Spiritual Journey | Confessions of a Cruise Director

Finding Balance in Bali

This is part 3 of a 4 part series about a recent trip we took to Bali

Every morning, I do manage to find some time to myself.  One day, I make my way over to the 7:30am yoga class, taught gently by a smiling Balinese man named Gina.  Despite being both fit and flexible, Gina is patient with those who have never done this before, or who cannot touch their toes.  He encourages balance, forward bends counteracted by backwards ones, the left side worked on exactly as much as the right.  It is just what I need to hear on a spiritual vacation as I practice the art of balance.

Another morning I follow the signs that say “nature walk”, down the steep mossy steps to a stone Balinese bathing fountain, past a splashing waterfall, along the river which marks the edge of the Maya property.  I walk past plants whose leaves unfurl so large over my head that I could take shelter in a rainstorm.  I see geckos and lizards, blue birds with orange throats, red-winged dragonflies.  I feel so far away from my life back home, so blissfully surrounded on my Bali spiritual tour by ways of life I usually don’t take time to see.

On the last day of our trip, we have given the group the whole day off.  We will gather in the evening for our spectacular farewell dinner (150 dancers and a four course Balinese meal) but today, Greg and I are going to the spa.  Having toured the place my first morning, visiting both the individual and couples suites, I have booked the newest couples suite, which faces the river, two stories down.  In addition to the two massage tables, it has a resting pavilion, a round aluminum bathtub big enough for both of us, private lockers, and outdoor side-by-side showers, all under the high thatched roof that I have come to think of as the Maya’s signature design.   This is where we will spend the next two hours – talk about spiritual travel!

While Greg gets foot reflexology, I begin with a Balinese massage.  It is similar to what I am used to in any massage, but the strokes are longer and the tiny girl never exerts too much or too little pressure, using only her hands.  Draping is observed, and I never feel like I am showing too much skin at any one time.  The sound of the river stands in for the usual spa music, and I am transported to a place of tranquil rest, the soft breeze occasionally wafting the smell of the jasmine oil the masseuse uses.  As Greg moves into a Balinese massage, I receive a ginger and tangerine body scrub (my other options included something that smelled decidedly like curry).  This is unlike any other scrub I have had – a powder is rubbed into each body part and then brushed off, taking the dead skin, but causing no discomfort.  Afterwards, the therapist slathers my whole body in fresh yoghurt and directs me to the outdoor shower.

Spiritual Vacation Spa Materials

My spiritual tour of the spa is nearly complete, and Greg and I meet back in the suite looking refreshed and a little dazed, like something blissful has taken a permanent spot in our hearts.

Finding Balance in Bali

This is part 2 of a 4 part series about a recent trip we took to Bali

The infinity pool into the rice paddies at the Alila Hotel

Of course a spiritual vacation is not all the earnest work of devotion. We are staying at the Maya Ubud, and a more integrated balance between luxurious four star service and raw nature I cannot imagine. The whole property is a lush tropical garden, set among the rice paddies of Ubud, itself the artistic heart of Bali, as well as where Liz Gilbert stayed when she wrote the Bali part of Eat Pray Love. The lawns are well-manicured, but even the team of gardeners working seven days a week can barely hold back the jungle of local plants, huge trees, and bright colorful splashes of flowers. The Maya has a deeply organic feel from the moment you approach the front entrance, a huge thatched roof covering the open space and pavilion, which is inspired by the design of traditional Balinese “bale” and family compounds. You feel like you are on a spiritual vacation for sure here, a spiritual tour of the mind, body and soul. A wooden walkway slices through flowing water to the lobby, where the soaring thatch ceiling is grounded by a circular glass floor at the center, lit from below and filled with objets d’antique from Bali’s ancient past.

All of Bali is a work of art

The staff welcomes you, with more than passable English; their enthusiasm for your comfort makes their meaning even clearer. When my group arrives, our cooling welcome drink and room keys are accompanied by the spa brochures I requested. The energy in the room is palpable as everyone chatters excitedly about the treatments, the design. By the next morning, the spa is booked for three days solid by our happy assembly, knowing that we digress from Eat Pray Love, but happy to do so..

