Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/BZny7h7FKXiArK3M8

Woke today with my 300 teeth bite wound a bit sore. A misty morning with very muted views.

Also received an email from my car back home, saying its battery is low, and it needs to be driven. It clearly misses me. If it didn’t spend so much time monitoring and obsessing about itself, and connected to the internet 24/7, it might last more than a few weeks without a charge. My car is clearly a Gen Alpha teenager, craving attention.
I’m surprised the email didn’t include a selfie.

Off to the next place, alarmingly called a “wellness lodge”, but my trip organisers have done well so far, so my mind is open. I’m confident there will be plentiful yoga classes to avoid.

It is apparently by a river, with walks to be had, and leeches to befriend.

After a few hours drive, arrived at yet another gorgeous place. I’m right next to a fast flowing river, so there’s plenty of water noise. Had a quiet afternoon at leisure, enjoying the fibre internet here.

Dinner was on a banana leaf, and I ate with my hand, local style.

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Day 17 22/12/2025

After a great sleep, lulled by the sound of the river next to my cabin, I set off for a batik making demo. I actually found it quite interesting, seeing the process done totally by hand in a local village house.

They wanted me to do one. Given I am generally unable to avoid drops of curry or any sauce on my shirts, the thought of splashing fabric around on a dye filled table struck me as a potential sartorial catastrophe. However, with extreme care, I completed my tasks chromaticity unaltered.

The owner took me for a walk along a high road, seeing some village life and great views, followed by a very tasty lunch cooked by his mum.

I said I wished she was my mum, it was that good.

Apparently there are a couple of Israelis who are Buddhist monks in a nearby village. My host thought they were a bit strange, living in isolation in a forest, coming once a day to be fed by the locals. He admires their purity.

A restful afternoon in this great accommodation, dodging the yoga teachers, then another tasty dinner.

The format of meals here is not very varied. There’s a carb, typically either rice, milk rice (cooked in coconut milk), string hoppers, hoppers, pittu (roasted rice flour and coconut, steamed inside a tube), coconut roti. Then a main protein - chicken, fish, etc, accompanied by 2-8 veg or fruit curries, and sambals (eg coconut, eggplant, fried onion, chilli).

While the format is always similar, the tastes have been very different every day. They have so much spice available here every chef has many colours to paint with.

It’s a struggle to get a small meal here.

I actually spotted an eagle, a kingfisher and monkeys off my own bat today - my eyes must be refocussing to the horizon, instead of a screen. Maybe I’ll be able to return my white cane by the end of the trip?