By Candice Aiken.

Our trip to Bali is well and truly over but I did promise a three part series of my ‘Eat Pray Love’ experience and so here is part two.

After our ‘coincidental’ meeting with Ketut, we continued into Ubud for a bite to eat at one of our favourite cafés, the ‘Bali Buddha’. Over a delicious meal of raw pizza and superfood packed green smoothies, Curtis and I reflected on our morning of miracles and discussed the possibility of visiting Wayan – Liz Gilbert’s healer. “We may as well continue on the ‘Eat Pray Love’ self-tour while we are here” we both agreed. When in Bali do as Liz Gilbert does! Considering Wayan was located just across the road from the Bali Buddha, we popped in to see when we might be able to get some good ol’ fashioned Balinese healing. We made an appointment (albeit, a verbal one!) for the very next day at 11am and continued exploring and planning our future in Ubud. It was pretty safe to say that at this stage, we were very much in love with the place!

The next morning, we arrived at Wayan’s with a few minutes to spare. Considering we are not very punctual in Perth (and I am sure my boss would agree) I was actually quite surprised at our punctuality on this occasion. Though it appeared we were the only ones conscious of the time, as Wayan was still deep in conversation with her previous clients… a man and what appeared to be his new wife (the bright and shiny wedding rings were a dead giveaway).

We made our way into Wayan’s modest house and sat down at one of the tables with what we soon found out was her 10:30am client. “The Balinese don’t do appointments” he proceeded to tell us in his heavy Russian accent. We laughed and sat down as I tried VERY hard not to listen in to the Wayan’s client rattling off his symptoms. There were no closed doors here! You have a problem, a lump, a hair out of place? Well EVERYONE is going to know about it! AWWWKWAAAARD.

As Wayan continued speaking to her client and making herbal medication suggestions for his ‘problems’, I was feeling slightly out of my comfort zone. The woman must have picked up on it so she came over and began chatting to us. She asked where we were from and then we asked her. “New York” she responded. In that moment I shifted ever so quickly back into my comfort zone. For those who don’t know me, New York is at the very very VERY top of my list of places I must visit, if only someone would deposit a very large sum of money into my bank account (*hint hint*).

As Curtis was deep in conversation, I glanced around the room and a laminated picture on a wall beside me caught my eye. Hmm… that woman in the picture smiling back at me looks eerily similar to the one we are speaking to right this very minute. I shrugged it off and joined back into the conversation. “So, what do you do?” Curtis casually asked. “well actually, I’m a writer” She said back just as casually. ‘Huh, well how about that, she’s a writer AND she lives in New York’, I thought to myself. I adored this woman already – she was living my dream!

After an awesome conversation, it appeared as though her husband’s appointment was over. As we said goodbye, she began to make her way out with Wayan rattling off a prescription for the herbal pills she’d just handed over. Then… the penny dropped. I looked at the laminated picture, and back at her and then at the picture and back at her, then at the picture again and then back at her. I leaned over to Curtis and said under my breath “that’s Liz Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love! What are the chances she is right here, right now at this very moment?!” In that instant, I grabbed my phone and I ran after her. I yelled out her name as though we were buddies from way back - “Liz, Liz!” And she turned around and gave me the biggest smile with a huge giggle – she knew I’d just made the connection.

I felt like somewhat of a stalker but seeing as though there’s absolutely no shame in Bali, I didn’t care so much. I felt there was a reason she (this down-to-earth, incredibly talented writer of one of my favourite books) was here right now in this moment, and I wasn’t about to ignore that. So, I did what any stalker would do… and I asked for a photo of course!

If this was how the start of my holiday in Bali was going so far - one incredible miracle and ‘coincidence’ after another, then I just couldn’t wait to see how the next week would pan out! I heart Bali.

READ ON…

♥ PART THREE: An afternoon with Balinese Healer, Wayan ♥

If you haven’t read it yet, check out: Part One: Handshakes with Ketut Liyer

Words of Wisdom for Today:

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” – George Bernard Shaw

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