Hi Gram,
What an exciting and emotional day! After getting in late the night before, I got up early for my stretches and breakfast. Apparently some of my friends had an even later evening, because the restaurant was unusually empty when I first got down there. People trickled in slowly and we chatted about our evening adventures and events over our usual delicious food. After breakfast, we got one last group photo, then headed to the conference room for the closing ceremony.

Leisa walked us through a guided meditation and reflection on the past few days, then we went around the room and shared what we were grateful for from the past week, what we learned, and a simple action we were each going to take to change our life direction by one degree. Charged up and grateful, a group of us decided to get out of the congested city and head into the country. David and I grabbed our scooters while the others rented scooters at a shop nearby, then our little biker gang headed 45 minutes north to a temple. Traffic was congested as we left our resort, then thinned as we got further out of town until we were just cruising and enjoying the breeze.

When we got near the temple, a guy tried stopping us to collect a parking fee, but I just pushed past him. I’ve heard of scammers doing this, setting up near the temple to try to collect unnecessary fees. He followed us to the ticket booth and convinced us to pay the 2,000 IDR for a scrap of paper saying we could park, dated April 1, 2010. We all agreed that it probably wasn’t an official parking fee, but at $0.13 each, we didn’t care. We each paid our 50,000 entrance fee, then walked the gauntlet of vendors selling knick knacks, drinks, and tokens. A very nice woman, concerned for our enjoyment of the temple, offered to sell us each a sarong. Sarongs are needed to enter any temple here, and luckily we all knew that they would loan us each one, included with admission, before entering.

Dressed appropriately, we started down the stairs, stopping for some beautiful views of the rice fields and stone carvings. Once we reached the bottom, we spent the next hour discussing the stone carvings, gateways, buildings, and decorations. It was great to see these buildings and monuments that had been carved thousands of years ago still in use today. A few of us bought items from local merchants whose brother or cousin had carved the wood or coconut pieces available in their shop, and we heard more of the history and ritual of the area. On our way back out, we found a detour to a waterfall 150m off to our left. “Only a football field and a half”, Kevin told us – because we Americans will measure in anything but actual measuring increments – so we headed down the path. We quickly found that this path would not have passed any OSHA inspections, with loose dirt, steep steps carved into the dirt or rock, dropoffs to our left, and gaps we had to hop over. Everyone made it, though, and we were rewarded by a nice view of a waterfall, surrounded by lush vegetation. We got a few photos, then retraced our path until we came to a set of stairs that a local old man pointed out.

At the top, we paused for some cold water and beverages while we waited for a few friends to make more purchases, then headed up a different staircase to the side for lunch. We were greeted with a nice cafe with a gorgeous view over the treetops with a volcano in the distance.

The waitress was friendly and helpful, as we’ve come to expect here, and we all recounted stories and plans over a delicious meal. After lunch, Kevin and John found a waterfall on the map, so we all mounted up to head there next. The half hour drive was a dream, picture perfect. We meandered down winding roads, enjoyed the sweeping curves and hills. Our little gang passed through one village after another where we saw ornate houses and locals walking down the road, heading home from the rice fields until we reached a dirt driveway, barely marked, that led us to the waterfall parking lot.

Everyone gathered up and paid the entrance fee one by one, then started down the stairs with ornate stone carvings on either side of us. After many, many stairs we came to a platform overlooking the waterfall with people playing in the water below us. John found a staircase that led down further and soon we were all sitting on a rock outcropping dipping our toes in the cool water. We watched as other groups did cannonballs into the pool of water or sat lounging on the stone with water rushing around them. We got a few photos and cooled off, then started up the many stairs which seemed to multiple in number from when we came down. Exhausted at the top, but proud to have gotten in our steps (my phone thinks I climbed 52 flights of stairs), we mounted our steeds and aimed for our hotel. The traffic quickly rebuilt around us and we broke into a couple of groups to navigate the last distance more easily. Leisa returned her ride and we all hurried to clean up and change clothes so we could get to dinner with the whole group.

Walking in just a few minutes late, we were floored by how gorgeous the restaurant was. Ornate and seemingly carved out of the hillside, a few tables were clustered on each of multiple levels. We reached the bottom level where our group had gathered and found our seats. The next couple hours were a whirlwind of laughter, stories, and engaging conversation with friends as the staff treated us like royalty. Cool cloths to wipe our hands and brows were followed by truffles to whet our appetites. Our first course was masterfully crafted, followed by another aperitif and refreshing beverages, all of which just exploded with flavor and texture. The next course just added to the amazement as my tongue and taste buds screamed with joy and delight. A minty chocolate cone cleansed our palates before we were presented with our desserts to top off the night. Of course after letting all of that settle a little, we were treated to some after dinner mints and chocolates to put a cap on the evening’s meal.

Not wanting the evening’s excitement to end, some folks headed downstairs to a secret hidden bar past a curtain while others of us that had to drive opted to scoot back to the Plataran to park our sleds before walking over to Merlin’s for a night cap. It was just as magical as the night before, and I was glad to share it with a new group of friends. The day was so magical and action-packed that I found myself fading. I bid adieu to my companions and headed back to my room for sleep while they headed off to explore another fun bar that our friend Todd had told us about.