With a blink of an eye and a murmur to hubby I peered at my mobile and discovered it was 7am! What? 7am? How the hell did it get to be 7am? Welcome to our first and only uninterrupted sleep in Bali!! Wow - boy do we feel good! Up we get and a glance out the window confirms it is another glorious day. Let's go for a quick walk on the beach I suggest before we shower for breakfast. No probs says hubby after doing a painful crablike walk back from the toilet. Hmmm - too much spice I venture? Maybe a wee bit, he admits with a sheepish smile. Revenge, I think with happiness!
We head the few meters to the beachfront and or on the black sands of Lovina within a second. The fishing families are out in force with their nets and boats and it all has a very untouched by westerner feel to it. Perfect. Off we stroll in the direction of the families fishing to see what their buckets contain. Got a fabulous photo of their bucket filled with these small fish. I spot a very white pair of sneakers in the distance up above on the hotel complex talking to a security guard - Wayan. 'There's Wayan' I say to hubby, 'How can you tell' he says to me, 'Because no one has sneakers that white' I say to hubby. True enough we approach and it is indeed Wayan who has his camera out quick flash to snap our glorious morning walk! Bed-hair and all! Oh well... He joins us for our stretch and we converse with the fishermen and family and then do a round trip and end up on the road back to the hotel. On the way past a 'newly opened' hotel he is being called by someone. It turns out to be his friend at the 'newly opened' hotel. The hotel itself is not new - it was leased by an English couple and closed to business to the public for a few years. In this time the English couple have renovated it and reopened it for business complete with hot and cold showers! It still had the pool to go in and the restaurant to open, but it was up and running for business. I have to say this will be a hotel we will stay in on our next trip to Lovina as it really did look very very nice. Wayan took some business cards from his friend and explained all the above to us. It was a hotel he used to stay in on these kind of trips when he bought people to Lovina. We assured him we will make use of another trip to Lovina and sample the delights of this hotel.
We arrive back at our hotel which is not too far from the newly opened hotel and head to the rooms for showers. I am first in the shower as I shower faster than my husband - not bad for a woman! But seriously my husband is more like a female when it comes to showering and getting ready - he takes soooo long. Anyway that done I am out and he is in. I pull my stuff out the backpack - minus my smelly lotions, minus my hairspray (absolutely devastated) and minus my knickers...wait a minute...what? No undies? You have got to be joking... A quick scan of the very small backpack reveals I have indeed forgotten my underwear and nothing is coming close to a suitable replacement. I feel my bathers - nope they are still sopping wet from being chucked on the bathroom floor last night rather than rinsed and out on the balcony to dry. Sh*t!!! 'Honey' I say with the ey part of the honey rising on a tremulous note... 'whats up babe' comes the reply back from the bathroom, 'I forgot my knickers' I say. Pause. 'what?' he says. 'I forgot my knickers'. Another pause. 'well use the ones you wore yesterday' he says. OOOH GROSS - NO WAY!! 'No way' I say. 'Turn them inside out and use them it will be fine' he says. Now most of you would probably do this, but I just can't. Don't forget there had been toilet stops along the way in the bush with nothing more than a drip dry process going on. Too much information - yes I know, but that's the facts. Okay so I am not going to do it. Oh stuff it I will just go without I think. I am wearing shorts so it's not like I will be flashing anyone...think again... Crisis solved, we finish our toileting and depart for breakfast. Wayan has been waiting for probably over half an hour but knows that this is just how it is for us westerners - we need our toileting time to be a stress free environment with no time limit!
The breakfast itself was very basic but yummy. There didn't appear to be too many other guests staying - a couple of german people, a couple of English girls and that was about it. For breakfast you had nasi goreng, eggs any way, bacon, toast, croissants and fruit, juice and hot tea or coffee - more than enough to replenish our bellies before we departed on our trek home. During breakfast the little dog staying in the ocean front room opposite came barrelling into the restaurant closely followed by the couple I saw in the dark the previous night. There's the dog I was telling you about, I declare to hubby and Wayan, and a quick glance up and the couple are walking past and its not a Balinese girl it's a young Balinese guy and an old western man. OOOH Gross! I am sorry, I have nothing against people's sexual preferences, but honestly, please, let's keep it real. The guy was very young and looked more than a little bit uncomfortable about being there - the other three tables in the restaurant had also paused in their breakfast duties and were also looking similarly troubled at our newest arrivals. Wayan just shakes his head and sighs. It is something that clearly disturbs him, not because of their orientation but clearly because it is something of a disturbing and uncomfortable sight to see a 65+ year old man with an 18-20 year old boy. We quietly finish breakfast and leave the restaurant. The young Balinese guy keeps his head firmly down as we pass and Wayan greets him in native tongue with a general enquiry and we are of and on the way again.
