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AP: Travel industry courting 'Eat, Pray, Love' fans Read Post

AP: Travel industry courting 'Eat, Pray, Love' fans

On the Go with Amy got a mention in a recent Associated Press story. Here's an excerpt:

In Bali, they're seeking guidance from a spiritual healer. In Rome, they're lapping up gelato. And in India, they're visiting temples.

Fans of Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir "Eat, Pray, Love," have been following in her footsteps ever since it was first published in 2006. The book describes a year Gilbert spent living in Italy, India and Indonesia on the rebound from a divorce and failed romance.

But the travel industry is betting that the Aug. 13 release of a film version starring Julia Roberts will inspire even more globe-trotting. Hotels, tour companies and even guidebook publishers are offering everything from do-it-yourself itineraries to luxury trips.

The movie even has "official" travel partners: Lonely Planet, which created a website at www.lonelyplanet.com/eatpraylove with recommendations for sightseeing and lodging, and STA Travel, which is advertising a contest for a 21-day trip to the three countries.

Naturally, it is a trip for one.

For high-end travelers, there are invitations like this one: "Eat. Pray. Fall in love with Micato Safaris' Inspirational India Tour." Price tag: $19,795.

But plenty of fans have replicated parts of Gilbert's journey on their own. Australian tourist Zoe Moran was reading the book as she stopped by the San Crispino ice cream shop near the Trevi Fountain in Rome, where Gilbert ate gelato three times in one day.

"I just got to the part in Rome, so I'm trying to follow the footsteps of Gilbert," she said.

Gilbert writes of savoring good food and soaking up sights like the Villa Borghese and Piazza del Popolo. Canadian tourist Sarah Luong, another "Eat, Pray, Love" fan at San Crispino, said she was "trying to do the same, take my time and enjoy Rome at its best."

Some "Eat, Pray, Love" devotees have found their way to Ubud, the artsy town in Bali where Gilbert seeks guidance from Ketut Liyer, a spiritual healer, and makes friends with a cafe owner named Wayan.

Gilbert notes in the book that tourism to Indonesia plummeted after a series of terrorist bombings. Liyer even says to her, "If you have Western friends come to visit Bali, bring them to me for palm-reading. I am very empty in my bank since the bomb!"

Liyer's wish came true. Since the book was published, Liyer said in an interview in his home, "I have more foreign tourists visiting me." He estimated the number of visitors to be in the "hundreds."

As seekers dropped by — including a group from Japan who said they heard about him from the book — Liyer offered cheerful palm and face readings, predicting luck, wealth and long life. And just as Gilbert described, he asked his guests to help him practice speaking English.

Ngurah Wijaya, head of the Bali Tourism Board, said it's impossible to quantify how many tourists Indonesia is getting because of "Eat, Pray, Love." But he said it has had a "great impact" in making "people understand that Bali is safe."

Amy Graff, who lives in San Francisco and writes about family travel on her blog, "On the Go With Amy," took a trip to Indonesia in 2009 with her husband, kids and another family. Both she and the other mom loved the book.

"I really was compelled to go and try and find Wayan," Graff said. The two families got "the vitamin lunch" described by Gilbert in the book, and which Graff said was "absolutely delicious."

Read the full story

Homeward bound: Bali-Taipei-SF Read Post

Homeward bound: Bali-Taipei-SF

The return flights to San Francisco went smoothly. Believe it or not, we traveled for 24 hours straight with no major mishaps. The highlight was a five-hour layover in Taipei where we noshed on udon noodles at a cafe and ran around with the kids at an indoor playground. After getting all their ya-yas out, they boarded the 12-hour flight home--and slept for nine solid hours. Can't complain!

Bali's vanishing rice paddies Read Post

Bali's vanishing rice paddies

Outside the mountain village of Ubud, our driver pulled over the van to show us a rice paddy. Terraced fields tripped down the hillsides like steps for a giant. The Gunung Kawi paddies were a spectacular sight to see.

Rice is the No. 1 crop in Indonesia, and you see lush, green fields throughout Bali--it's part of the island's appeal. But sadly, the rice paddies are disappearing. With tourism becoming a billion dollar industry, Balinese are abandoning farming. Rice paddies are being replaced by golf courses, hotels, villas, and industrial parks. On average, Bali is reducing its rice production by about four thousand tons per year. Today, these rice paddies are sights to see before they disappear.

