Amatra Resort The Mindful Classroom

Today was the day that we'd travel to Ubud to begin our Mindfulness PD, we'd organised a driver (overpriced) to take us from the homestay to the resort. We were all awake by 530am, I  asked Keiko if I could accompany her on her morning  walk as I wanted to see the sunrise or spend some time on the gorgeous beach. Vicki decided not to come, and stayed behind to relax in the room, which is very normal at 530am.

Talking and walking led to loss of concentration so we ended up on a different stretch of the main road. An elderly local man

pointed us in the direction of a hotel which had a walkway beside it straight to the beach. It was perfect,  yesterday's route had been a bit treacherous with, motorbikes, potholes and rabid looking dogs.

It was an overcast morning but there were heaps of people and by heaps I mean approximately 15 scattered along the pathway for 3 kms to the right. Yesterday we had gone left so Keiko suggested we go right as she'd been here before on a yoga retreat.  

Although the sky was grey there were still people setting up cameras for sunrise and of course the fishermen were preparing to go out and the hospitality workers were making the reclining areas on the beach front pristine. 

We decided to sit down at cafe Genius where Keiko had been many times. We contacted Vicki to ask if she wanted to come out here for breakfast. When two people walk together they lose track of time, so we thought it had just been a short walk

 However poor Vicki was not impressed by the 50 minute  powerwalk she had to do to get there. We were very repented,  luckily she is super for and forgiving!

Our breakfast was pleasant I can't rate it higher than that, however the coffee was good. We ambled back along the path admiring the resorts that had now opened for business. It is amazing how creative the Balinese are, as nothing in Cairns or Port Douglas comes close to the environmentally constructed aesthetically pleasing resorts here! 

We made it back without a hitch to our homestay and quickly showered or freshened up and packed. I decided to leave my soy milk behind, I'm not sure if I will regret it. There was just so much to stuff into my bags.

After a very hasty,  slow arriving lunch in the main street we galloped back to the homestay to catch our ride to our Mindfulness retreat.

It was a restful drive and although we knew that the price we played was exorbitant we were grateful for the drivers pleasant conversation  and safe driving. 

It was not long before we'd arrived at Amatara our room was overlooking the rice paddies and the infinity pool was divine. As soon as we had dumped our luggage in our room we had down time in the crystal clear water.  Keiko had a "slap across the face" (Japanese meaning of Bintang) and I had a virgin G&T. 

At 5pm we met up with the group for 2 hours it was a diverse group of professionals, most of them teachers. Jan seemed lovely, she'd been a principal for 9 years and believes so passionately in mindfulness that she threw caution to the wind so she started this business of teaching teachers mindfulness skills .

 After our introductory lecture we strolled over to the incredibly gorgeous Bamboe Koening , I was in my element,  a vegan meal based on tahu and Tempe, Keiko also approved but it was a dismal night for poor Vicki, somehow her potato soup which seemed to be at boiling point spilled on her hand, to cement the negative experience she is in agreeance with Eric and hates these indo protein sources.

Anyway we ended on a high with stargazing, being at one with the universe, being present in the moment.