B'ali've - Bali, Indonesia

Selemat pagi


Bali, oh dear Bali – how you live in your own world. Indonesia is mainly a Muslim country, but on the island of Bali, they practice their own unique version of Hinduism and speak Bahasa Indonesian. You’ll find offerings (usually consisting of a small square bowl made from a palm leaf filled with cooked rice, flowers and sometimes sweets and crackers) placed in front of every doorstep of every temple, house, restaurant and even your rented room. The women will do these offerings and you often find them too busy to attend to your holidaying needs as they are constantly preparing for offerings, festivals or ceremonies. There’s even a little temple for each rice field and a big one for each farm, a temple for different occasions and special days of praying i.e the gods of metal and aluminum, including the gods in your car/scooter. I love this place. It’s spiritual and it’s not forced onto you (like certain countries I know, wink). You almost cannot help to love these people and respect their ways; they sometimes laugh things off too easily perhaps. They are ofcourse not all innocence though. You have the bad guys and you have the cockfighting culture. And these poor roosters are everywhere on the side of the road, in a small cage, ready for sale and fighting.


I came to Bali with a crazy traveling schedule, all marked off on my map. But I got there, and for the first time (especially realizing that I’m not an air hostess anymore, that this is not a layover, and that I need NOT bounce around like a gummy bear trying to see as much as I can) I learned how to be still. And do as little as possible, and absorb it all. So I stayed in Ubud. For 9 days. In ONE place. At a homestay with a lovely, true Balinese family (3 generations). My porch overlooked a peaceful forest where I did yoga every morning and enjoyed my bowl of fresh fruit and sometimes even fell asleep with a book chilling on my deckchair. It was surely heavenly! My journey was special to me. I made friends with my 61 yr Hawaiian lady neighbour who took me on her scooter (or she on mine) and she would take me around to cute areas and warungs (cheap eating places) . We fell over on our scooter one day, from slippery moss. Poor thing. I still have the memories when I look at my bruises, haha. So I was happy with my choice of place, and felt content. My other neighbour, a very strange Japanese guy, soothed my heart daily with his guitar/harplike looking instrument. I miss him now..


Even though I felt safe at night walking around through my village, dogs are always a big threat. Better to walk around with a pocket full of stones, or pretend you’re picking one up to throw at them. Dogs are very unloved and mistreated unfortunately. Ubud (the cultural centre town of Bali) is very alive, and there’s a program for each day of the week. There are sooo many foreigners who live there and many I’ve heard speaking the language fluently. I went along quite fine with Ubud’s rhythm, hanged out in libraries, a French café that plays a movie – Bali in 1930 – in a loop. I went to Yogabarn (very famous amongst us yogis) and even attended a 3 hr international workshop. Great venue, excellent teachers!

Ofcourse, the traditional dance performances were not to be missed and I found this truly an interesting experience.

And I saw a luwak, walking right on my porch! A week before I left SA, I was told about this animal – a civit cat whose favourite chow are coffeebeans, of the finest kind. They collect it’s poop (as everything just goes straight through its system)and you end up paying an expensive amount to enjoy its coffee. I say: “EEEEEWWW!!!!” You can find this is SA also….


Other things in Bali that are truly spectacular, is the greenery. The ricefields and watching the riceworkers. Kids playing with kites. Ducks. Nothing has changed since 1930 and thus Bali is the most consistent place I’ve been to.

I decided to cut my holiday short, but before doing so, I got off the island and went to another – to Nusa Lembongan. It’s very quiet and definitely a big hit for surfers and divers. Here, in this village life, I continued to learn to be still and be ok with doing nothing. I have come a long way.


Now I find myself in Delhi…. Lots to tell you about that, very soon!

So, all my lovely people - I hope you are doing splendid. Do know that this planet is your playground. People say that they wish they had my life. But what is my life? Life is just how you want it. We get too engrossed in our busy lives and get carried away with what we really want. In my next letter I’d like to share with you my thoughts about a crazy place like Delhi and that contentment is really just a choice. Blaming and making excuses take you even further away from that. But, but, but….shhh…


I wish you happiness.


Terimah kasi – for letting me share.


