Around the Island in 11 Days

Absence, they say, makes the heart grow fonder. Or perhaps just makes the readers bored. Either way, I am back. Micah and I have returned to Ubud, having successfully driven all the way around the island of Bali. It was definitely worth the drive, as we saw a Bali that I think few tourists ever do. Most of the East, North, and West coasts of Bali are pretty deserted, save for a few sparsely scattered villages and beaches.

The day of rest, or Nyepi in Singaraja was pretty boring, although we befriended the local special policeman, who took us outside to walk around the silent city. It was beyond eery. No cars, no motorbikes, no people, no sound. Damn. He then took us to hang out with his buddies, and convinced us to drink more Arak, the gnarly Balinese liquor distilled from coconuts. Apparently, as it is the Hindu new years day, they like to party just as much as we do on new years. Within a few hours, most of the parties involved had passed out where they were sitting, or in the middle of the conveniently empty streets. Micah and I then returned to our hotel, and passed out in our room, trying to ignore the din of horrible indonesian dance videos that the proprietors daughters seemed to play on repeat. The day continued to go on, and we had forgotten to stock up on food and water, so by the evening we were thirsty, hungry, and bored silly.

We played a lot of backgammon, actually that has been a common activity these days. We started keeping score once we got to Bali, and at this point I am up, something like 37 to 32 games. Like I said, we've been playing a lot. After the day of rest, we got out of town, and went to the near deserted resort town of Putumeran, and hung out there for a few days. When I got there, I realized I had left my knife in the hotel room in Singaraja, and had to drive there and back in a large rainstorm. Not particularly fun, but I really like that knife. From Putumeran, we drove to Medewi beach, which had a shacking left beach break, that I was tortured by watching, as I hurt my leg and couldn't go out. We had a good time swimming and hanging by the beach there, but left today, with the intention of going to another beach town. Unfortunately, on the way the back tire of my motorbike went flat, and we were told it would cost 50 dollars to replace, which was more than the entire cost of rental. Facing that, we decided I could limp back to Ubud, where we rented them, which we barely did. Thus concludes the motorized portion of our time in Bali, and now we are preparing to head to the Gili Islands, deserted though they may be. More dispatches from there, and keep California warm for me. All my best,

-Jack