First Beaches (Jonathan)
June 7, 2005
When we arrived it was hot and I felt it right down to my coccyx where the little drips went. There is not much AC here and it is a good thing, saves energy, keeps Bali cleaner. I slept almost the whole first day. We are on the Monkey Forest road and the name does not disappoint! Gregarious, cute multitudes greet us and smilingly take banans, papaya and the bags of fruit disappear. They don't "oo-oo" much but have great little mohawks. Babies suckle and cling to the underside of momma, pulling teats hard, stretching.
It is hot, sub-tropical hot, sub-equatorial blisteringly hot. We spend a day getting used to motoing around in the hairy traffic in our MSD (motorized suicide device). Then we head to Sanur for some sun/fun. Rustic and coral back reef the water is gloriously warm, very fun. We lay out, eat some food and moto home before dark--all goes well until parking it for the night--I lay it down in the driveway. A little damage and the less than obvious (to me at the time) animistic problems, all is well, no injuries. Thank Shiva Shannon got off before I did that...
The next day is magic. We moto to Seminyak and see the first surf waves--crispy sun makes a cabana necessary. Major bodysurfing waves. I figure out the best way to tan: count to 300 on each side and then cover entire skin area with SPF30. We luck into a villa at the local Sofitel (extremely luxurious) for a fraction of the normal cost. Almost as nice as our house in Ubud! hee hee
Driving here (on 2 wheels) is not as bad as it looks from a car, which is really bad...The wierd part is Rule #1: Watch out in front and don't assume people entering traffic or changing lanes are looking back. One drives on the left in Bali (like Ireland) and traffic entering on the left seldom look at what is coming. The solution here is to honk the horn to let them know you exist. Of course, that doesn't stop them from boldly going. My advice, wear helmets and look in front more and behind less--people will really not careen into you (!?)Also, honking is never rude and is rarely used to display anger. Balinese are well aware of the feelings one gets while driving (fear, anger, frustration) and also enjoy the freedom/fun/sport of it all, especially on two wheels. Just watch a sarong clad queen of indonesia, sandals dangling above asphalt, muffler heat singeing her tassles, riding sidesaddle behind the driver (not recommended!!)holding a basket of offerings, smoldering, straw basket glinting in the sun. If you catch her eye she will smile beautifully and you know she is thinking "yeah, this is crazy and dangerous, but what fun!!"
After Seminyak we moto to Jimbaran and eat whole grilled Barracuda and Snapper, unbelieveably delicious, best grilled fish ever. French fries and a gallon of water. We adopt a little black dog with ear sores--it eats well today.
We moto home to Ubud, sweet comfort awaits everywhere we go. Bali!
When we arrived it was hot and I felt it right down to my coccyx where the little drips went. There is not much AC here and it is a good thing, saves energy, keeps Bali cleaner. I slept almost the whole first day. We are on the Monkey Forest road and the name does not disappoint! Gregarious, cute multitudes greet us and smilingly take banans, papaya and the bags of fruit disappear. They don't "oo-oo" much but have great little mohawks. Babies suckle and cling to the underside of momma, pulling teats hard, stretching.
It is hot, sub-tropical hot, sub-equatorial blisteringly hot. We spend a day getting used to motoing around in the hairy traffic in our MSD (motorized suicide device). Then we head to Sanur for some sun/fun. Rustic and coral back reef the water is gloriously warm, very fun. We lay out, eat some food and moto home before dark--all goes well until parking it for the night--I lay it down in the driveway. A little damage and the less than obvious (to me at the time) animistic problems, all is well, no injuries. Thank Shiva Shannon got off before I did that...
The next day is magic. We moto to Seminyak and see the first surf waves--crispy sun makes a cabana necessary. Major bodysurfing waves. I figure out the best way to tan: count to 300 on each side and then cover entire skin area with SPF30. We luck into a villa at the local Sofitel (extremely luxurious) for a fraction of the normal cost. Almost as nice as our house in Ubud! hee hee
Driving here (on 2 wheels) is not as bad as it looks from a car, which is really bad...The wierd part is Rule #1: Watch out in front and don't assume people entering traffic or changing lanes are looking back. One drives on the left in Bali (like Ireland) and traffic entering on the left seldom look at what is coming. The solution here is to honk the horn to let them know you exist. Of course, that doesn't stop them from boldly going. My advice, wear helmets and look in front more and behind less--people will really not careen into you (!?)Also, honking is never rude and is rarely used to display anger. Balinese are well aware of the feelings one gets while driving (fear, anger, frustration) and also enjoy the freedom/fun/sport of it all, especially on two wheels. Just watch a sarong clad queen of indonesia, sandals dangling above asphalt, muffler heat singeing her tassles, riding sidesaddle behind the driver (not recommended!!)holding a basket of offerings, smoldering, straw basket glinting in the sun. If you catch her eye she will smile beautifully and you know she is thinking "yeah, this is crazy and dangerous, but what fun!!"
After Seminyak we moto to Jimbaran and eat whole grilled Barracuda and Snapper, unbelieveably delicious, best grilled fish ever. French fries and a gallon of water. We adopt a little black dog with ear sores--it eats well today.
We moto home to Ubud, sweet comfort awaits everywhere we go. Bali!
posted by squid | 2:01 AM
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