Today was probably our only day in Bali devoted exclusively to going to the beach. And to the grocery store. And dinner. But totally, only, exclusively, the beach. The resort we're staying in is actually located a short distance from the beach. They offer a shuttle that runs every 15 minutes. It takes you along a lovely, private, bamboo-lined road and plops you out on the renowned white sand beaches of Nusa Dua, Bali, known the world over for their unspoiled beauty. And for the dismembered corpse that we found washed up on shore. Yes. Really. Once we recovered from the shock of the horrible sight, we signed out a couple towels from the friendly guys at the towel signing out place and sat down in two free seats that had a free umbrella. Near the free showers and the absolutely not free bar. So, suck it, Crystal Beach! I'm going to harp on this a bit here. This beach was a meticulously maintained beach that was owned by a swanky resort and it was still absolutely covered with trash. So, what you are seeing here is a beach that is cleaned all day every day. Please imagine what the unmaintained beaches look like and think twice before you grab that water in the plastic bottle. It doesn't get recycled. It goes to the beach in Bali. Seriously. Think hard about single use plastics and how you can stop using them. Please. I'm trying not to turn this into an environmental screed, but it's hard not to see the damage and not say anything. I'm not knocking Bali or the Balinese people at all. They are to blame for some of it, of course, but a lot of this is washing up from offshore. We stepped into the water, which was delightfully warm, especially in comparison with the frigid bone-cracking cold water of the North Atlantic that we are accustomed to suffering in at home. The surf was especially rough, which was probably why there were flags all along the beach saying that swimming is prohibited. Bali, however, as we have seen, tends to be a bit lax regarding safety. There were no lifeguards at the beach and I suppose that they operate under the reasonable philosophy that, if you are stupid enough to swim in these rough seas, it may be best to have you removed from the gene pool. It's possible that the dismembered torso we found was once a happy tourist, like us. Kerri opted to be smart and go sit in the shade with the giant bottle of Bali Bangers we had toted along with us. I opted to risk all and try snorkeling. I saw a dad and, I assume, his teenage daughter walking up the beach with snorkeling equipment, I I asked them if there were good spots on this beach. He pointed to a small boat, moored about 150' offshore. "Swim out there to that boat and the current will grab you and take you down the shore," he said. This explained why I had seen them walking up the beach at least 3 times in the same direction. It was like a marine ski lift. Walk up the beach then ride back down in the surf. They let me tag along with them for one run. As we walked and chatted, he said he was from Australia, but I have my doubts because he never once said the word "fuck". We swam out toward the small boat and, as promised, as soon as we got near it, a playful current snatched me and dragged me parallel with the shore at a fantastic speed. I tried to pretend that the floating trash in the water was alien spaceships that I was blasting past in an intergalactic race. It didn't work as well as I would have hoped. Soon, the ocean got tired of playing with me and it burped me out into a pile of garbage on the beach. I slowly made my way back to Kerri, tugging straws and Pepsodent toothpaste tubes out of my hair. For all my crabbing about the trash here, we did have an enjoyable few hours on the beach. When we were ready to head back to the resort, we brought our towels to the towel guys. "Omsuasiastu!" I greeted them. Their eyes grew wide and they burst into huge peals of happy laughter. "You speak Balinese!" one of them cried, clearly delighted. "Only a tiny bit," I said. I demonstrated a few other select phrases. "Good morning. Good evening. How are you? I am fine, thank you. Where is the bathroom?" "Your accent is very good," the kid said. I gave him a You are full of shit look. "For a beginner," he added with another huge laugh. We talked with these two guys for a while. When the shuttle arrived, we opted not to take it so we could keep talking with them. They told us about Bali, the Balinese people and culture, and life on the island. We told them about America and how big it is. "The Australians would say 'It's fucking huge!'" one of them laughed. We also told them about the weather we get in the winter. "It can be minus 15 or 20 degrees," I said. "MEEENUS?!?" they both gasped with their wonderful accents. "MEEEEEENUS?!? I would die! How do you live?" We explained the concept of coats to them. I asked them where they had learned English. Theirs was some of the best we'd heard on Bali. "Oh," one of them said, smiling. "I'm from Scotland." I gave this dark-skinned, eminently Balinese kid another You are full of shit look. "I like feeeesh and cheeeeeps," he said, affecting a dreadful Scottish accent before bursting into guffaws of laughter. We talked about working at the resort and they said they mostly liked it. "Except for the Russians," they added. "They're the worst." We've heard this from several drivers and guides. They do not like Russians in Bali. They complain that Russians, in general, have no respect for the people or culture on the island. They said that most people are fine, but sometimes guests are rude to them or treat them badly. Mostly, they just get ignored because they are just "the help". I said I was sorry to hear that that happened. The kid shrugged. "I don't care. That's about them; not us." The kid is a bodhisattva. The kids were so warm and genuine and clearly proud of their country and culture. Talking with them was one of the highlights of the entire trip. When the shuttle came back again, we snapped a selfie and reluctantly said our goodbyes. Back at the resort, we got some french fries and drank Bali Bangers by the pool and it was wonderful. For dinner, we decided to return to the restaurant where we had ordered pizza the other night. The manager, Suzie, remembered us by name, which was incredibly impressive. The band played Pink Floyd and Tom Petty covers and we had another really fun night there. After dinner, we strolled to the Cocomart for more Javanese rum and Jungle Juice. We don't want to get scurvy!
Tomorrow, we're sightseeing with The Original Kadek™.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
This is for adults.
This is my adult blog. It's not intended for kids. Really. Archives
October 2024
Categories |