Jimbaran Bay Read Post

Jimbaran Bay

Our Lonely Planet Bali guide read,

Just outside Kuta, Jimbaran Bay is a superb crescent of white sand and blue sea, fronted by a long string of seafood warung (restaurants), and ending at the souther end in a bushy headland...It's mostly a somnolent kind of place except in the evenings as the sun goes down, when the tourists arive and enjoy the spectacle while feasting on freshly caught grilled fish at any number of simple beachside joints. Once it's dark, you can see twinkling lights far out to sea: fishing boats bringing aboard the next night's meals.

Sound like a great place? It is. Our night at Jimbaran Bay was one of the most memorable on our trip. We feasted on fresh, sweet grilled lobster and fish at the Teba Cafe. Our table sat right on the sand and the kids built a sandcastle while the adults sipped fruity cocktails. Here's a slide show:

Pura Luhur Ulu Watu Read Post

Pura Luhur Ulu Watu

On Bali's southernmost point, Pura Luhur Ulu Watu sits atop sheer cliffs that drop straight down to the pounding surf. The 11th-century Balinese sea temple is lovely with intricate carvings of mythological characters and a family of monkeys who crawl about it. But the commanding ocean views are the real draw. As we walked the path that skirts the edge of the cliffs, I was holding onto the backs of my kids' shirts.

"Mommy, it's a long ways down there. I don't think we should jump into the water."

Slide show: Traditional Balinese Healing Center Read Post

Slide show: Traditional Balinese Healing Center

Have you read Eat, Pray, Love? Remember Wayan, the healer in Ubud? The author raises money to buy Wayan a house? We visited Wayan's Traditional Balinese Healing Center. We tried the "Vitamin Lunch," and Wayan treated my daughter's rash with some herbs. Here's a slide show.

Traditional Balinese Healing Center: A visit with Wayan of 'Eat, Pray, Love' Read Post

Traditional Balinese Healing Center: A visit with Wayan of 'Eat, Pray, Love'

If you read the hugely popular book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, then you know about Wayan (pictured above). She's the healer who runs the Traditional Balinese Healing Center in Ubud. While Gilbert is living in Bali she visits Wayan with a banged up knee and the two quickly become friends. When Gilbert learns that Wayan desperately wants a house, the author raises money through her friends back in New York--and by the end of the book Wayan has purchased a plot of land.

We visited Wayan--because I read the book and was curious to meet one of the main characters, and even more so because my 5-year-old daughter, Paris, broke out in a rash on the trip.

Big red sores that oozed thick yellow liquid popped up all over Paris's face on the second day of our vacation. They didn't itch or hurt but they looked frightening. Like any mother, I got nervous--especially since we were a full day's worth of traveling from home. So we brought Paris to a traditional doctor who assured us the sores weren't serious. The doctor prescribed an antihistamine and a steroid cream. Paris's rash didn't improve. It got worse.

I decided we should track down Wayan, who tells Gilbert that "when she's healing her patients she becomes an open pipeline for God's love." Sound far out? Well yes, but Gilbert says on her Web site, eliabethgilbert.com, "I would trust Wayan with any illness whatsoever."

Because of the book's popularity, I suspected that Wayan would have spruced up her place. Not so. The storefront was exactly the way Gilbert describes it in her book--"small and modest with potted plants in front."

We sat down at one of the two dining tables. A lady greeted us and we ordered the "vitamin lunch" (pictured). In her book, Gilbert says it's the best meal in Ubud.

Wayan, with a beaming smile and shiny black hair down to her waste, walked in. Before saying anything, she walked up to Paris and looked closely and carefully at the welts on her face.

"I can help. I can fix this. You wait," said Wayan. And then she disappeared upstairs.

And wait we did. We waited for some 30 minutes for our lunch. Finally, the lady carried a tray with our meal. Small piles of vegetables topped in herbs and chutneys were carefully arranged on a plate--each labeled identifying the food's healing properties.

Red rice: healthy heart
Grilled coconut: rheumatitis
Tomato chutney: healthy gums
Mutabilis leaf: stomach gas
Bean sprouts: weak muscles
Bean sprouts--to strengthen weak muscles

Paris and Dante were reluctant to try the food, so Wayan's daughter Tutti (another character from the book; pictured below) encouraged them and Tutti actually hand-fed Paris her entire meal.