Greg and I are staying in a pool villa, one of 34 that stretch out in neat rows ringed by the ever-abundant plant life. Walking to our room for the first time, I see five different types of butterfly. As we slide open the teak doors to our room, we are transported into another level of beauty. I treat myself to a spiritual tour of the room. The roof is thatched in the traditional Balinese fashion, the neat rows of dried grass clearly visible high overhead. We have a 4-poster bed with filmy cotton mosquito netting draped charmingly on the bedposts. Our bath is an oversized hammered aluminum affair with a view of the private garden. Nicer than the accommodations in Eat, Pray Love… by far.

The outdoor shower of our room in Bali

Outside, facing the bathroom, is a small plunge pool, filled to overflowing with cool clear water. The sticky humidity has already taken its toll; as soon as the bags are delivered to our room, I strip off my clothes and take a bracing plunge into the pool. There isn’t much room to swim, but it is enough. During our stay, I use the pool three or four times a day, looking up into the blue sky, enjoying the view of the Ti plants and the verdant jungle that envelops me. Once, I see a huge snail, bigger than my index finger, gliding up a three-foot leaf, his antennae waving cautiously as he explores what comes next. I want to be that snail while I am here, concerned only with what is just in front of me, but spiritual tour leaders don’t get much spiritual vacation time. Ensuring that all the guests are happy, well taken care of, and that their myriad questions are answered, leaves me little time for personal pursuits, though I do re-read portions of Eat Pray Love in the pool each afternoon, just as a reminder to stay on track.

Finding Balance in Bali

This is part 1 of a 4 part series about a recent trip we took to Bali

I am sitting in the stunning, airy bar of my gorgeous Balinese hotel and I am sweating… a lot. I’m on a spiritual tour that I’m leading and I’ve just had a ten-minute walk, the slow, meandering kind, but it has still taken its toll in the sticky, humid weather. Even with spiritual vacations, there is a delicate balance here between freshly showered and breaking out in a full, glorious dancer’s sweat and I am hoping to find it. Like the heroine of Eat Pray Love, I have come to Bali searching for balance.

It’s a challenge, because I am not exactly here on an actual spiritual vacation. My partner Greg and I lead spiritual tours to sacred sites around the world, and Bali is high on many people’s lists. So we are working. Managing a group of 35 American travelers, to be exact. This is not as hard as it sounds, if you take into consideration the group dynamic of “one mind.” I never thought I would want to travel with a group until I first took a spiritual tour myself. But when I did I understood the tremendous power of shared intention. This is furthered by the tremendous interest in Eat, Pray Love, where the author/heroine visited Bali for four whole months and found the love of her life.

We are traveling in Bali for two weeks, visiting temples almost every day. The emphasis of a spiritual tour is on pilgrimage, yes, but also on poolgrimage, its sister, spagrimage, and their close cousin, shopgrimage. At least the group is balanced. Our little band of Americans is made up of some real sports. They have bought their temple clothes – the sarong, sash, white shirt, and (for the men) headdress – indicating the devout intentions of a Balinese worshipper. Yes, most of the women have readEat Pray Love, though none of the men have. They go to the temples and learn how to pray like the Balinese Hindus. They clasp their hands in Namaste (not unlike our good old-fashioned American “prayer hands”) and hold them up – first to their foreheads, for the gods, then to their hearts, for our human selves. They wash their faces in incense smoke, toss flower petals in the air and tuck them behind their ears. They eat uncooked grains of rice (to suppress base desires) and are doused with holy water by “Pamungku,” the Balinese priests who accept our offerings and lead us in prayer. For two weeks, they give their lives over to the search for something greater, the core of any spiritual vacation.

Next week… part 2 of a Spiritual Vacation in Bali

In honor of finishing my first draft of my book Travels Through Egypt I am posting a section on the guys who rent the camels, which is a favorite story – enjoy!

Everyone visiting Egypt wants their picture taken on a camel.  There is therefore no shortage of enterprising young men who hover as close as the Pyramid police will allow and offer to put you up on their camel.  It used to be that you could get up on the camel and have a picture taken, for free.  Of course, it costs a dollar or two if you want to get down!  These days, they also all carry packages of makeshift “Lawrence of Arabia” head wraps, and as you are trying to maneuver your way up onto said camel, will thrust one on your head (whether you are male or female) and ask you to pay for that, too ($5 will cover it, less if you try to give it back first).