First stop for the trip home is to Banjar Village where we experience a real authentic and no holds barred morning market! We were gawked at curiously by all at the markets as we meandered our way through. Some of the young kids shied away in awe as we smiled and waved to them...too much. We saw the chicken and the meat and all the fresh produce out on slabs, aired to the elements in an already 28+ degree day - don't think I fancy eating meat that is left out like that I said to Wayan. Where do you think your food in the restaurants we eat at comes from he says to me. Hmmm...don't really want to think about that. My fear of Bali belly has trebled and I am more and more convinced I want to spend the entire holiday as a vegetarian. Still it was an experience I wouldn't miss. No English was spoken but gestures and smiles were all that were needed to communicate. We are soon off back to the car and the kids are now waving good bye to us. Bless.
Where to now I wonder...but it is not long I have to wonder before we are pulling up in front of the largest Buddhist temple in Bali. We done sarongs around our waist and off we go. Steps....temple....more steps...temple....more steps....temple and on it goes. Fantastic temples though. The sheer size of the gold carvings are just unbelievable. There are only a couple of people around including some Buddhist monks and so in no time we have climbed to the top and are looking at the views right across to the ocean and to the mountains to the side. It is getting very warm now and I am dehydrating rapidly and wanting to descend to the relative cool of airconditioned comfort in the car. So off we trek down, duly dispose of our sarongs to the guard and off we go.
We are now climbing up a mountain and boy is it steep but oh so cool. So unbelievably cool. We do get lost but Wayan with a grin of his pearly whites to the nearest pretty girl corrects our course and we are off again deeper into the mountain. As a side...Wayan is married with 2 beautiful daughters but has an amazing ability to flirt! This has been a constant source of bantering between Wayan and myself. Wayan laughes every time I tell him off for flirting. He loves it. He can't resist a pretty face. Having said that he would never cheat on his wife - that I do know and if you meet her you would see why. She is beautiful inside and out.
Okay so we are climbing the mountain and on the way to the top we stop to take in some breathtaking views and I am lucky enough to snap an old man coming out of the side of the mountain with a bundle of plant material on his shoulder. I take the photo and a look of puzzled curiosity comes over his face before he heads off across the road and down the other side of the mountain. It was probably rude of me to do that, but it was a perfect photo opportunity and one that is so untouched and beauty in itself. Back in the car and we are off again and suddenly Wayan is flagged down and pulling over (on a mountain???) A quick conversation ensues with Wayan and the 2 occupants on a bike and we are off again. Wayan explains they are his neighbours in Denpasar and are coming home back to their village for Galungan Day tomorrow. We are over the mountain now and on the downward slide. 'First Gear, First Gear' I am yelling from the back. 'No problem' says Wayan, 'I have good brakes'. 'Just relax' says hubby to me - 'don't be a back seat driver!' Whatever!!
We arrive at our next pit stop which is overlooking the twin lakes - Lake Buyan and Lake Tamblingan and the rain forest. Another fantastic photo opportunity. There has been much traffic now and it is clear that all the Balinese are on the way to their villages to celebrate Galungan day with their families. Lucky for us the traffic was against us given that we were on the way back to Denpasar. We grab a bintang and enjoy the view and Wayan points out that this was where we did our jungle trek in 2005. We went from the start of one lake through the rainforest to the second lake. Looking from above it looks so far - mind you it was a real trek we did - and it did take a few hours!!! It is also a popular spot for all the Balinese travellers on the way to their villages to stop and have a soft drink and take in the view. We are all as one admiring the view.
Back in the car and we are off again. We are heading towards Bedugal for the Botanical Gardens so that I can do the Tree Top Walk. We arrive with no fuss and I race to the toilet - it's a squat toilet and I am not worried as I am now used to squat toilets and squatting in the bushes etc. However the lady had just finished mopping and with my shorts down my ankles I take a step back onto the squat toilet and shoot across the floor landing with a thump and my bum in the squat toilet. GROSS!!! Not happy!!! Even though it had just been cleaned I still felt dirty. Oh well - get over it I say to myself. Business done, I head out to the walk where hubby had purchased my ticket and was looking at me with a curious look. 'What?' I say. 'Are you sure you want to do this babe?' He says. 'Yes - why - how hard can it be?' I say. Holy crap! Maybe it is a bit adventurous of me - I didn't realise tree top walk was literally a walk with just rope bits to guide yourself on...I was thinking more along the lines of the tree top walk in Walpole (down south of WA for those who don't know it...it has proper slats on the bridge to walk on!!). Crap I think to myself. I can't not try it, because hubby had already bought me a ticket and also I wasn't about to lose face. Hubby and Wayan were both smirking to themselves as I take it all in...and decide ok I will do it. The stunned looks that crossed their face were a classic. Yeah, I'm thinking, got ya! So off I go on the trainee climb to see if I'm deemed suitable and to also see if I think I can do it.
