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| Ouch! |
Turns out
that 4 hour nap on the beach wasn’t as perfect as we thought. Greg, it seems,
is burned to a crisp. He has a reverse farmer’s burn because he did put on some sunscreen before he took off his shirt. This Equator
Sun ain’t no punk, “Oh, you think you can lay out here with no sunscreen? Well
I got something for ya. Bam! How you like me now?”
It is
really hot here—when I go out the second day the sand was burning hot, but then
there’s the beautiful ocean. Ahh swoon again…
We have an
emergency here, we need to find aloe for this fire.
No pure
aloe in sight but we do find something for sunburns that contains aloe. It
seems to work and we are off to yet another lovely lunch.
After lunch
we decide to drive out to the Balinese sea temple Pura Luhur Uluwatu to see the
beautiful view and the Balinese dancers sunset performance. During the forty or
so minute drive, Kennedy is warning us about the monkeys there. He tells us not
to wear glasses or earrings or anything that dangles because the monkeys swoop
down and snatch things. And no, they don’t give them back. They break them or
runaway with them.
I’m
tripping out, what about my purse, my sunglasses, my necklace? Muriel assures
me that it’s not as bad as Kennedy makes it seem, but do put the glasses away.
When we get
there they give us sashes and if your knees aren’t covered, sarongs. We walk in
and sure enough, there they are. Monkeys! Chunky monkeys everywhere. They’re
just chilling and waiting for you to make a mistake. Nothing swinging on me, not even my arms! We
see twisted discarded glass frames all around us. Hey lady, watch your… too late, a monkey gets her glasses. Somehow
the monkey is persuaded to drop the glasses in exchange for food.
We are now
going up to the temple and the beautiful view. It is breath taking, as is the
dance show. Sunset in Bali, watching a great dance performance with a
spectacular view as background. It couldn’t get any better than this…
Oh but it
does.
After the
show we go to Menegas Restaurant in
Jimbaran Bay for fresh ocean seafood. Before I go any farther, I want to be
sure you pronounce the name right. It’s meh-nay-gas, not mi-nig-az. I know, it’s easy to mispronounce words in a foreign
language. At Menegas the fish is fresh
and swimming around happily, that is until you (executioner) pick the ones you
want. “Dead fish swimming.”
 |
| Pick your fish & it's cooked fresh |
OBTW- This is the spot of the 2005 terrorist bombing in Bali, maybe we should get ours to go? What are we on, the terrorist tour? Planes, restaurants.
 |
| Lots of smoking fish
|
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| Fresh cooked corn on beach |
Oh well, you only live once and--we have a
table right on the ocean! There's live music on the beach, hundreds of other people, and a man selling hot spicy corn on the cob that he cooks right there
for you. Yummy. We walk back to our table and the fish starts coming out—mussels,
crab, cod fish, shrimp, octopus…. Everybody digs in.
This is by far the best fish dinner I’ve ever
had! I was so delighted by the food that I almost called them mi-nig-az!
The
island's cultural center is Ubud. So that’s where we’re headed next, but not
before the hotel called in a doctor for Greg’s burn. They bandaged him up and
we were on our way.
We stop at
a house of coffee and experience ‘Luwak’ coffee, called the most expensive
coffee in the world. The coffee is made by having a little cat/weasel like
animal, the palm civet eat the coffee berry and (seriously) defecate it. Then
it’s collected, cleaned, roasted and brewed. By sending the bean thru the
animals digestive track it adds enzymes and amino acids and has medicinal
properties. They call it ‘the good shit.’
Honestly,
to me it taste like shit.
The next morning I go on a bike tour. Greg is
now shedding/peeling and doesn’t want to risk it so he takes a different tour. The
tour guide, Wayon, picks me up at the hotel in a van with my other bikers. Most are
from Australia or New Zealand. One woman and her family are living in Timor,
another from Uruguay.
All are very nice and friendly. Our first stop is breakfast in the mountains
near Mount Batur Volcano. Wonderful breakfast, including coconut black rice
pudding. Taste like heaven.
Good bye
Bali, you were everything and more…