I do not care a bit for sitting on or riding camels, though I have done my fair share.  The first time I rode one, he complained.  About having to kneel down so I could mount him, about getting back up again with me on his back, about being led around, and about the way I sat — which could have been no more comfortable for him than it was for me, which is to say not atall!  Camels are the boniest creatures — but how would you like someone sitting on your spine?  So how does a camel complain?  It sounds just like Chewbacca, the giant brown Wookie from Star Wars.  As deep, as resonant, and come to think of it, exactly the same pitch. In fact, this realization caused me to look up Chewbacca’s voice on the internet.  Thank God for Wikipedia, which confirms that indeed, camels were among the voices used to create Chewie’s freakish sound (and bears, and a walrus… in case you were wondering.)

These guys obviously make a living getting you up on the camel and selling you A) junk — pyramids and postcards, along with the Arab hat — and B) the right to get off your camel.  I think of them as camel jockeys, because they are always jockeying for position.  One guy is so aggressive with us he literally grabs one of our group around the waist, and tries to hoist him up.  Carter, who is from East Texas, protests the whole time in his distinctive twang, “No, Ah do not want a ride, thank you very much, cowboy!”  But he ends up on that camel.  Just doing some math, based on the 5 minutes and an average $2 someone spends on a camel, these guys are clearing a hundred bucks a day, easy.  Which is pretty incredible in a country where the average salary is $400… a month!

If you’re a tourista in Egypt, enjoy your camel ride, but remember, it’s far safer on the ground, in several regards…

• is in the Century City News with our Eat, Pray, Love Bali tour (in May). Please repost! http://ping.fm/a7JcZ #
• has had a new article posted on Self-Growth.com Top 10 Reasons to Take a Spiritual Tour: http://ping.fm/TBAGv #
• As if the airlines PR wasn’t bad enough already: Continental, American expand surcharges; US Air implements, too – http://bit.ly/1KAkzw #cnn #
• My new article, Top 10 Reasons to Take a Spiritual Tour, was just published on SelfGrowth.com – please share!  http://ping.fm/AZIkM #

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In honor of the wonderful book Eat, Pray, Love and the movie (which is filming in Bali this month!) Spirit Quest Tours is hosting an “Eat, Pray, and Love Bali” trip in May, 2010.  And in honor of that trip, let’s take a little virtual tour of my favorite places in Bali…

Gulingen… about a half an hour outside of Ubud is the little Balinese village of Gulingen.  Our driver drops us off at a rice paddie and we walk, single file, through the rice fields, across a little ridge path.  In about five minutes we arrive, sitting under a thatched roof in an open pavilion.  The Balinese ladies give us a cooking demonstration, and show us how the lovely flower offerings typical in all the temples are made, then we feast on Babi Guling, the whole roast pig that is the signature dish of Bali.  Stuffed with herbs and spices, the skin golden brown and crackling, the pork is nothing like we eat in the States.  Vegetarians, take heart – the side dishes are all veggie and there are plenty of them, along with rice and noodles.  A delicious way to experience the rural charm of Bali!

The Spas… I have been lucky enough to enjoy the spas at three resorts in Bali: the Nusa Dua Spa (in Nusa Dua) and the spas of the Maya and Alila hotels, both in Ubud.  The Alila massage actually made me cry, it was so nurturing and wonderful, but all the spas are fabulous and thoroughly enjoyable.  A typical Balinese spa treatment will include aromatherapy oils, an outdoor shower, and tons of pampering along with your massage or facial.  There are a wide variety of flowers used in Bali, and while your spa treatment may also come with a flower petal bath, it will surely include plumeria and hibiscus scattered about the room, and in a bowl on the floor below the face cradle, so that you enjoy looking downward while receiving your massage.  I have heard that the beaches  even  have massage therapists, who charge you only a dollar or two for a half-hour or hour massage, and I have friends who live in Bali who get a massage every day.  It’s not to be missed while on your vacation!

Ubud… the artistic and “heart center” of Bali, which is really the most heart-centered place I’ve ever been to, Ubud features sweet little streets with lovely shops and restaurants, as well as large temples, a Balinese museum, and the main open market, which is tremendous fun to shop in – the vendors there are always happy to bargain with you, but will also offer you shelter should you get caught in an afternoon shower (depending on when you visit).  The artisan crafts are not to be believed – both the variety and the prices!  Here are just a few of the wonderful local pieces you can buy: silver and beaded jewelry, hand-made and hand-painted batik clothes, tablecloths, and pillows, intricately carved wood statues, wooden serving pieces, scarves, sarongs, masks, and Balinese weaponry!

