Now the wedding was over (and I don't mean that the way it sounds! lol) we could concentrate on some shopping and having a look around. All our guests were due to fly out Wednesday and Thursday so Kris and I had decided that we would hang with them until they left and then we would be all alone for our official honeymoon from the Thursday through to the following Tuesday evening when we flew out (27 Mar).
Sunday morning we awoke after the wedding to find that we hadn't succeeded in flushing all of our guests out of the villa after all. We found one asleep in a bedroom upstairs where she had crashed early hours of the morning and everyone had forgotten about her. Oh well, looks like we had company for breakfast on our first morning as husband and wife. We enjoyed our morning swim and coffee before Wayan cooked us some nice omelette's to go with our toast, coffee and fruit platter which went down a treat and cleared our cloudy, vague minds (gee I wonder what caused those?!).
After breakfast and a loooong shower we decided to head into town to do some shopping. We had left our menu preferences with the villa staff for the next few days over the Nyepi period. We decided to invite Kris' brother and sister to spend Sunday and Monday nights with us in the villa for the Nyepi period as they were the only two of our guests that were in Hotels on their own and would be bored otherwise (ahhh the sacrafices we make.....oh well the honeymoon didn't officially start till the Thursday I reminded myself).
Nyoman appeared and we were on our way into town in no time for a pre-Nyepi shopping spree!
We decided to start at Matahari's as Kris had eyed some good shoe bargains there earlier in the week. She picked up three pair for the equivalent of 18 bucks AUS. Geez...I'm glad we don't come here alot! Kris' shoe collection already rivals Emelda Marcos, but once she hits a shoe department the eyes glaze over and I don't even bother saying anything! Whilst she was busy I noticed a guy standing behind a chair with a massager that looked like an oversized angle grinder. He montioned me toward the chair and once I was seated, went to town on my upper back and shoulder area with this thing. It was heaven!! Taaakkkee yooouurr tiiiimeee hooonnnneeeeyy a remember calling out to Kris as I wondered if it were possible to get one of these things in my bag for the trip home. I quickly came to the conclusion that it would be both too heavy and large to even think about. But that didn't stop me showing an interest for the next 15 minutes so the treat would continue!
After Matahari's we hit the street for some Billabong bargains and a look around at what we might buy to take home for the kids. We stopped for lunch at the cafe at the front of the Febris Hotel. I would have to say that it was the worst meal I had in Bali, and the slowest service. We ordered (Pizza and Garlic Prawns)and an hour later our food arrived, and it was ordinary! Then it took them 20 minutes to get the bill when we asked for it. Oh well, you get that I suppose.
We called Nyomen and were back at the villa in time for a swim and a few Bintangs before meeting the rest of the family at La-Lucciolas for dinner. It was my brother's birthday so both families met up for dinner to celebrate. This was our second dinner there, and it didn't dissapoint. The food, atmosphere and view are supurb!
After dinner it was back to the villa with our live-in guests for the next two nights. We had a fabulous time over Nyepi. Relaxing by the pool during the day with the Bintangs and cocktails on tap from the ever attentive villa staff. They served gourmet meals for every meal. Our guests were most impressed! By the time Tuesday morning came around, they sat at the breakfast table, eating their banana pancakes looking sad that their little break in heaven was about to come to an end.
We had arranged with the villa staff to have their two cars available Tuesday morning to take us and a group of our family on a day trip to Ubud and across to Tanah Lot. My brother-in-law had scoffed at the Bali Belly precautions the rest of us were taking (Inner Health Plus and Rasberry Concentrate every morning)and had paid for it over Nyepi. He still had the tail end of it for the day trip so it made for an interesting time (gee I'm glad he was in the other car!). Off we went towards Ubud, with our first stop to be a Barong / Kris dance in Sanur, then Celuk to check out some silver. We weren't there very long as no-one could get a decent price for what they wanted to buy, so it was back in the cars for the trek to Ubud.
Our trip was uneventful and we arrived at the Monkey Forest with about an hour before lunchtime. We paid our fee and brought the obligitory bunch of bananas to feed to the monkeys and off we went. All was going well until my sister felt a few drops on her shoulder and head, then made the fatal mistake of looking up! I tried to warn her but it was too late....monkey pee in the eye really stings apparently! lol.
Nyoman then took us to this magic restaurant in Ubud for lunch. It had two levels and the upper level had a balcony that had the most amazing view down the valley. I had a prawn and scallop curry, and it was the best seafood I had away from the villa in Bali. I just wish I had gotten the name of the place!
After lunch we hit the Ubud markets. We brought loads of stuff including wind chimes, kites, bali bags for the trip home (as we couldn't afford the weight of the suitcase we took over), jewellery, clothes and a bit of wood. We then ventured up the road a bit out of the market environment to the proper shops. We brought some really nice dust collectors before we had to leave for Tanah Lot to make it before sunset.
We arrived at Tanah Lot about half an hour before sunset but it didn't really matter because it was cloudy on the horizon and the sunset would be obscured anyway.
We took some great photos and brought some paintings and small odds and sods and got back in the cars for the trip home. We were all tired from the long day and Nyoman dropped us off at Warung Mades in Seminyak so we could all have dinner together for the last time before the rest of the family went home. He then took all the shopping back to the villa for everybody to pick up later. Kris and I ate Chilli prawns and Nasi Campur. It was a nice feed and reasonably priced. The heavens opened up just before we left the restaurant, we arrived back at the villa, everyone sorted out their shopping and we hit the sack exhausted!
The next day most of the family disappeared and then it was just Kris and I.
Stay tuned for Part 4, the final chapter!