Back to yUoBUD friends
So, things got better on the way back. The only thing missing was Heather then. And I was missing Heather.
So back to Ubud! She had told me her plan in Padang Bai to go back to Ubud, and she’d probably return to the Onion, or at least hang out there a lot.
My heart was a little scared. I didn’t have any contact to her still. Ubud was tempting for other reasons, true enough: some more Yoga at the Yoga Barn, some writing at the coworking space called the Hubud, and meeting two other Traveller friends: Naomi and Freya.
Naomi is this cheerful English who is chatty and so warmhearted. I love what she is doing, guess what: she had given up her office job in advertising and now works in a juice bar in Bristol! We met her at the Yoga Barn. Did I meet her, did Anja? I’m not even sure, because over short time we became a triangle. We hung out together, tried the fancy macrobiotic restaurants, went shopping – but above all Naomi would come over in the evenings before going to sleep, chatted and joined our good-night-tea. Anja and Naomi are two very inspiring, hopeful women, creating an atmosphere of love where they are.
Did I tell about Anja? No? Blimey, with Anja it all started!
Anja is a Polish girl working in a hotel in Norway. She was the first I met. I sat next to her in a restaurant and she was chatting with a friend who accompanied her. I overheared her talking about the Yoga Barn and took the opportunity to ask. Hadn’t it been for her embracing answer and friendliness, who knows how the vacation had turned out – before chatting with her I was very shy and afraid really. Anja is just the girl to loosen you up.
She played quite a role in my journey: the one who sent a lot of love to Sophie in “Ubud vs. La La Land”. Anja was the one I visited on Nusa Lembongan where she did the Yoga teacher training. If it wasn’t for her, I would have missed the frogman, the mutineer and the “sunset and sand”.
Freya, the other girl, I met at the Hubud. She is a travelling journalist. Wherever she goes, she brings the tiniest dog, a miniature version of a dog really – a toy poodle. I met her at the end of my first stay in Ubud, and she became part of our little group.
Sex in dorms
I had kept contact to Naomi and aimed for her hotel when I returned. She had somewhat experience with the places in Ubud, after she started out quite at the wrong place – that was partly the reason she hung out at Anja and my place so often.
What had happened was this: she’d been living in a fancy place with a pool and activities – common trips to the waterfalls, massages, evening activities, you know the drill. It had the best reviews, and although it was a little expensive – a dorm bed costs as much as a room in other places – she booked the place for a week without refund. In the beginning it was nice enough, chilling at the pool, very close to the yoga barn, comfy beds, all good. But then…
Ah just imagine: she had been sleeping rather early, at tenish, and woke up because two people were coming into the dorm. Now, this happens, right, this is the drill when you sleep in a dorm, you get a bed, you pay little money, but there are other people and that’s the deal. But: these two were drunk. So they were somewhat louder. And they seemed to be making out? Didn’t they know she was there? Or did they think she was sleeping? But well, that wasn’t so bad, they would certainly go to sleep soon, nothing would happen. Until Naomi realized they were going to the same bed! And then she lie in her bed, frozen but fully awake, listening to them having sex.
It wasn’t long, the guy seemed to be reasonably knowing what he was doing, and the girl wasn’t screaming like an opera singer. Naomi was calming herself until it was over. The guy went back to his bed, and she started to relax.
She was half asleep when the door opened again. Ok, right, more people returning from the evening at the pool. She was in a mixed eight people dorm after all. These were considerably drunk, more than the other couple for sure – and guess what? They got in one bed, too, and started having sex.
Poor Naomi! Imagine the bad luck to be in a dorm where people have sex (never happened to me in three months South-America, nor ever before or after) – and then what are the chances of this happening twice the same night? The second time must have been an embarrasement to the guy, because obviously it was veeery short. Probably both girl and boy were too drunk to realize.
After this night, she tried to stay away from the dorm as long as possible to give everybody time to finish their business. And when the week was over she moved out asap, never to return again!
So, when I met her back in Ubud, she had tried three guest houses and resided in one she could really recommend, somewhat nearer to the monkey forest, still close to the Yoga Barn and the Hubud, and with a beautiful garden and pool. We had adjoining balconies and could wave at each other when we had our morning coffee. The frangipani trees were in full blossom, covering everything with that sweet smell.
I enjoyed Ubud to the fullest: went back to the Yoga Barn for two sessions, did some walking and shopping – bought a beautiful dress for example – and even wrote a big chapter of my book. All the time I was waiting for faith to bring Heather along my way. But our paths didn’t cross.
It was time to take the matter into my own hands and go search for her.
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