Krismaster… this brings me to one of the unique features of our own tours – a visit with the most famous and important Krismaster in all Bali! This venerable old gentleman is Wayung Ritug, and he has been creating Balinese short daggers, called “Kris”, for many years in his family compound.   His work is exemplary;  you can pick from any of his handmade and hammered blades and any of his hand-carved handles – most wood, some ivory – and he will marry them together in a single dagger that will be the best souvenir you buy when you are there.  Starting at around $100, and going all the way up to thousands of dollars, these are a true touch of Bali.

Ketut Liyer… I can’t wait to see who plays him in the upcoming movie!  As anyone who has read Eat Pray Love probably recalls, Ketut is the Balinese shaman, medicine man, or “Balian” (as they are called) who helped Liz Gilbert on her epic journey.  He told her she should come to Bali and stay with him, so she spent four months on the island, experiencing the heart-opening people and culture, and eventually finding love.  We visit Ketut on his family compound, waiting to see him and enjoying his granddaughter’s remarkable paintings.  Then, hopping up onto one of the low pavilions that serve as many of the compound’s buildings, we have our palms read (and backs, some of us!) by Ketut.  He is as sweet and charming as you would think – we like taking pictures with him, but he keeps shaking his head when he sees them. “I am very ugly,” he tells us over and over in his rasping voice, grinning from a nearly toothless head.  We assure him he is beautiful to us!

Spirit Quest Tours goes to Bali next for the Eat, Pray, and Love Bali tour, May 20-27, 2010. http://www.spiritquesttours.com/bali

After you’ve been in Egypt for a little while, even a week, you start to realize that a basic understanding of Arabic must start with the following conversation:
“Saba al khir?” (There are three ways to say Good Morning in Arabic, and this is the most common one. It means “Morning the Good.”)

“Saba al ful!” (This is the second most common, and the most typical response. “Ful” is the way the scent of morning jasmine fills your nostrils, so roughly translated, this means “Morning the Nose Hit.”
The third way to say Good Morning is “Saba al nur,” which is “Morning the Light.” Arabic, in my humble opinion, is definitely a Romance language.)

“Quais?” The next step is to ask how you are – “Good?” is the slang for that.

“Hamdulullah. (One always responds with “Thanks be to God.” Technically this is really probably Hamdul Allah, but it all gets run together.)
“Inta quais?” (This means, “You good?” Colloquially, “How about you?”)

“Hamdu’lah.” (The even more foreshortened version.)

“Meya-meya.” (This means literally, “a hundred/a hundred”, or more accurately, “A hundred percent!” Basically, “Great!”)

“Meya-meya.” (Which you should repeat back to the person who just said it to you. Congratulations, you can now speak Arabic better than many tourists.)

This is all well and good when you are a tourist who has learned a little Arabic. In fact, the above phonetic conversation will serve you well in almost any situation. When an Egpytian greets another Egyptian, the polite opening conversation takes on an elevated status. It’s like a Chip & Dale marathon where each person tries to outdo each other in a waterfall of polite speech. It’s almost like a race to see who can get the most nice words out fast enough, a contest of kindness. Every conversation, whether in person or on the phone, includes this elaborate dance, with each person saying something like the following to each other, both at the exact same time:

Person 1: Hello, how are you?                Person 2: Hello, how are you? I am well!
I am well! Thanks be to God! I               Are you alright? Thanks be to God! I
hope that everything is wonderful         hope that everything is wonderful
in your life and is as amazing as it       in your life and is as amazing as it
is in my life! I am so glad to hear          is in my life! I am so glad to hear
you are well! A hundred/a hundred!     you are well! A hundred/a hundred!

If the people are standing together at the time, they usually are shaking hands the whole while, nodding politely and smiling at each other. I was once walking with my friend Mohamed the block between his home and his office when a man jumped out of his car at the intersection and ran over to shake Momo’s hand. Even with his car stopped in the middle of the traffic, the exchange sounded the same as if they had met in his office. On the phone it is just a matter of both talking into their respective receivers simultaneously. In comparison, it makes the typical English greeting seem just a shadow of acceptability. However, every Egyptian has done this same dance about a hundred million times by now, to literally every person they have ever met. So there is a perfunctory quality about it that cannot fail to occur after so many years, like when an American says, “Hello, how are you?” to someone passing on the street and then keeps walking because they didn’t really mean to inquire after that stranger’s health, it’s just how they say hello. But magnified, because the speech must be made, in full, to nearly everyone. Even inside of a family unit, or a business where people talk with each other many times a day, the greeting is only somewhat less formal.

