Day 129, Year 3: LaLa Land
Date: Hari Senin (Monday), Bulan September 15, Pada Tahan 2008
Weather: Overcast Morning with North Winds-Not Normal for Mid-September
Latitude: 08 degrees 09.645 S
Longitude: 115 degrees 01.284 E
Location: Lovina Beach, BALI, Indonesia
Life here is just not reality. It is possible here to have a driver that speaks English and drives you in his car all over this island for two days for a cost of only $75US. And that includes the driver’s meals and overnight stay. Unbelievable. But what is more unbelievable is that we think that is really, really expensive. We’re talking about driving more than 200 miles in the two days and seeing much of the beauty of Bali. This poor driver has to take us to the airport at midnight to pick up Justin and Jo and then be ready to head off with us the next morning for a tour from the south of Bali to the north. So it really is LaLa Land, but I love it.
We finally made it ashore today. We went in early just to get some fresh water for washing the boat and doing laundry. Mark is still not recovering from this Indonesian cold that he has, so he then took a nap while I cleaned the boat. Our friend Bennie on the local outrigger called Gelderland showed up around noon, instead of at 7 am as promised, to clean the bottom of the boat. We figured it is better late than never, and had a son and a grandson with him to dive in and start the bottom cleaning.
We gave Bennie our jerry jugs and asked him to go ashore the fill them for us. When he returned he had another grandson with him. This one somehow won Mark’s heart and we invited him aboard to tour Windbird. Do, pronounced more like Dua, explained to us that his family is Muslim and live on the beach just to the east of the anchorage. There were two young men cleaning the bottom and one them was named Dion. Do explained that his cousin, Dion, does not practice fasting during Ramadon and that this is a problem for the community. I dubbed Dion “bad boy” and he agreed. He plays the guitar and djembe drum on the beach at night. Do gave us his phone number and promised a fish barbecue on the beach for us once Justin and Jo arrive with “bad boy” playing music. As long as it is after 7:30 pm prayers, Do said it would be fine. So it sounds great.
Once the bottom of the boat was cleaned and Do and Dion left, Mark and I got ready and went to shore. We continued to have a swell coming into the anchorage from the north today, but those who have been here for a week already said this is very unusual. I sure hope so and hope that the winds change soon. The rocking and rolling in the anchorage is not severe, but it is an irritation. Once we made it to shore we were inundated with women trying to sell us everything from mangoes to clothing.
I actually bought some jewelry from a little girl telling me she was selling the jewelry to make money for her school that has nothing. But I soon learned that this was a scam. And then I ended up buying a sarong and a blouse for way too much money. Finally, I got my land legs and learned to say no. We made it as far as the internet caf�, and I left Mark there and went back to the beach to brave the hawkers to see Idunne of Blue Marlin. Runa was in the internet caf� and explained that they are
leaving tomorrow morning for Kumai. I wanted to say hello/goodbye to Idunne. I also made arrangements with Runa for him to email us info about booking our orangutan trip. We have made some contacts in the Kumai region, but so far we have found prices to be way too expensive. Runa will look for the best deal he can find for his family and then make a reservation for us. That will be a great help for us and assure that we can do the river trip in time to get Justin and Jo back to Bali for their flight home. This is one of those times when you are really glad that you are traveling with a group of other cruisers.
Kalibukbuk, the area of Lovina Beach where we are located, is certainly a tourist area, but it definitely has a Bali charm. After Mark satisfied his internet connections, we started our walk down the main street from the beach. On a recommendation from Idunne and Runa, we made reservations with the LA Tour group to south Bali to pick-up Justin and Jo. We will tour our way south on Wednesday, find a place to stay near the beach close to the airport, go to dinner, and then go to pick-up J & J near
mid-night. Our driver will then take us back to our overnight accommodation and come back to pick us up before noon the next day. Again, we will make our way north stopping at a few of the major attractions, and arrive back in Lovina Beach just in time for the rally opening ceremony.
It is late and I’m fading, so I think I must continue tomorrow. So far, Lovina Beach is ending up to be a great place to visit and hopefully this trend will just increase.
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| 080915 Day 129 Bali, Indonesia–Tourist Town of Kalibukbuk, Lovina Beach |