HOLD IT!
Hubby is yelling at me - get down.
What??
'Get down' he says more forcefully. 'You're flashing'.
What the hell? What is he on about?
Click, click, click, the brain is turning over...damn...no knickers. You have got to be joking. I glance around and Wayan is looking off into the distance not even giving me a hint of whether or not he has seen my fleshy bits or not. Crap I am thinking to myself. My face is fused a mottled purple colour from sheer embarrassment. Hubby is not happy. Oh no, he is not happy at all. I am on the ground and being berated quietly by hubby..'why haven't you got any knickers on...I told you to wear the ones you wore yesterday'...blah, blah, blah and on it goes... Oh well, what can you do, just smile humbly and eat the pie that's offered. Wayan is back by our side with no hint of seeing anything crossing his face...phew I am thinking. I admit defeat and we decide to give the treetop walk a miss. The air is a bit tense but eventually the tenseness disperses with a bintang and a meander through the botanical gardens.
Soon we are back in the car and heading back off in the direction of Denpasar. It is past lunchtime now and I am getting hungry. We are on our way to Tanah Lot. It is blistering hot and I am ready to call it a day and go back to the Kartika, but alas not yet. We pass through village upon village with the preparations for Galangun at full speed ahead. The decorations are being mounted and the streets are awash with yellow, white, red and black. It looks amazing. Especially those lantern type decorations that they make out of grass. They are so clever, so very talented it never ceases to amaze me.
We arrive at Tanah Lot and thankfully the car park is only half full. The stall holders are snoozing and we were not subjected to any kind of aggressive behaviour or any kind of plea to buy whatsoever. It was hot...damned hot and there was just no breeze coming in. I headed to the toilet first - western toilet which I had to pay for the privilege and also pay for the privilege of tissue - and then we headed towards the temple. We couldn't go out to the temple because of the tide but we got some wonderful photos of the temple and the other side with waves crashing through the hole in the rock - so we were happy.
Off back in the car with a bintang in hand and its lunchtime - well its actually way past lunchtime but it was our lunchtime!! We head to Canggu and eat at Sol Bar & Restaurant which is right on the beach. It is only a new restaurant and so word has not got out to the masses of people that were eating at the café a few metres away - still I am sure it wont be long before this treasure is found. The food was fantastic. I had a serve of nasi goreng and a G&T and Wayan had a serve of mixed seafood and rice and hubby had a big serve of prawns and a Heineken. YUM. We all chowed down - we were all hungry. Bellies were full again and the bill was called. Cheap as chips. Unbelievable how well we had eaten over the last couple of days for basically bugger all.
Back in the car and we are on the homeward stretch. We cruise the streets in a roundabout way back to the hotel looking at all the sterile villa's that are popping up everywhere at the expense of the Westerners money on the Balinese land. I have to say some looked so out of place to their surroundings, that you could have really just been back in Perth. It's a real shame.
Now before we head back to the Kartika I had worked my magical powers on my hubby and convinced him we should extend by at least 3 days...we weren't due to fly our for another week, but I wanted to get in early. I broached the subject with Wayan and he said he would see what he could do. It works out that his sister-in-law works for Garuda and is quite high up in the ranks. She tells him that we should see x at the Garuda office at the airport and she will call him and see what can be done. Wayan explains to us about his sister-in-law works for Garuda and he would not normally do this for anyone but because it's us, he will do us the favour. Bless him. So we bypass to the airport and speak to x who is duly informed that we would be coming. We can only be waitlisted unfortunately, but we take the waitlist and he confirms a price with us should it come through. Now here is the clincher. The price that we were quoted from the Kuta Paradiso Garuda office a couple of days prior (when I had first made aware to hubby my desire to extend) was $150US to change our tickets each. The price that we were given at the airport to change our ticket was $95US each. Interesting! Makes you wonder!
We are back at the Kartika and its close to 6pm - its been an eventful 2 days with many laughs, mishaps and good old fashioned talking. We bid Wayan goodbye and head to our room. It is a delight to walk into the airconditioning. We unpack and head to the balcony and are watching some team building conference attendees (all staying at the hotel as we found out later) do their activities right outside our room and on the helipad. There is much laughter to be had at them trying to carry peanuts with chopsticks across from one end to the other. Amazing how much pleasure they can have on just the smallest things.
There is a note in our room....hmmmm...not good! Due to a very large conference breakfast will be served only from 7-10. Okay well that's not so bad, we think - unknowingly! We shower up and as we are not hungry we decide to just chill watching some tv and have a late night room service snack. I had a wonton noodle soup which I couldn't eat as I didn't like it and hubby had burger. No probs. All done. Lights out and off for hopefully a good nights sleep.....WRONG!!!
More to come..