Ubud is a bustling town. Bygones are the times of donkey carts and topless women carrying baskets. Today, scooters and motorbikes rule. And cars. And us tourists. Ubud may be a shock for a day tripper, but the trick is to find the escapes in the back yards and side streets. For those who write or read, favorite cafés are escapes into tranquility. Like Café Wayan on Monkey Forest road, serving traditional Indonesian fare in a seemingly endless maze of a garden.
Or like Clear Café, the place that burned down on Jalan Hanoman and has found a temporary escape by the bridge to Penestanan village. Up at Clear it is cool and tranquil. And the frosted drinks and smoothies and juices make anybody’s day much better. Clear is a favorite of yogis and writers and readers.
In the hot mid-afternoon, it is highly likely that I end up at Atman Café on Hanoman. The highlight of any day is to settle down on a bunch of pillows, drinking ayurvedic teas, and reading a good book or writing a blog post. This is low profile living, seeking for contentment and letting go of the desire for more – if just for a moment. 
(Photos from Wayan’s and Clear; Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; August 2016)
Good morning, Ubud! I did miss banana pancakes with syrup and fresh fruit for breakfast, after yoga practice. And I missed how everybody is up with the sun. Before sunrise, housewives are bustling about the marketplace to purchase morning offerings that must be in place and blessed before anyone in the household may have breakfast. Husbands sweep the yard clean – but not of garbage or dead leaves, but of flowers shed during the night. Kids play soccer at 7 am, when the air is cool. At 7 am the market is busy with locals buying and selling eggs, meat, and fruit.
(Ubud, Bali, Indonesia; August 2016)
Lovely ones, please rewind to mid-August with me. We are about 11 kilometers up in the air, flying over Nizhny Novgorod, skirting past thunder clouds scattered on both sides. Thunderbolts light up the dark above Russia. The time is 1.30 am. I am sipping a glass of ice wine and thinking about my flight out to Bali one year ago. I was in a low mood, pondering about pain and loss and the hardships of staying alive.
So I do as I choose. I do as I please. I have been forced to trade off a huge chunk of my life, which definitely justifies some indulgence. And so I allow myself, without shame, to fly business to Bali to practise yoga, eat delicious raw food, spend time with myself and friends, and to be pampered by a luxurious spa in the jungle. And I will begin with having a Singapore Sling in the Raffles Long Bar with a couple of long-lost friends.
This blue marble 