Wayan finally returned and she and her assistant (pictured below) spent about 30 minutes washing Paris's face with hot, wet leaves that smelled like eucalyptus. I also allowed Wayan to give Paris pills (I can't believe I did this) but Wayan told me that Paris's rash was something that was hurting her inside and I totally believed this woman, who barely spoke English and was completely spacey and New Agey--though warm.

Honestly, the rash disappeared before our eyes. Her large welts faded.

Next, Wayan tried to remove the water from my husband Anthony's ear. Poor Anthony was nearly going deaf after he spent a day jumping into the pool with the kids. She wasn't successful but she told him that he needed to have someone remove wax from his ear and that she had a friend who could do this. We were leaving so we didn't take her up on it but when we got home Anthony had a doctor do this and it solved the problem.

We spent four hours relaxing at her clinic, chatting, eating, sipping turmeric tea. We could have gotten a massage. It was such a comfortable, healing experience--so different from a visit to a doctor in the United States.

Kintamani Read Post

Kintamani

When you tell small children that you're going to visit a volcano, they get quite excited.

"Will there be lava?"

"Will it be on fire?"

"No, Mommy, I'm afraid! Too scary!"

While the several volcanoes rising above the center of the island of Bali are active, they're certainly not scary. Our kids quickly realized this when our driver pulled the van up to the town of Kintamani, where we got an upclose view of Gunung Batur.

"Where's the lava?"

"I thought we were going to see a volcano?"

Bali's second-tallest mountain hasn't had a major eruption since 1963. It has spewed a few times since then but sightings of fresh, hot lava are rare. The double caldera volcano with one crater inside another is a sight to see. You get the best views from Kintamani, a touristy spot about an hour an a half from Ubud. Buses drop tourists off here, where restaurants overlooking the mountain serve piles of mediocre food buffet-style. We all got a case of the runs after our meal at one of the eateries but we enjoyed the views and fresh, mountain air.

"We're up so high! Does it snow up here?"

The answer is no, but there are pine trees.

Quote of the trip Read Post

Quote of the trip

"I wish San Francisco was Bali--it's so beautiful here."
—4-year-old Kaya, who lives in San Francisco

A 5-year-old's impression of Bali Read Post

A 5-year-old's impression of Bali

One night at a restaurant in Ubud, my 5-year-old daughter, Paris, drew this picture of a Balinese women with a basket of fruit atop her head.

As we drive around the island, we see women walking along the side of the road, balancing towers of offerings, fruit, and flowers on their heads. Paris is so impressed by this--and was especially in awe when she saw someone carrying a table, a big one.

"How does she do that?"

Paris actually tried one night, walking around with a book on her head. It fell to the ground with the first step.

"I can't do it, Mom!"

"You need to practice!"

"No, I think it's magic!"

Gunung Kawi Read Post

Gunung Kawi

When I told my daughter, Paris, and her friend, Kaya, that the monolithic rock carvings at Gunung Kawi were memorials to kings and queens, their eyes lit up. They're at that age when anything remotely related to princesses gets them excited.

"What about princesses? Is this place about them too?"

Gunung Kawi is an extraordinary temple complex outside Ubud, where rows of ancient royal tombs (called candi) are cut into stone lining the banks of the Pakerisan River. It dates back to the 11th century but the Balinese aren't entirely certain of its significance. Some claim that each candi is a memorial to a member of ancient Balinese royalty (along with a few of their concubines); others believe all 10 of the tombs were carved out of the rock face in one hard-working moonlit night by the fingernails of the mighty Kebo Iwa, a Balinese giant possessing supernatural powers. And people such as my daughter thinks it's where Princess Jasmine (of the Dinsey film Aladdin) "comes on vacation."

A morning in Ubud Read Post

A morning in Ubud

Ubud sits in the center of Bali, in the mountains where the jungle is thick and the air a tad cooler. It’s the arts and culture hub of the island and art studios, stylish boutiques, bustling restaurants, and bohemian-style inns line the town's tangle of streets. It’s where you go to buy an original painting, see a shadow puppet show, and sample authentic Indonesian cuisine. It’s where you go to get a taste of Bali’s rich, artful culture.

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the recent bestseller Eat, Pray, Love, described Ubud, as "a small Pacific version of Santa Fe, only with monkeys walking around and Balinese families in traditional dress all over the place." Yes, the art scene is that sophisticated here.

