From The States To Indonesia - A Spiritual Journey

[Danioover9000]

@integration journey

34 minutes ago, integration journey said:

Beautiful! Where is this ? 

   In Bali I think.

[CARDOZZO]

9 hours ago, Danioover9000 said:

@CARDOZZO  I bet you won't last being in Indonesia, the place is very humid and hot.😂

I live in Brazil.

As a famous quote: it's so over for Danioover.

[VictorB02]

On 7/9/2024 at 7:30 PM, Schizophonia said:

There are cloves in it, it’s healthy 

Haha! The only leaves I smoke come from Mary Jane 🍃💨😏

[VictorB02]

11 hours ago, Butters said:

@VictorB02 lovely photos thanks for sharing. 

Obama grew up in Indonesia in his early childhood. 

Bali is just a small island that thrives off tourism like you said, but lndonesia is a huge country, you should probably look at other parts to come to better conclusions about poverty and corruption. There's also extremely wealthy people in Indonesia but the inequality is huge. 

Of course! And that makes a lot of sense if he grew up here.

As for visiting the rest of Indonesia, I definitely need to… which is why I’m trying to not come to too many conclusions just yet. But honestly as far as Bali goes, there are so many tourists it’s a bit overstimulating for me, at least right now in the middle of summer.

I’m sure Indonesia has some hidden gems that are radically different - I will just need to seek them out. 

But first - Phuket, Thailand 😎

Edited July 22 by VictorB02

[VictorB02]

9 hours ago, Danioover9000 said:

@integration journey

   In Bali I think.

@integration journey

yes Bali, Indonesia. 

[VictorB02]

10 hours ago, CARDOZZO said:

Yeah!!!

Iphone?

Yeah man! IPhone 13 😎

[Yimpa]

2 hours ago, VictorB02 said:

But first - Phuket, Thailand 😎

I definitely mispronounced that the first time 

[OmniNaut]

3 hours ago, VictorB02 said:

Of course! And that makes a lot of sense if he grew up here.

As for visiting the rest of Indonesia, I definitely need to… which is why I’m trying to not come to too many conclusions just yet. But honestly as far as Bali goes, there are so many tourists it’s a bit overstimulating for me, at least right now in the middle of summer.

I’m sure Indonesia has some hidden gems that are radically different - I will just need to seek them out. 

But first - Phuket, Thailand 😎

Absolutely correct Bali is not the same as Indonesia. Bali is still mostly local religion and Buddhism. While the rest of Indonesia is full on Islamic (The biggest Islamic nation in the world).

Have you already visited local homes of people? When I was in Bali 13 years ago there was a local tour you could do. You would visit the rice fields, plant rice, ploughing the rice field on an Ox, visit a local school.

Did you see the cock fighting already?

Haha, If you go to Phuket now I don't think it will be much better with tourists. I think Bali, Koh Tao and Phuket are the most mass tourist places you can visit in (S)E Asia.

Come here to the Philippines, much less tourist, low season now, some rain, but 28 - 30 degrees Celsius everyday. Awesome locals, awesome nature

[VictorB02]

4 hours ago, Yimpa said:

I definitely mispronounced that the first time 

Ahahaha 😆

[VictorB02]

3 hours ago, OmniNaut said:

Absolutely correct Bali is not the same as Indonesia. Bali is still mostly local religion and Buddhism. While the rest of Indonesia is full on Islamic (The biggest Islamic nation in the world).

Have you already visited local homes of people? When I was in Bali 13 years ago there was a local tour you could do. You would visit the rice fields, plant rice, ploughing the rice field on an Ox, visit a local school.

Did you see the cock fighting already?

Haha, If you go to Phuket now I don't think it will be much better with tourists. I think Bali, Koh Tao and Phuket are the most mass tourist places you can visit in (S)E Asia.

Come here to the Philippines, much less tourist, low season now, some rain, but 28 - 30 degrees Celsius everyday. Awesome locals, awesome nature

No, no homes or chicken fights but I’ve talked to so many people. 
 

And yeah I think you are right about those being the biggest destinations - probably why I’m going there. Maybe I will need to come to the Philippines next 😁

[Chadders]

@VictorB02 This is very blessed. I need to do this sometime 

[Fountainbleu]

On 7/21/2024 at 8:35 AM, VictorB02 said:

Regardless, I would say the United States is the place to be.

Which cities? 

[VictorB02]

On 7/24/2024 at 2:34 PM, Chadders said:

@VictorB02 This is very blessed. I need to do this sometime 

It was indeed. I ended up spending 3 more weeks in Thailand, and now I am back home.

What a journey.

[CARDOZZO]

11 minutes ago, VictorB02 said:

It was indeed. I ended up spending 3 more weeks in Thailand, and now I am back home.

What a journey.

Great.

Share your insights/stories if you want  

[VictorB02]

On 7/26/2024 at 4:54 PM, Fountainbleu said:

Which cities? 

It depends on who you are and what you value, but that's the beauty of America. It is so incredibly diverse in geography and culture. If you want to live the hippie coastal vibe, go to the PNW. If you want mountain man cowboy vibe, come to Idaho / Montana / Wyoming area. Back east and the south are a bit unfamiliar to me, but I'm sure they have their own vibes as well. 

[VictorB02]

47 minutes ago, CARDOZZO said:

Great.

