woke at 6am, definitely not my usual waking time. but the cocks were crowing, the ducks quacking, the grasshoppers whirring their legs in the rice paddies. that and the call to prayer by the local muezzin, and there was no way i could stay in bed. complimentary breakfast at the cendana wasn't until 7.30am so i lounged on the balcony and took photos of the birds flitting among the palm trees. it's already pretty humid and sticky and i don't do well in the heat but a cool shower soon refreshed me. wandered down to the pool, other guests already about but only a couple of people in the infinity edge pool overlooking the rice paddies. splashed about a bit, feeling more relaxed than i have for years.
padded up to the restaurant for breakfast (right next to the pool). on offer was an array of eggs, bacon, funny little sausages, banana pancakes, fruit, croissants, noodles and rice. and weird palm leaf-wrapped rice things that turned out to be delicious, even if the rusty staple holding it all together wasn't. what i really needed was a coffee. what i got was a cup of mud with a caffeine kick. but i was happy with that. plenty of fresh fruit smoothies also on offer but i was a bit iffy about that, perhaps needlessly paranoid as plenty of others were enjoying them. scarfed up some scrambled eggs and barely toasted bread, and felt absolutely great. time to shop!
but it's november, it's humid, and (i believe i may have mentioned this) i don't do well in the heat. this is where the beauty of the cendana resort comes in. it is close enough to the main drag for quick forays into shopping land and close enough to get back to for a retreat into the airconditioned room. the shops are pretty upmarket though (even if the footpaths are not - i dropped a stone into one hole in the footpath and i swear it hit middle earth on its way to china) so no fake designer handbags to be found. sweated my way up the road for 10 minutes and found ubud markets - great for sarongs, hats, bintang shirts and incense. but no designer handbags. and no DVDs either - i had to go further down the road for those. pretty soon worked out that due to the heat and the lack of a central shopping point i would be better planning my shopping trips and using taxis.
so back to the resort, a swim, lunch at cafe wayan down the road (crispy duck, absolutely delicious, and i am not usually a fan of gamey meat, even if it was probably daffy and donald i saw earlier today splashing about in the rice field), and a bit of a snooze.
the rest of the afternoon was spent watching a DVD, swimming again, drinking bintang (a very light tasting beer, more of a pilsener than a lager, goes down well in the heat)(and i am a girl, that may surprise you, but i do like a good beer)and lazing on the balcony. about 7.30pm the gamelan performance starts up down the road and i just relaxed listening to the traditional orchestra sounds that drift in on the breeze, such as it is.
as i said before, i have never been so relaxed and i really wish my stay was longer. and it's only day 2!
more to come.