We arrived in Ubud in the morning. Our driver dumped all seven of us off at the outdoor market in the center of town. We made our way through the maze of stalls, the little girls, Paris and Kaya, quickly spotting dresses made from batik fabric, beaded sandals, atta grass purses.

"I want that dress! I want that! Mommy!"

We bought the girls dresses—two for $5. Bali is a bargain, especially if you’re willing to bargain. Those dresses started out at $5 each. With prices so cheap, it was hard to say no to the kids.

"Those sandals are so cute! Can I have them?"

"Sure."

"Of course, I'll buy you the flute." (It was only $2.)

Onto the produce area, where a vendor shared samples of exotic fruits: passion fruit, rambutan, snake fruit, apple bananas. My son tasted the custard inside of a mangosteen fruit—and kept asking for more and more. I picked up a bag filled with 10 long, fragrant vanilla beans--$2.50. In San Francisco, I recently paid $20 for two beans at a gourmet market.

Our friends Veronique and Mark wanted to buy a painting so we left the market to browse the town's many art galleries. They found exactly what they wanted in the first one, an oil painting with Sanskrit writing swirled with sensuous colors and a stone Buddah.

We took at break for lunch at Casa Luna, a three-story open-air restaurant. Brightly colored art done by local children adorned the walls. We started with fresh fruit juices: lime-ginger, carrot-turmeric, mango. And then onto fern salad, potato curry, grilled fish topped with a chili relish. Final course: a gooey chocolate yogurt cake. Casa Luna owner and cookbook author Janet de Neefe also runs regular Balinese cooking courses. Next trip, I'm signing up.

Onto the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, where mischievous, long-tailed macaques swung from the vines of the tightly knit canopy above. Some 300 of them keep the herd of tourists entertained--noshing on bananas, carrying their babies on their backs, picking off fleas from one another, and showing off their acrobatics. It's one big circus.

"Mommy! Can we take home a monkey?"

That's one souvenir that I had to say no to.

Balinese offerings Read Post

Balinese offerings

The Balinese are artists. They paint, carve, sculpt, mold, sew, build, weave. They make shadow puppets, batik sarongs, silver charms, hand-carved masks, ceramic bowls. They sell their creations everywhere you go. Art galleries--big modern ones that you'd expect to find in SoHo and small, funky ones run out of people's homes--line the two-lane roads that wind around the tiny island.

But while the Balinese are known for making and selling beautiful artwork, their most artful creations are the offerings they craft for the Hindi gods. A gift to a higher being must be attractive, so they're pieces of art. Offerings come in all different forms, but they're typically no larger than a salad plate and consist of a palm leaf woven into a bowl shape and filled with flowers, incense, a few rupee, rice, maybe an M&M or a Ritz cracker. An even simpler version is a banana leaf envelope filled with rice. An offering can only be presented to a god once, so people make new ones, again and again, throughout the day. They bless them with holy water and say their prayers holding them.

Offerings are often placed on an altar, though they don't require a special home. The Balinese believe that any place that receives regular offerings accumulates sacred energy, eventually becoming sacred itself. And so the Balinese scatter their offerings everywhere about the island--on roads and beaches, in shops and restaurants, on the dashboards of cars and buses, beneath the spreading banyan trees, and at crossroads where troublesome spirits gather. Walk down a street in Bali and you'll see hundreds of offerings, lovingly and thoughtfully crafted pieces of art.

For Balinese festivals, rites of passage, and other ceremonies, offerings can be a huge undertaking, requiring extended families, neighborhoods, or even whole villages to work together for weeks on end. Each element is a symbol and each color carries meaning. You might see exotic fruits built into a pyramid on a golden tray, to be carried to the temple atop a woman's head. Or maybe a roasted pig adorned in flowers.

Slide show: The people of Bali: Part II Read Post

Slide show: The people of Bali: Part II

I added many photos to the slide show: The People of Bali.

Slide show: The people of Bali Read Post

Slide show: The people of Bali

Throughout our trip, my husband and I have been photographing the Balinese people, who are notably gracious, warm, and friendly. Here's a slide show featuring our best photos; we will add to this during our trip.

Pura Tanah Lot (temple of the earth and sea) Read Post

Pura Tanah Lot (temple of the earth and sea)

Pura Tanah Lot sits on its own island just off the southwest coast of Bali. On the night we visited, the tide was out, and locals waded through ankle-deep water to step foot on the sacred rock. They carried offerings, lovingly made from palm leaves, flowers, and incense. Tourists, who aren't allowed to enter the temple, stood back taking in the show, snapping photos.

