Betsy's Blog

  We arrived at almost midnight in the busy Bali, Indonesai Airport. We had an Uber driver waiting for us holding a sign with our name on it. Now that is service! He drove us three hours on dark, windy roads through tiny towns perched on cliffs overlooking the ocean. Our Bali teacher friend is impressed that we survived that notoriously dangerous island drive. Our corner of the island if filled with tiny, one room homes made of concrete that has weathered many storms. The highlight of each village is a colorful, ornate Hindu Temple. Bali is a very busy with cars, motorcycles, and chickens running wild in the streets. What a pleasant surprise to escape this chaos and drive into our modern bungalow resort perched high above the ocean with two pools. Each bungalow has its own sundeck has a couch and table overlooking the ocean. I think I could easily stay here for a while.  For our daily lunch, we order fresh watermelon juice and eggrolls delivered to our deck. I feel like a movi...

It's a wild adventure to jump onto a plane in the middle of the night in Kuala Lumpur and wake up five hours later in amazing Australia!  The airport was empty as we made our way into the Customs area. Only one employee was on duty and she looked very bored. I guess we gave her something to do. So she proceeded to empty my backpack and examine every item carefully. Then she smiled and held up a sealed bag of Macadamia Nuts that I had never opened. She asked if the nuts were mine and I nodded nervously. Then she pointed to Item #11 on my Australian Customs Form. Nuts were on the long list of forbidden items in this country, Why? "Keep them", I muttered while shaking my head in disbelief. "No, you can keep them," she said and then returned my disheveled backpack. I pushed everything back inside quickly before she changed her mind.  What a nutty interrogation.       Our stormy beach hotel is located in a tiny town outside of Perth. Even though its winter, time...

  Is there any other adjective to describe this city in the mountains in northern Thailand? There is still an Old City dating back to 1558 with cobblestone streets, city walls, and moats around it. The huge city of over 120,000 people is also dotted with colorful Buddhist Temples and carved serpents on them. It is a magical city where you can imagine what life used to be like when life was simpler and had a daily purpose. The temples still are used daily with people lighting incense sticks and chanting in front of religious statues. The monks in orange-colored robes are constantly sweeping the grounds, cleaning the temples, and scrubbing the cement floors. It is silent and there is a sense that all is well and peaceful in the world.  Then you walk out of the Temple walls into the busy, noisy streets full of motorbikes, push carts, and honking horns. There are tiny coffee shops and restaurants mixed with street markets that sell a little bit of everything. My husband and I are ...

WOW and double WOW‼️ As we flew into the capital city of Malaysia at night, it was surrounded by lit up skyscrapers. The airport is an hour away and dotted with tall buildings the entire hour drive into the city. Kuala Lumpur is a modern, thriving, multicultural city. Most people live in apartments with a tiny balcony and a view of rolling green hills surrounding this sprawling city.  Yesterday we walking around the old city port on the water. The worn cement buildings had art galleries, tiny cafes and souvenir shops. There were colorful murals painted on the walls and boats sailing in the bay. The locals were friendly and busy cooking fresh meat and vegetables in woks on the sidewalk. We sat on tiny plastic stools and had Chinese dumplings and tea.  At night, the city lights up with outdoor cafes, bars and tiny shops. Everyone is enjoying different types of music in each place. The pork and satay peanut sauce on skewers is amazing. Actually, the whole city is a surprise. It h...