Adventures By Design

In which the travelers avoid offending the gods

We woke up this morning to a nice breakfast on the patio outside our room with a view of the pool and garden… ah, this is the life! Our hotel is a little more expensive than many in the area, but it’s really lovely and relaxing so we think we’ll stay. Shortly after we finished breakfast, our friend from yesterday, Franz, came to find us. We talked for a minute, and then agreed to meet him later on Kuta Beach.

 

After a liberal application of sunsceen for one of us, we headed out to see Bali’s most famous location: the beach. The lovely sand and great waves are the greatest things about this place, and they are what draw the crowds. As we set out from our hotel we realized just how many crowds were being drawn! The town around Kuta Beach is huge, busy, full of small shops, and big brand name ones like Billabong, Polo, and Tommy Hilfiger. All around us people were busy buying and selling, and seeing and being seen. It’s not a quiet, laid-back beach like the ones we’re used to, but it’s a fun place all the same and we’ll have a good time here for a few days.

At the beach we were a little overwhelmed by the crowds, but had fun walking around and enjoying the atmosphere. We looked around for Franz, but couldn’t find him in the crowds. After a while we staked a claim to a section of beach and headed into the waves for a little swimming. The waves here are quite big, which apparently makes for great surfing… hmm… maybe tomorrow. We had a fun time playing in the waves, but you can’t really swim a lot because of the waves themselves, and the strong current that would pull you way down the beach if you tried it.

After the beach we had showers and then went out into the town to try to find a hairdresser that Gin could trust to give her a decent haircut. We found a place eventually, but their skilled hairdresser was gone for the night. Ric, apparently having less qualms about these things, got a haircut from the less-skilled hairdresser. While she waited for him, Gin got a pedicure. However, Ric’s haircut took less time than the pedicure so then he was waiting for her. The woman in the shop convinced Ric that a pedicure would be a good idea for him too (sans nail polish though). So he sat down for a nice foot rub and to have some dead skin removed from his soles with a little razor-like object. Unfortunately, it seems some of the skin wasn’t actually dead, it was just dry, and Ric ended up with a nasty gash on the bottom of his heel! He assured the woman that it was okay, and that she shouldn’t worry, but his foot was rather sore for the rest of the night, especially when he walked on it.

With a bandage covering the evidence of Ric’s mutilation, we left the salon and headed to an internet cafe to catch up on some emails, and to try to catch up on the blog. We spent a couple of hours uploading photos, but eventually had to leave because some incense that was burning was bothering Ric’s eyes. He thought about going to put it out, but since it was an offering to a god he thought that might get him in trouble with the locals. Wisely he left the incense alone, and we headed back to our hotel and bed.