Swiss for a Swiss

 I wanted to go too a few different surf spots in Kuta (Lombok). So I traded Fred in for a shinny blue scooter and surf board for the day. 

Now I do not know the correct spelling of this fruit. But when I asked, the lady she pronounced it like (Shellock). And as for the taste..... you need to try it if you are ever in Indonesia since I cannot describe it.

Sorry

OK, WTF am I supposed to do with this. I have been finding these babies on all my ferry crossings. Now if I have to squat down that far to take a crap there is no way hell I will be able to get back up. The only way I would be able to get back up is if I rolled on to my hands and knees. And there is know way I am touching anything in that bathroom. 

So if I keep coming across to many of these in Indonesia it looks like I won't be taking a crap for a long while.

Again my journey seems to take the most unexpected turns. I promised to meet Johann from Switzerland again when I arrived Bali. He had to leave ahead of me from Lombok to get a new set of tires for his motorcycle in Bali.  So when I went to email him that I arrived in Bali and would come by his place in a few days. I received the most unexpected email back. It seems he had a accident after putting on his new tires which involved a truck. And to make matters worse he broke his leg and would have to be in the hospital for the next 15 days.

So where does the unexpected turn come? Well after a few days in Southern Bali (do not go all it is  stupid amounts of congested traffic). I decided to head north towards the yoga/meditation retreat town of Ubud. 

And as I was stuck in THE STUPID GRIDLOCK BALI TRAFFIC again trying to leave north. A guy on a scooter pulled up an introduced himself as Michael from Switzerland. 

He then proceeded to tell me he also travelled Africa and Latin America on a motorcycle back in the late 80's early 90's. He was so pumped to meet me that he insisted within five minutes that I come stay with him at his house so we could swap stories.

Now if you remember when I first left for my trip I told myself I would take the gracious offers of others if they should arise (even complete strangers). And the sole purpose of this philoshphy is to see where that path will take me. And to date I have never been disappointed in the outcome. 

So it looked like I would be staying one more day in Southern Bali.

Micheal feeding the strays on the beach near his home

It turns out Michael has a huge passion for the stray dogs of Indonesia and every evening he heads out to the beach with food to feed the strays. The looks we got as we walked down the beach with this group of wild dogs was interesting to say the least. The lack of compassion for dogs in Indonesia is very apparent. Unlike what I saw in Latin America. 

After feeding the dogs we went back to Michaels house where he invited some friends over and we had a barbecue. We sat there the rest of the night with a couple of beers in hand and full bellies swapping stories.

Damn good food!

In bed that night I was replaying the events of the day in my head. And I could not help thinking that I must have the biggest cloud of good Karma following me as I go.