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Her name is an anagram to my name Lilia or perhaps the other way around: Lilia is an anagram to her name. Laili is one of the few female drivers in Bali. She told me that she started driving when she was 21 and soon discovered the joy of being a tour-driver. I instantly fell for her bubbly character and I could feel her words in my heart about how grateful she is to God to meet travellers every day “I could live a thousand more years” she insisted. Locals expected me to forget my jacket and welcomingly offered me to rent an outworn yellow jumper for 50.000 Rupiah which is about 5-6 dollars. The Mount Batur sunrise trek was crowded, maybe everyone has seen the magnificent pictures from the top and decided to be adventurous enough to experience it with their 5-6 senses. Laili picked me up to show me her favourite location in Bali, a beach-club that makes you feel like you arrived in paradise. “Why did you become a tour driver in Bali other than meeting new people?” I asked Laili to start a conversation. “The most important thing is to contribute to the country. My family is from Java, the next time you come to Bali we will go to my family together. But for now, I want to stay in Bali and promote tourism. For many local people, it’s their only way of income. I dedicated my life to my country and helping my people.” Acrophobia tried to paralyze me with hallucinations of losing the ground under my feet, but I had no choice than to keep putting one foot in front my other foot only able to see one loose rock on another loose rock, with the help of my torch, which played the role of the light at the end of the tunnel. You could say Mount Batur was a spiritual place for many Balinese people but also for foreigners who weren’t foreigners anymore infusing themselves into ancient Hinduism which allowed them to see behind the illusions of separation. I asked Laili about marriage but she only told me she was to busy with her ‘WakeupMakeup’ empire she was about to build. What a truly interesting and empowering woman she was. Too sad, this was the same day I did something with a purely good intention which ended in unexpected confrontation. Before Laili left I tried to give her 500.000 Rupiah but she refused to take it. So when she went to the toilet I took the opportunity to place the money in her purse, thinking it was the right thing to do, without considering her reaction when she would find out. But she didn’t find out until the next day when I got a message from her saying “I just checked my purse and I found something. I know you put it there. I just feel sad, because I never expected anything from you. I just welcomed you like my close friend but why did you give me the money?” Sometimes when you find yourself in a tunnel you feel stuck, it is too dark, you forget to count your steps. You forget that you are constantly moving whether it’s forward into the light that seems so weak from a fearing distance or moving back into old patterns of your self-destructive ego. All of a sudden you are at the top of a mountain. Being at the top never meant being safe but a perspective from a higher angle. Watching the night evolving into a miraculous sun-blessed day I witnessed a monkey chewing on hairspray, angry at humans careless behaviour, my heart told me I have to try saving the clueless monkey. Out of nothing, a bigger monkey attacked me. Confused and scared I screamed. I only wanted to rescue the monkey’s life and as a reward, I was left with a bleeding arm. In a way, you can say friendship is like ascending a mountain. It takes many steps to earn trust, you can fall and get hurt, but if you make it to the top you experience how the pain of the darkness transforms into a light healing your wounds.