Big smooches,

A

rally in the alley - goodbye galley. Senegal, Dakar and saying bye to Dubai

Bonjour!!

So I finally and happily hung up my flight attendant uniform and left the soulless Dubai:) And let me tell you of my last endeavour in my career before doing so - Dakar, Senegal

Senegal is the Westernmost country of Africa, French speaking (aswell as Wolof, a local language) and slaves used to escape to America from the island off the coast called - Island Goree.
I explored this entire little island of only 1200 people - there is a school and hospital and everything, just no roads and cars. We know Dakar from the offroad rallies that used to be held there, and I was fortunate enough to see this famous route. Just getting there, was a rally on it's own, haha (an hour's drive from our hotel) Next to this area is the Lac Rose (Pink Lake) - a salt lake (where people can float like on the Dead Sea) which actually reflects pink in strong sun due to high mineral concentration and the presence of micro-organisms in the water. That day it just looked brown to me. There were heaps and heaps of salt harvested by the locals.


Our hotel was absolutely gorgeous, more like a resort and right next to the beach. I enjoyed my last walk in my uniform through the airport and blew a kiss in the air in memory of my chaotic (yet fantastic) life as an airhostess.

I stressed a bit from sorting out all my cargo and loose things while in Dubai. I had to sell Suzibob (my beloved superbike). My last day was spent at a yoga festival (bliss!) and the night at a trendy bar on the beach. I feel human again. I sleep. I sleep well. And I don't miss Dubai at all. It was incredible to live in the present/moment and be content with all my decisions. I had a blast during my 3 and a half years with the airline and I can count many blessings. I had the best flatmate I could have ever asked for, and an adorable feline companion. Right now I'm in my little village hometown, Vanrhynsdorp. And I'm taking the time to reflect on my life again - something I believe best we do from time to time. It doesn't matter where we come from, fullstop. We adjust, either way, to who we really are.

I'm in SA for 2 weeks and off I'll go to Bali for about a month - yes, to do a little more of nothing and enjoy this journey of freedom.Fullstop
Big African hug!
Alta

Cherry on top (Yoga in Pondicherry, South India)

Alo alo

Finally someone kicked me under the butt to write something, and I just thought for a person who lives her life so openly, I'm just way too quiet lately.

I've just returned from two more weeks in India for level 2 Yoga teacher training. I went to the South this time, Pondicherry (or Puducherry) 3 hours (or 160kms) away from Chennai (or Maadras). The French ruled this territory for 300 years, so it's very evident in this cute, messy, little town.
The street names are all in French, which makes it quite ridiculous (and ironic) to get a tuc-tuc driver to understand where you are directing him to, so you stick to Indian sounding shops. French restaurants do not have a trace of French food, and you end up being stuck with South Indian curries everywhere you go.

Luckily our yoga resort was a few kilometres away from town and we felt quite secluded and private in our 'sanctuary'.
In the beginning I thought: what on earth am I doing once again in chaotic India studying and twisting and bending from 6 in the morning to 8h30 at night, where I should be holidaying on some tropical island, reading my book, sipping on icy cocktails and not using my brain. I almost gave up. I've been doing a lot of travelling this year and not enough chilling out. But then 5 days later, the healthy eating, the calm meditations and the postures of incredible yoga, turned me into a joyful Alta again. My fellow students were awesome, and I met up with some old teachers from last year (same Australian company). For the ones who don't know how badly flying and jetlag mess with your body, you have no idea how absolutely wonderful it is TO BE ABLE to go to bed @10pm, get up @6am, go to the loo right after breakfast - if you know what I mean (and again sometimes after lunch) and feel your body do 'normal' things.
Yoga and all that comes with it, always make me feel present, and present in my body. It calms me down and helps me to think more clearly. And the way it massages my organs, strengthens muscles that seem impossible to find or even describe, and stretches my body leanly to make me feel like a ballerina, all make me grateful for having found this path. I lost more weight, probably most slender I've ever been - I'm not talking about thin and anorexic looking (well, my mom seem to disagree), but I feel better than I did when I was 21. Yesterday was my last meal of fish and eggs, so I am completely vegetarian now and not looking back. I feel great!

