Look closely. Those are hundreds of bats.
Aug 8 2010
Our last night in Bali. A little bitter sweet. This morning I went to mail some post cards while Ashton went to his surf lesson. On the way to the beach I went in search of a towel. (I can hear a dog barking that sounds just like Toby. It makes me miss her and I'm anxious to see her soon.) The people selling market goods are a little different in every different city we’ve been through. They all have their own set of catch phrases and bartering systems. But it’s funny to me, even though they always start high in price, here in Kuta, they start really high and for things that are obviously generally very very cheap. Ashton asked about the price of a poor quality Bin Tang tshirt (Bin Tang is the local beer.) They started off at the grand price of 400,000! That's almost 45 US dollars. He ended up getting it for the US equivalent of $3.30. Same thing happened in pursuit of a cheap towel to use for a couple hours on the beach. The towel went from $35 to $4. (did you know “cool” in balinese is “bungus” hahaha) In search of Ashton on the beach I finally found him out catching some waves so, while he did that, I caught some sun. The sun was so warm and water was so cooling and then, all of a sudden, I became the bikini model prop for a handful of Asian tourists photographs. Some would ask to have a picture with me, others would sneak up behind me while my eyes were closed, and some weren't so sneaky so I just invited them over. It was all pretty funny and very celebrity with the whole paparazzi. My 15 minutes of fame. Some excellent sun tan lines were definitely achieved. When he was done in the water we went to hang out at our pool for a little while before grabbing a scooter and heading out to Pura Tanah lot, a near by (very) popular seaside temple. It was amazing. The ocean cut cliffs were awesome and home to millions of bats. There were giant boa snakes for tourists to take pictures with. Tide pools closer to the water edge teaming with crabs and small fish. There was a small near by cave which housed "the holy snake." Not so sure if it was really holy or if these two guys were trying to make an extra "donation" which in Bali is code for: hey we're gonna call it a donation but really we're still expecting you to pay. After that we went to the holy spring cave, more donation, and we were sprinkled with a brush of holy water and then the priest stuck wet rice to our forehead, bindi style, and placed a plummeria flower behind our ear. Once done soaking up the sights of the temple we grabbed some chicken kabobs and spicy grilled corn on the cob from a street vendor. We also had a fish spa. At a fish spa you soak your hands and feet in a fish tank full of these little tiny sucker fishes that eat the dry and dead skin off of you. Sounds sick. It was. The first sensation was so weird, as if your feet were falling asleep. It tickled really bad and then it almost felt numb but all said and done they really did make my feet softer. We had Mexican food for dinner. I know, not very traditional, but it was an interesting Asian take on how Mexican food is suppose to be. Very different. We walked around Kuta for awhile eating gelato and people watching until our feet were so tired and we wandered our way back to the hotel.
Aug 9-10 2010
Our last day in Bali was wonderful. We slept in a little longer and got out of bed to have breakfast in the cafe. Our check out was at eleven but our flight was not leaving until 2am the following morning. We packed our bags and stored them with reception while we took the motor bike out to Pura Ulu Watu, something we really wanted to revisit after only having previously experienced it in the dark. We got there when no other tour buses had arrived yet. Other than a few locals trying to peddle monkey food and maybe four other tourists we happily had the place to ourselves. Once you got to know them, the monkeys here really weren't so bad. Very intent on thieving though they would yank on my sarong (the garment required for all leg baring temple visitors) or try and snatch the bag of fruit we brought for them, and one even jumped on my back and snatched the sunglasses right off my head. It took some coaxing but we got them back. Ashton was quickly becoming irritated with their antics but I quite enjoy them even with their childish pranks. Once explaining to Ash, we may never be here again or have a duplicate experience, he settled into enjoying their company as well. I sat with the monkeys for awhile. Two were very sweet, the one sitting next to me investigating my sarong and tucking his head under in a sort of peek-a-boo manner. The other sat on my lap playing with my fingers or on my shoulder playing with my hair. I was happy. It is very easy to coax them on to you with food but there are times when they are at ease and just want to share your presences the way you want to share in theirs. They will let you stroke them, play with their fingers and toes or tail. They are interested in the way you smell or what you are wearing. They can be very sweet or spiteful, friendly or teeth barring. For the animal lover that I am it was very special to me. We took our time walking the bricked path that lines the cliff side overlooking a beautifully serene crashing ocean far far below, the temple, perched precariously atop what could easily be a one thousand foot vertical drop. ("The cliffs of insanity.") Eventually the tour busses arrived and we considered that our cue to leave. Back on the motor bike we went for the hot and humid drive back to Kuta. We returned our scooter and grabbed some sandwiches for lunch. It was after that that we decided to give in and get a massage after having been asked at least five hundred times since we'd been in Kuta alone. An hour massage cost about 500 U.S. pennies and can I just say it was the best 500 U.S. pennies I've ever spent. In fact, and I'm not a huge massage connoisseur, but it was definitely the best massage I've ever had. Had we known just how great they were, we probably would have been getting massages every other day. And I know Ashton had a good time. Ashton and I each had our own tables right next to each other, but because you lay face down with your head in a hole there was no conversing between the two of us. My eyes went from open to closed and then open again, and closed again and open, and wide open, as the woman climbs up on my table straddling me for a deeper more even back rub. On the floor, through the hole in my table I see the shadow of Ashton’s masseuse up on his table as well and going to town on him. Two things I never imagined seeing on my honey moon, a frenchmen's, well, you know, and my husband being dry humped by a Balinese massage therapist. It was hard for me to hold in the laughter but I managed. Eventually she had us roll over and continued the massage off the table. A little awkward she delivered a full chest rub which is something I’ve never gotten from a massage therapists in the states and something I've only ever experienced in a doctors office before that point. We left the shop to go for a lengthy walk along the beach, past a string of upcoming high end resorts, around the block, through a little antique store with the most beautiful trinkets, and along the main road with shop after shop. Some, the usual tourist attractors, bin tang t shirts, sarongs, wood carvings. Others lush boutiques with beautiful fabric dresses and bags, home wares and accessories. I finally found something to bring back for my mom. A silver cuff bracelet with a Balinese motif etching. I also found something for my self of course. The last item of the trip, I swear. It was a simple thin Balinese chain bracelet. We made it back to Poppies gang. The small alley of our hotel and ate at the very popular and well established Poppies restaurant. It was delicious and the perfect last meal in Bali. Broke and no desire to do anything but lounge we retired to our pool where we laid on a cushioned reclined pool chair, talked and drifted in and out of naps until it was time to head to the airport. It would have been nice to spend our lounge time on the near by beach but with out being able to shower before our flight we chose the obvious. Loading up our bags we headed to the airport and two hours later we said goodbye to beloved Bali from the seats of an airplane. I will greatly miss the little island and all the amazing things we saw and were so lucky to experience. I have high hopes that we will be back to Bali again. Sigh....
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