Before I left for this trip I had a plan of attack for health and hygiene in order to minimize all possible susceptibilities to super bird monkey swine flu and other nasty vacation-ruining bugs. I had my sanitary wipes, my hand sanitizer, water purifier (thanks to Brandon again for showing me this little baby), vitamin C tablets, pepto (to take before suspicious meals) and the list goes on and on. That charade lasted for about the first week of this trip and since then I have carelessly thrown all caution to the wind. No. To be more correct with this idiom, I stripped caution down naked, duct taped him to a splintered board, beat him unconscious with a whiffle ball bat, pissed on his family heir looms, lit him on fire, then sprinkled his ashes into the wind as I laughed hysterically. Yeah…that seems about right.

Woke up after about 3 hours of sleep (didn’t get back from that volleyball game until late) in order to be on the trail by 4Am. It was me and 7 others, all french and german. Which means my hike would be a quiet one. The hike itself wasn’t challenging at all aside from it being in the dark. Infact, the mountain was only 1700meters, of which we only hiked up about 1000. And if anyone in that group thought it was challenging they should stop to consider that our guide (the only person I did talk to on the way up) hikes that thing sometimes twice a day, at least 5 days a week. His calf mussels have calf mussels.

When we reached the summit we had about 20min to kill, so I went with our guide down into the crater where he put eggs and bananas into an open crevasse, and filled it with grass. The steam from the volcano, trapped in by the grass would cook everything inside.

As the breakfast cooked, I took a perfect perch in a spot in front of all the lovey dovey couples enjoying the sunrise, so that I could get a better photo. Screw them, they can look at each other…

The view was surreal to say the absolute least. We were above the cloud line, so all you saw was an ocean of clouds with three volcano tops peaking through. Complete awe. I wouldn’t have minded hiking up again just to watch that big orange ball creep over the horizon.

The volcano timer went off and breakfast was served. Hard boiled eggs and a banana sandwich (yeah…try it…fantastic) on top of the volcano…it wouldn’t have mattered if it was pickled goat dick and sour kraut, coupled with that view, it would have been a delicacy.

Also ran into another American (though she was born in Belarus, I guess I’ll let that slide) who had recently been working at twitter. She was asking all kinds of questions about my camera gear and i was asking all kinds of questions about her peculiar choice in foot wear for a mountain trek. Hashtag, all purpose shoes bro.

We had some good laughs, but as in life our paths diverged to different destinations. (Ack…that sounded like something from an Our Daily Bread article) I do hope her shoes held through the journey.

The hike continued around the rim of the volcano. The guides lead us across a narrow path that jettisoned a few meters above a steep drop of sharp igneous rock.

After we returned…well…I slept most of the afternoon, then linked back up with Nyoman to go to the local hot springs. I like the balinesian hot springs over the Japanese hot springs for two reasons; you can eat and drink while you’re in them. The hot springs in japan were very serious and somber, perfect if you want a moment for introspection. Bali hot springs are like a pool party, just about anything goes. It was a perfect way to relax and loosen the mussels up after a hike.

After that we jumped over to a local dive, where I was offered some of the best fresh Tilapia I’ve ever…and dare I say….will ever have. Everything was amazing and made from things grown right there in the village. My favorite was the local asem sauce…which was a combination of palm sugar, fresh tamarind, peppers and a few other ingredients. Put it on some fresh papaya and your mind will be blown.

To finish my bali life tour, Nyoman took me to meet up with some of his friends. Spent the rest of the night drinking Arat (a local distilled spirit made from palm leaves), eating food and listening to music.

This is why I prefaced this post with killing caution. Most people, would have not even thought about jumping in the back of a truck with a bunch of strange guys in a foreign land in the middle of the night. They would have politely said no thanks, then spent their evening holed up in a hotel watching Balinesian reruns of baywatch.

Yet, I can honestly say that so far on this trip, everything that I’ve done that has been truly unique, inspiring, and will remain as great memories for the entirety of my lifetime, were all done by ignoring that little twinge of caution – that silly little fleck in the back of your mind that avoids confrontation, change or challenge and just wants to return to normalcy and safety. I know that twinge all too well…

Now, clearly I’m no Bear Grylls (my name alone disqualifies me from being that badass) and I’m not about to set out traveling the world with a nap sack and a $0 budget (I have a thing for hot running water…and wifi) but if you’re not willing to ignore the twinge, then you’re going to miss the best parts.

And to Nyoman Surya Wan, a thousand times over, thank you sir, for the hospitality and showing me the bali lifestyle.