Which leads me to tell you that I will be quitting Emirates soon. I'm just waiting and fighting hard to get surgery organized with the company - to sort out my vericose veins in my legs, from all this flying. I should be done with Emirates by end of January. Then I plan to stay in Dubai for another year perhaps and teach yoga. Opportunities are big here. Ideally I'd rather be in Cape Town ofcourse. Also, some shocking news: Param and I broke up about 4 months ago. It was 5 wonderful and crazy years, a beautiful book that came to an end. We remain friends.

The weather is superb in Dubai at the moment, so I'll have some biking news and adventures to share with you soon.

I do look forward to hearing back from you folk. It's been a while.
May I add that I wish you a fantastic closure to 2010 which is coming to an end. Have a jolly time during the festive season and may you find emotional, spiritual and physical health part of your priority list of prosperity. Feel great and live great. Be 2011 find you harmony in everything you encounter. It's your birthright:)

Big Ohm,
A

The Undutchables (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Goede dag

My news are getting rarer as your comments/replies/feedback are decreasing as well as my new destinations. I finally made it to Amsterdam! And wow! It was everything we have heard of Amsterdam, and yet so much more. It made me think and wonder how come the Dam is so different if the Dutch are so conservative and the whole experience was just made interesting. I'll cut to the chase and share my experience. Two South Africans and one Thai crew joined me into my urban excursion while we were waiting for Petra (my very good friend from South Africa) to finish work and join us later.
So:
-We saw public male urinals in the middle of a sidewalk. It is just a stand and men pee there openly. I couldn't believe it. According to Petra, they tried a more closed-off version for females, which unfortunately turned into a cubicle for horny druggies
-The Red Light District is so open, we just 'stumbled' upon the area. Yes, it's actually like a shopping window and girls are displaying themselves cutely to passing men. I took my new camera with it's superzoom, and 'stole' a photo before we got into the area. It's highly prohibited, although no signboards saying so. I guess it's just common sense. But isn't weed illegal?
-The city is surrounded by canals and bridges and I kept thinking we were walking in circles. It was beautiful. Also, it being summer, the sun supplied us with perfect weather and only went down after 10pm
- People smoke weed on the sidewalk and the smell lingers in the air all over the city. That's just strange. Walking in a modern city where weed is legal. How is that even so? Also, there are many weed and seed shops, museums, information centres and 'colleges'.
- I've never seen so many bicycles/cyclists in my life!!! Thousands are parked everywhere, and they are old and not looked after well. It sounds like the only thing that gets stolen often in Amsterdam. It's quite frightening dodging fast cyclists, trams, buses, cars and other pedestrians. As a biker myself (in a crazy place like Dubai), I'm afraid to take on the engineless two wheels in a place like Amsterdam.

- We had pancakes for lunch - Dutch style. They put bacon and cheese, spinach or whatever is on the menu, on a pancake. I ordered in Afrikaans. Being brought up as a South African, it just tasted wrong. I kept wondering where the cinnamon sugar was. We had Heineken also throughout the day. It's originally from Amsterdam
- Meeting up with Petra was just fantastic!! Her Dutch is fluent by now and it was awesome to hear her talk to the locals. She is such a great mind and so easy to hang out with. We went to the massive iAm-sterdam sign and hanged around for a bit and ended the day with a lovely, chatty dinner.


I was lucky enough to catch Dominique (also a good South African friend) in London on my previous layover and went for a healthy vegetarian (she turned vegetarian also) picnic in Hyde Park sporting pink and red sunglasses that I acquired for our outing, haha. She will be touring Eurasia on her vespa!

Anyway, coming back to the Dutch and our history and orange - I don't know why South Africans would refer to it as their Fatherland or think that they can speak Dutch. I felt no connection and there are no similarities to the culture. The Dutch did make me feel very short though, hehe.

