It’s getting into the afternoon here in Bali. Friday night is about to start and there is slightly more traffic than usual. Like everywhere else in the world. Some things never change.
We have booked us on a climb on Mt. Rinjani next week. Some 3750 meters is to be challenged and conquered. More on that later.

This post is written on a free wifi spot at Bali Galleria. A shopping mall where Katja is roaming free while I enjoy a deep chair and reasonably decent wifi. Everybody wins. But what I wanted to share today is the Balinese friendliness.
We are up and about around 6 in the morning for our training session. Be it running, yoga, tabata or intervals in the sand. This is the time the local community starts their day and we meet a lot of them. And everybody smile and greets you. A “hello”, “god morning” etc. are common amongst them. And as we venture a bit off the beaten path and moves in more residential areas we are greeted by smiling people coming out of house or on their scooters. And it all feels genuine. And it feels good!
Some of my American friends will think me strange to write this, but Europeans in general and Norwegian in particular do not act this way (except when meeting trekking in the mountains or on a boat on the fjords). I like it, and hope to be smiling as well- even though my face may be contorted into something strange at the end of my tenth interval. Good thing there are no mirrors out there.