I'm still amazed by the sighs on my early morning walks on the beach. A topless woman in a tiny thong walking her german shepherd on a leash. 3 little boys playing in the surf: one comes up to me "hello! how are you? what's your name?" I ask what's your name. Pleased to meet you. He smiles & runs off to mom & dad but then turns & waves: goodbye. Love it! A young karate club practicing on the beach complete with long sleeve long pant black uniforms - looked hot to me! Lots of smiles & nods.
Sadly the Sarinande is full tomorrow so we can't extend our stay. So it'll be off to Ubud the next day. We decided to go back to the Sand Cafe. Missed sunset but we enjoyed watching the traffic go by. Ordered the snapper bumbu rujah - oh yum!! Litely battered & deep fried with a salsa like topping of lots of garlic, onion & chile , maybe tomato too. Good stuff.
Next morning we get told "breakfast is broken"!!? Cook didn't show up for work. Gotta love it. Someone must have gotten talked into doing their best as we did get fed in not too short a time.
Talk about a false sense of security. Asked to be picked up at our hotel by the Perama shuttle. Air conditioned van, lots of space etc. only to be dropped off downtown to get on the huge, hot & jammed full bus. Ah, well. Lots of fun sights along the way. I'll never remember them all: wooden indians??, a parasite carver, KFC with nasi & a pepsi for 5,445 Rp.
Bus pulls in & there's a swarm of touts trying to sell us a room. I need a bathroom & a drink NOW! so it was easy to put them off & head for the nearest restaurant. Got chatted up by an Aussie who of course knew of a lovely place to stay - very clean & cheap. (brother of the owner of the restaurant?) After lunch off we go to the Nuriani Guesthouse which proves to be a mix of things. Why is it that the most expensive room is the cleanest/best etc? I'm not all that sure about it all but we agree to give it a try. I wasn't ever convinced the aircon worked, door locked with a padlock (which I find out as we go along in our trip to be fairly normal). but I love having to walk through someone's bedroom _ yes, they're in bed having a nap, to get to the safetly deposit box. The family is really nice & it seems pleasant enough. Am I too picky for 88,000Rp ($12)? I guess I had visions of a stay in the country amoung the rice fields.
A stroll down main street brings: taxi, miss? transport, miss? where you going? tomorrow? every 20 feet.
Dinner at the Dirty Duck Diner (found a recommendation on the forum from someone). We were so early - only 6 pm & no one there. A huge place that went on forever: a string of lights through the rice paddy & some thatch roof open sided dining huts?. Absolutely beautiful.
Order the crispy duck betutu & what a meal. The duck was a finger pull apart experience & very unlike what we'd had in Seminyak. Yummy duck but each side dish (green beans, sprouts & coconut), shallot salad & tomato paste like condiment were hotter than the rest. Wow! Good but too hot for me to thoroughly enjoy. Sadly dessert was a disappointment.
In the meantime it mists & rains softly then the usual sort of rainfall - then pounds down. Exactly what I had expected to find in Bali. We set out home in the rain & are laughing out loud in joy at the experience. A most amazing end to the day.
Got up the next morning to sit out on the deck & watch the morning come on. there seems to be a guy across the street in the rice field whose job it is to clap & shout to scare the birds away from the rice? Imagine having THAT job! So, what do you do for a living? Well,...
Walked way to much. My own fault too. I'm not used to the distances (it looks so much shorter on the map, yeah, right!) & the heat combined. Didn't get far when we got stopped by a (gorgeous) young man who asked me about Canada (wore a flag on my hat). Said he had a friend there etc., and well, of course, he's an artist, painter & danced in one of the dance groups performing that night. He was actually very nice & I always feel more inclined to buy from someone who takes the time to chat me up 1st then sell me something. So we got tickets to the Kecak dance & continued on to Casa Luna where we arranged to take a cooking class on Thurs. & do the market tour.
Walked & walked uphill till we collapsed in the Orchid Cafe (attached to a plushy hotel) for a drink & a spot of gado-gado - pretty good too. Fabulous view of the ricefields. Asked for a tour of the rooms but they weren't really anything special (too plastic) & pretty pricey.
Finally get to the Nekka museum (my feet are too tired to enjoy it as much as I would have liked). there were some gems - some fun things but the paintings were too busy for my taste or on a subject matter I have no reference for. Loved the wooden sculpture that was mostly abstract except for the huge penis. And a painting of Noah's ark where all the animals were having sex as soon as they got off the boat onto dry land.
Found Jenn being chatted up by the guard who wanted to drive us to Kitimani or the small villages for silver & wood carving. It's a tough call: how do you ask how much is that going to cost& not insult someone who is genuinely asking to show you his country. I never did figure that one out.
Walked back down the hill - mandatory stop for icecream, then a stop for lunch. I don't remember the name of the place. 1st time I met with indifferent service. Duck enchilada was good tho'. Get lost trying to find our guesthouse so the feet are pretty much toast by the time we do get home. Shower & cup of tea (already here!).
Having trouble deciding on dinner and after 2 false starts end up back at the Dirty Duck. Had the spaghetti puttanesca. My 1st mouthful & I'm wondering where's the putta... oh, wow! that's spicy!
Kecak performance was very cool. Just like a scene out of the movie Baraka. Loved it. Stage lit by torchlight so the performance was a wonderful experience in light & shadow & all those male chanting voices. Again, very cool!
Next morning tea is already here by 6:45. Off to check out a different hotel. I find it far too noisy being this close to the road & I need something a little more peaceful. Check out the Artini 2. It looked (and sounded) right. Loved the boys in their costumes (is it right to consider traditional dress a costume?). My house keeper wears a skirt! Anyway, non a/c room overlooking the pool $40 US. I said $25. He said $30. I said we'd go for coffee to think about it. Meet an older guy on our way out who says it's his place & what were we quoted. What did we want to pay. I stick to my $25. He hems & haws & agrees. Works for us.
There's 2 fountain spouts off the pool that give out wonderful splashing noises & I can't hear the street. Perfect for me. Room is a bit dim & dark but I have what I wanted most. Back to our old place to pack up & check out.
Staff at Artini very friendly. Lots of conversation etc. esp. from the guys. Don't see much female staff yet. Looking forward to our next 4 days.
that's all for this installment. Hope to post more tomorrow or the next day.
Michelle