Pura Tanah Lot is the most popular and photographed of the more than 20,000 temples that give Bali its nickname: "Island of the Gods." It's the first temple that we visited on our trip--and it offered us an introduction to the beauty of the Balinese people’s affection for Hinduism, the island’s predominant religion.

"Why can't we go on the island?" my daughter, Paris, asked me.

"Because it's sacred."

"What does that mean?"

“Well…this is a very special place for the people of Bali…”

“Why is it special?”

“Well…the people here practice a religion called Hinduism…and they believe there are Gods…Brahama…errr…Shiva…um…what’s the last one..Vishnu…”

“What are you talking about? Why can’t we go on the island?”

Luckily, foreigners can step into most temple complexes on Bali—that is, if they’re appropriately dressed. Usually, a sarong and a sash tied around the waist is an acceptable show of respect for the gods—and these can be rented the for about 20 cents at the more touristy temples.

You can imagine what my daughter was asking when we visited our next temple, where we were allowed to go inside.

“Mommy, why do you have to sear that skirt thing?”

Surviving a 24-hour travel marathon Read Post

airplanes

Surviving a 24-hour travel marathon

Two 4-year-olds and one 5-year-old on a 14-hour flight to Taipei, Taiwan, a two-hour layover and then a five hour flight to Denpasar, Bali. Sound like a disaster waiting to happen? Well, that’s what I assumed it would turn into as we waited at San Francisco International Airport for our midnight flight on China Airlines. My daughter and son, Paris and Dante, and their friend Kaya were racing around the waiting area in their pajamas. Paris and Kaya, who both brought their American Girl dolls (Julie and Jen), dumped out a backpack filled with clothing onto the floor and proceeded to fight over whose doll would wear the one pair of pajamas.

"I want the pajamas!"

"No I want them!"

"I won't be your friend if you don't let Julie wear the pajamas!"

It was about then that Dante bonked his head on the wall and melted down, screaming and crying.

"I want to stay in San Francisco! I want to go home! Why do we have to go to Bali?"

I could see on the faces of the other people waiting to board the plane that they were all hoping, Please don't let me sit next to these crazy people. And if you could see my face at that moment you would sense my feeling of utter dread. I was wondering, Why am I hauling my children across the world? How will I ever survive this flight?

****

We finally settled into our seats on the plane. The kids crawled up next to me and fell fast asleep only minutes after taking off--and they slept soundly for nine hours. Yes! We all woke up and we had only five hours left of the first leg. "That's a flight from San Francisco to Hawaii!" I said to our friends Veronique and Mark who were sitting in the row just ahead of us. "Well, why didn't we just go to Hawaii?" my husband, Anthony, countered.

Those five hours were long. Paris and Kaya were entertained by The Little Mermaid DVD for about 10 minutes--and then they discovered that the back of an airline seat is actually fun to slide down. They crawled to the tops of their seats and then let themselves drop to the bottom cushion. Dante of course had to get in on the fun. Also, a glass of orange juice was spilled (all over me), an American Girl doll roller skate was lost, and the Trader Joe's Pirate Booty was consumed.

"I want more Pirate Booty!" Dante screamed.

"Get me off this plane!" I wanted to scream.

We did finally get off and landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport--and then boarded another China Airlines Flight. I was dreading those five hours more than you can imagine. I didn't think I could endure more time scrunched up in a tiny seat with rambunctious kids.

But we lucked out. The flight was empty. We were able to sprawl out and get more sleep--and before we knew it were walking off the plane into the hot, moist, fragrant air of Bali.

We filed into a line to purchase our visas and then got into another line for customs. A friendly Australian family stood behind us with their two kids.

"How long was your flight?" I asked.

"Only about four hours. We come to Bali two or three times a year," the mom said. "Where are you from?"

"San Francisco."

"Why didn't you just go to Hawaii?"

And that's the question I plan to answer in my upcoming posts about our trip. Why is it worth hauling children across the world to an exotic destination?

Bali or bust! Read Post

Bali or bust!

Tonight, we're boarding a plane to Bali--with our kids in tow. Another family will be joining us. That makes four adults, two 4-year-olds, and a 5-year-old. We'll flying 12 hours to Taipei, Taiwan, and then another five or six to Bali. Are we nuts? Stayed tuned...