Learn just these few words of Arabic and not only will you have a better trip to Egypt, you will be able to understand many of the conversations around you!

http://www.spiritquesttours.com

Travel to Egypt is a marvelous thing. There are many ways to facilitate Egypt travel, from flights that go straight from New York to Cairo, to stops in Amsterdam or London, where you can lay over for the day and enjoy another city and culture while getting over jet lag faster (being in the noon-day sun in your new time zone really helps). A lot of the flights arrive late at night – really, early in the morning, so by the time you reach your hotel, if you can stay up an hour or so, you can get breakfast before either sleeping for a few hours or, if it’s your first time, checking out the Pyramids. After all, why else did you travel to Egypt?

Once upon a time in 1634, there was a plague.  A plague so bad it was threatening to wipe out the little town of Oberammergau, about 60 miles outside of Münich.  The villagers prayed and prayed for a miracle to save their little town, and then someone had a bright idea: if God spared them, they would thank Him by performing a play about the teachings and life of His Son, Jesus.  And He did.  And they did.  And every decade since then, without fail, Oberammergau has put on the Passion Play to thank God for showing them mercy.  I think this makes the Passion Play the longest-running off-off-Broadway show of all time.  Godspell, eat your heart out! 

It’s almost time for this once-a-decade opportunity! The Oberammergau Passion Play will be performed for the first time since 2000 next Summer, in 2010.

The show is spectacular, with a cast – literally – of thousands, and an audience of almost a half a million.  So though it doesn’t start until May, 2010, if you’re going, get your tickets early, because it sells out each and every year.

The Passion Play is five hours long, and starts with Jesus already in full form as a preacher and teacher, coming into Jerusalem, and tells the story through His resurrection.  Now, five hours is a long play (don’t worry, it’s broken up into two sections, one in the afternoon and one in the evening) but it makes for a short visit.  So what’s a tourist on a pilgrimage to do?  That depends on what religious denomination you are.  If you are Catholic, you might check out this tour, Grand Catholic Italy, which will take you through Italy and Austria on your way into Münich. If you’re Protestant, consider The European Reformation, where you can follow the life of Luther across Switzerland and Germany (including a Rhine Cruise!) before seeing the Passion Play. There are several other trips available to suit your own tastes, including one that takes you through Prague and Vienna and several other European cities on a non-denominational tour. Call Spirit Quest Tours at 877-406-5206 for more info, and have fun exploring your passions in Europe next summer! After all, you don’t want to wait until 2020 to go on this vacation!

http://www.spiritquesttours.com

Most of the pieces you can buy in Egypt are dirt cheap – it has to do with the economy, the cost of materials, the average salary being so low, etc. and everyone takes advantage of the low prices and buys a lot of things when they visit.  But out in the Sinai desert, one woman is changing all that. 

She is Salema Gabaly and she started off in a tent with four other women, creating beaded designs that are typical of the Bedouin people, the nomadic tribes that come from that area.  The objective was to preserve the Bedouin art of handicrafted bead work.  Salema’s work and that of her small group, grew and grew until now they have almost 500 Bedouin women from multiple local tribes, all creating exquisite beaded pillowcases, handbags, and jewelry. When you buy a scarf there, not only is it hand-beaded, but the same tribe wove the fine cotton or wool fabric themselves.  The best part is it’s all fair trade pricing, which is more expensive, but nothing more than you would pay at a place like Pier One.  This business, and the fact that the profits are all put back into the company, has allowed Salema to buy a house, a nice big one, and to create the store in what must have once been the living room of the house.  

There’s also a big back porch where you can go to sit, relax, and drink mint tea, but since the prices are fixed, there’s no bargaining.  Knowing the money is going directly to the women who made the goods, it’s easy to open your heart and your wallet wider, and this tiny pit stop has become a favorite of our groups, as the ladies suddenly remember friends back home who need an extra gift.  Salema and her sales clerks bustle around, accepting (as most merchants do) Egyptian pounds, US dollars, and Euro, and no one minds standing in line a little bit longer to wait for their flood of purchases to be counted and rung up.  For those of us who want to continue to use Fatsina as a unique shopping opportunity after returning to the States, more info can be found here: http://fansina.net/

http://www.spiritquesttours.com