Nog een prettige dag toegewenst
Totziens
Alta

Borneo to be wild (Sarawak, Borneo)

Selamat datang

I am glad to be able to share another intense and spiritual journey with you, the one I just returned from. I remember very well, in 2003, embarrassed that I knew nothing of the world, I spent my days in the library picking up books about countries, cultures and languages (as I never paid attention in Geography and History class in school) One of the many books I picked up then, was called BORNEO, and it became a dream to be in one of its villages. I never put energy into it and never thought about it again. Then I 'randomly' (yeah right) met Wellena, a village girl from Borneo, and I shyly asked her to be my friend (I haven't done this since I was 10?) We cooked for each other every now and then in order to meet up, as she just 'happened' to live in the same building as I. I, 'coincidentally', had leave on the days she was going to have her engagement ceremony....I 'miraculously' got on a overbooked flight with a standby ticket. This was clearly meant to be. And....so I went
Borneo is the 3d largest island in the world, basically between/amongst Indonesia and Malaysia - and at the same time the island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The island has a typical jungle feeling to it, lush green bushes, ferns and big forest trees, lakes and green bushy mountains.

Her friends immediately took me in as their own and treated me with warmth. By the end of the first night, I could sing most karaoke songs fluently in Malay (Iban, to be exact), lol!!! The next day was the big one. Went to her village, which is a 2-hours drive from Kuching. Kuching is the capital of the East Malaysian state of Sarawak. Once there, I watched how many village women cook and prepare for the night's celebration. I instantly fell in love with Wellena's grandma, who reminded me of my own, which took me back to my childhood and my hometown and how I came about being the person I really am (i was fortunate enough to experience the real old Afrikaans tradition through my granny). Also, a part of me felt Malay. I connected with all 300 ppl that night and my job was to walk around with a 1,8 L btl of local spirits (langkau) and offer it to everyone individually. I was given TWO of these bottles. People were allowed to negotiate, and sometimes I couldn't get out of one, and I basically had a shot for every 10th person, lol!! This was a part of the tradition. After my job was done (labeled: the sadong girl), I grabbed one of the old aunties by the hand, and we opened the dancefloor. One local song came up and everyone was doing the line dance (remember Achy Breaky Heart??) I joined right in. People were AMAZED that I knew their local song's dance, hahahaha (they obviously thought they had started it). The end of the night, everyone was drunk(including me), and Wellena's dad and grandma became my own:) It was one of the most amazing experiences to me to be a part of all of this. I had no judgement, no complaints, just simple observations. Wellena said that's what she loved about me and therefore she never apologize for her family. I cried. I remembered that she, at first, tried to convince me to rather come to the wedding in France (her fiance is French, many people assumed therefore I must be his family friend, as we were the only whities there) but I would never even think twice about my options.
My dream came true, and it's one that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I am being blessed endlessly and I am in joy.

Then off we went to Gunung Gading National Park to go see the rafflesia - the world's biggest, smelly and carnivorous flower only found in Borneo and that only lives for a few days. Anti-climax sorry, we were misinformed as the flower died the day before already:( So, we went back to Kuching, where I saw the cat museum, haha (Kuching means cat) and I spontaneously decided to go back to Dubai - so a nice weekend for me in Borneo, all turned out super. I have no idea how it was possible, but I got on a overbooked flight again - as in 30 ppl overbooked. Even the crew couldn't believe it. To surprise Param when I got home. He was still up @6am and speechless when I walked in. Yes, Param has been staying with me for 2 months now. We will probably always be together or find ways to make it work. Boer maak 'n plan, as he says......

May you all realize your dreams and know that anything indeed is possible. I wish you a wonderful day and look forward to your replies

Big hug,
me

Ps. there are soooo many more Malay words in Afrikaans than just piesang... it's funny:)

tripoli to Libya (Tripoli, Libya)

Hey guys,

while I wait to get the photos from the adventure I just returned from, I'll send you a little bit of news about Tripoli in the country Libya - North Africa.
Not much to say.... to me it had the same vibe as Morocco, perhaps even more boring. It was an interesting experience as a woman, to hear men shouting from passing cars - but like crazy shouting, something hysterical, a bit mental. In my mind, I was wondering what was wrong with these people, until my accompanying friend told me it was for me, gosh, then I became aware of it all. And cool enough, my friend just happened to be someone I've been going on random bike runs with and whom I'd hang out at the bikeraces. Met him through a friend, and he got pulled out on my flight last minute (he's crew as well)


We went strolling, exploring some streets and then at night a few of us went looking for a local restaurant where they had baby camel on the menu:(
We smoked some shisha, saw few loose Roman ruins and went back to our hotel, which is probably the best looking building in the whole city. There are photos of Kadafi everywhere.

