📍 Bali, Indonesia 12/30/18

I’ve been refraining from writing because there is just SO MUCH to say. I don’t even know where to start. Seminyak killed me for the first couple days. I realized that I was not used to being alone, not after Shanghai anyway. But I was meditating on the beach one morning and realized that I just need to relax and let experiences fall into place.

Before, I was so anxious and restless for a grand adventure. Also a little homesick because it was Christmas. But then on Christmas Eve, I went out with friends from the hostel and it was so fun. Dancing on tables fun.

We started at a place called Mexicala and then went to another place called La Favela, which had a huge Christ the Redeemer statue in the middle and multiple dance floors.

I was originally with Tom from France, Moglee who is crazy, ninjia-like dancer, and A-something from Beligum, who doesn’t speak much English, but we teamed up with this trio from India that really seemed to like me. The guy tried to kiss me so I ran away. The two girls were cool. I think one of them licked my hair, though.

Anyway, we went out on Christmas too but it was way more low-key with card games and I lost a bet to Tom and had to go up to a random table and ask to try their hookah.

After that, I went to Nusa Penida. BIG MISTAKE.

First, it was bloody impossible to even get there. My driver never showed up, so I had to take 2 Grabs and I missed my boat. When I finally got there, I rented a motorbike, found my guesthouse (which was beautiful), and met a guy named Henrique from Brazil.

The next day started as a highlight of my life. I was alone, driving my motorbike, cruising along the ocean with an enormous volcano looming in the distance, then turning down windy roads into the sprawling jungly hills. It was amazing.

But then it started to rain and the road got very pot-holey. As I neared Atuh Beach, there was one particular hill that was awful. I caught my scooter on a pothole and it fell over. I slid over the dirt and rocks, slicing my knee open. I swear I saw bone.

At this point, a white van stopped and saw I was real panicked and bleeding everywhere. One guy got out with a first aid kit, but it literally had nothing in it. So instead he took a leaf, tore it up, and stuffed it in my wound. I was thinking, wow this guy really knows what he’s doing, but then he just up and left me there!

Another guy on a scooter ended up giving me a ride to the local clinic, where they gave me 9 stitches and a tetanus shot. Now I’m in Ubud at a coffee shop writing while a huge thunderstorm sounds off in the distance. So I lived.