall hike is in the same area where they have the Canopy Adventure Zipline, a very popular recreational ride that takes you flying past the waterfall and over the tree tops....maybe next time.

So, we have about a 2 1/2 hour drive tomorrow back to Panama City where we board our plane home at 6:30 PM. This has been a wonderful 16 days that we were lucky to be able to share half of with our son Tanner and the other half just Mike and me. A fond farewell to Panama....until next time, wherever the road leads us next.

Ready For Some Beach Time

So, this morning we said our good-byes to our good friend Randy at the Coffee Plantation...what a life he has. From there, it was about 1 1/2 hour drive to I believe one of Panama's best kept secrets...Playa Las Lajas. This 8 mile long, un-inhabited stretch of beautiful sand and clear warm water is a wonderful way for us to wrap up our trip to Panama. There is nearly no one on this beach.

Mike and I take long walks, partly to walk off our meals but mostly because of the quiet and beauty. During the day, it's low tide and the sand is so compacted that you can drive a car on it. Occasionally we see fishermen riding by on their scooters to check or move their nets that are set out to catch that delicious fresh fish we eat often.

There is only one resort hotel so far on this beach-ours-The Las Lajas Beach Resort. My understanding is this beach comes alive for spring break and during their summer with thousands of kids, camping and partying all along the edges. But for now, we enjoy the solitude and quietness during the off-season.

The sunsets are spectacular

Life is good!

Manana Madera Coffee Estate

The main house and guest suite

As I sit here, comfortable on the nice leather love seat in our guest suite at the Manana Madera Coffee Estate in Boquete, I watch an impressive show of lightening and thunder outside. Even though it is our summer, Panama is in the Southern Hemisphere, so it is actually their winter. Our weather to this point has been quite warm and humid. We are however at a 5000 ft elevation here. Even though there is more rain this time of year, the year round temperature stays between 70 to 80 degrees....fabulous. What's amazing is up here on the coffee plantation is we see pine trees growing next to banana trees, and the coffee, oh the coffee....just the right mix of elevation and temperature to make Randy's boutique blend one of the top in the region. He just roasted today and I have stuffed three wonderful pounds in my suitcase to bring home.

Even though Chubs, the residant pooch has a nice big covered porch to seek shelter, he is outside our big sliding doors, looking in with those soulful eyes. Mike says he's a mans dog and he is ready to take him home with us as well. Chubs greeted us when we arrived as if to say "nice to see you again...where have you been?" We were here this same time last year. Since then Randy, the owner has built a 2nd guest suite exactly like the other one, and he has opened it to us, even though this was a blank week for him since his son is visiting him from San Diego. We are honored and consider him a good friend. This is our 2nd day here and we've had some great visiting and conversation. It will certainly be hard to leave.

Welcome back greetings from Chubs

Randy harvests his beans when they turn deep red. They are shelled and bagged in burlap and are stored in a dark area for three months. They are then sorted and processed.

Living area of our guest suite

Bedroom

Once again, our stay here was wonderful. We look forward to another visit sometime in the future.