Ja, and that's it.

Thank you for all the awesome birthday wishes. I had a ball. Picnic on the beach and then a "P" party - I came as a prisoner, haha

Next newsletter on it's way shortly.
Be well and be happy,

Alta

going, Goa, gone! (India)

Alo!

The end of the year is excitingly close as another brilliant year awaits us. Allow me to share my experience in Goa with you.

So.... I went to Goa, South/West India to do the yoga teacher training course by an Australian company. We stayed at a stunning tropical retreat center surrounded by beautiful nature, in fact my hut/shack was right next to the river and I brushed my teeth and showered everyday overlooking this (had no window, just a hole in the bathroomhut) and went to bed hearing crickets, frogs croak and sometimes rain, and then waking to the sound of birds. Food was lovingly prepared (onion-and garlic-free) by a Nepalese kitchen team, all vegetarian and healthy, and we drank filtered water from the well. Meals were shared with an amazing bunch of bright and open-minded people sharing a common passion - the love of yoga, health, life and nature. I was in paradise once again! Class started at 6am every morning and the last lecture ended at 20h30. Yes, looong, sweaty, intense days. Sometimes when we got the chance, we would gulf down our lunch quickly and go for a dip in the ocean (which was like a 50ms walk over the slender wooden bridge that crosses the river) We learned so much, my head was spinning and I felt like a beginner in yoga (even though I've been doing yoga for almost 5 years) We were teaching public classes and being assessed already on the 4th day. There were 3 programs, and in the teacher training, we were 8 students. We bonded so well with each other including the teachers, it was all very wonderful! We celebrated the end of the course with a drum circle and dancing on the beach with bonfires. (but the course continues as I am left with lots of assignments and teaching hours before I get certified)

And off I went into the unknown for another 6 days, solo. All I knew is that I wanted to explore Goa. I had a map and an idea. Long story short... I ended up staying in a village in North Goa where there were no other foreigners, just me. The only tourists you saw were the ones riding scooters through this village. I spent my days lazying around, eating, going to the beach, walking and some days my 'driver' (the one whose family house I was staying in) would take me on day trips (i even peeped into Maharashtra, just a ferry ride from Goa, and already the Maharathis were different - dressed differently, different food, different language - isn't India just amazingly endless) Goa feels like another country, not just India. The people are totally laidback, they have a chilled attitude, (like don't worry, be happy), very friendly - they are just different. Goan prawn curry is fantastic, and oh yes, the Goan trance parties are great... even though they are hard to find these days (because the police bans them). I even attended a fashion show party. I did clothing shopping till my money ran out and I had to get some more from my credit card. The clothing there is absolutely awesome, just my style. And very fashionable and stupid cheap. Oh and the architecture is something else, especially the capital city, Panji/Panjim/Paniji - same, same. Goa was ruled by the Portuguese till 1961, so it still has a big Portuguese influence very visible in the architecture and religion. Overall Goa is just absolutely gorgeous, beeeg open beaches, beautiful skies with lots of fluffy clouds, breathtaking sunsets, amazing weather (in November), coconut trees, holy cows, great food and cheap accommodation. I fully enjoyed the experience and am very grateful for attracting such wonders in my life:)

Then instead of going to Madagascar, I popped into Cape Town where I JUST holidayed. I finally went up Table Mountain and Lion's Head again (for sunrise) and spent my days with Pookie. It was bliss. It is always tough leaving that gorgeous city.

And with the ending of this entry, I wish you jolliness in this festive time (although I think it is always time to be festive), I wish you a superlative year ahead or at least seeing the perfection which is in every moment, that you can look at things with a judgeless view and appreciate things for what they just are, that you find success and joy in your days, and that you'll love yourself and feel blessed to be the wonderful beings that you are.

In the happiness of having yummy yogueta lollipops in my kitchen, health and with love,
Alta