Share your insights/stories if you want  

For sure. The biggest thing that struck me about Thailand is that it's the wild west of Asia. Felt like there were no rules, and the island of Phuket was entirely ran by Russians. Every tourist was Russian, and every restaurant and menu was Russian. When I asked the locals why, they said "Russian businessmen and their mafia come here"

Crazy.

The first night I got in I went into the little smoke shop next to my apartment and a group of 4 Russians my age were there playing monopoly. It was like one of those wild west movie scenes where Clint Eastwood walks into a bar and everyone gets quiet and turns to see who it is. I was Clint in this scenario, lol!

I introduced myself and eventually I told them my name was Victor and they were shocked. "You are Russian?!" They asked.

"Nope, American."  I said.

They were even more shocked!

An American with a historical Russian name seemed like an easter egg to them in Thailand.

We chatted a bit more about their smoke shop and eventually I befriended them by asking their names and shaking hands. They knew quite a bit of English as well as their Native Russian, which was odd because I could not tell if they understood me or if they didn't. At one point thereafter, the tall one, Vladamir, offered me a seat in the most Russia voice: "Victor, why don't you pull up a chair and play with us?"

Felt like I was in a movie.

I said yes.

I started talking to them and they seem enamored to meet a real American.

It felt like I was a spokesperson for the USA. 

They kept talking about money and asking me how much my bag was, and how much I made. I lied and said "not much, I'm broke." "This bag was only $20." 

I was also a bit on edge because I had a good sense of "well, I could easily be jumped" because these Russian dudes outnumbered me 4 to 1, and they seemed to be in that hive-mind group mentality.  One dude was really cool to me, one laughed a lot, Vladimir seemed like he was unimpressed by everything, and the other guy seemed indifferent and sort of cold to me. That was the guy that put me on edge, I could just feel it. They also had UFC on in the background, so I knew they were interested in fighting, but my intuition told me I would be okay...

It was just such an odd experience.

I ended up staying until 2 am with these guys, listening to them bullshit and joke with each other in Russian and joking with them when I could. It was fun, but there was this subtle tension in the room that never left from the moment I walked in. It really was like one of those western movie bar scenes. It's like, I think they enjoyed having me, but at the same time I couldn't tell. "Are they going to jump me? Are they fucking with me?"  It was such a mindfuck.

Maybe they were thinking the same?

Also, hearing their native language and seeing the emotional and energetic intent behind the communication but not being able to truly understand it intellectually was so bizarre.

It was just so wild, because it was like a direct copy of my hometown friend group. Like all the same group dynamics and bro-bullshit. It was like a joke from God, saying "look, the patterns are the same no matter where you are". Incredibly mysterious. 

Also, they kept joking and making fun of Putin. I thought that was interesting, and of course I was wondering why they were in Thailand and not Russia because of the war, but that seemed like a line to not cross, so I never mentioned it.

-

The craziest part of my journey in Phuket was on a hiking trail towards the Big Buddha statue, right behind my apartment. 

I started up the trail and a Russian guy and his wife + kid were walking down. He started yelling at me "Monkey! Monkey! Kapposh! Kappoosh!" and I just kept saying "What? Monkey? What?". After a while we had some sort of understanding, and it was clear he was trying to tell me there was an aggressive monkey on the path ahead. I asked if I should keep going, and he said "yes, go!" so I went. 

The thought of battling an aggressive monkey put me on edge because one already bit me in Bali when he tried to steal my shit from my bag, but what happened next was so unexpected and shocking I may have rather faced a monkey.

Before I knew it, I heard the sound of a gunshot and a bullet ripped through the bushes around 10 feet in front of me and flew off into the forest.

I was in completely shock, partly because a bullet just flew by me, partly because I had no idea why a bullet flew by me.

The thought, "Did I just get shot at?" quietly appeared in my mind. It was so odd how calm my body was considering what happened, but I knew I needed to get tf out of there in case another round was coming behind the first.

I immediately started going back down.

It wasn't like a Trump situation where it flew right next to my head, but it was angled towards me and flew from my left (which was the valley floor where the locals live) and whizzed by to the right into the forest, around 5-10 feet infront of me, and I saw / heard the whole thing. Watching it totally rip through trees and branches in front of me and hearing that "whizzzzzz" bullet sound was so eerie.

It was like "oh, so that's what it feels like to be shot at."

Eventually I connected the dots and figured that someone was shooting at the monkey the Russian warned me about, they just didn't see me coming up the trail because it was so thick with trees and brush.

But why they were shooting at a trail? Why shoot towards kids and families?

I have no idea...

I just hope that bullet was for the monkey, and not me 

Edited August 13 by VictorB02

[integration journey]

@VictorB02 how do you feel after the trip? 
I’m thinking of going to Indonesia next summer. 
Have you thought of visiting Vietnam? I heard it’s also gorgeous. 

my dream country to visit would be Nepal 

[Butters]

I will travel South East Asia next year as a digital nomad. I think i will start in Da Nang, Vietnam as it appears to be a very low expenses place for Nomads, like a cheaper Bali alternative.

 

[VictorB02]

3 hours ago, Butters said:

I will travel South East Asia next year as a digital nomad. I think i will start in Da Nang, Vietnam as it appears to be a very low expenses place for Nomads, like a cheaper Bali alternative.

 

 

Yup that's where I was going to head as well.

Joose has a great channel - informed me a lot when I went to Southeast Asia