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| Our wonderful staff at the villa, the two Kataks and Ribud holding a treasured Blue Fin Tuna which they filleted and cooked to perfection with spicy Balinese sauce, lasting us for a few meals. |
“Sightings on the Beach in Bali”
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| The river is used by many locals for a wide array of reasons including washing motorbikes. |
A few weeks ago Gede drove us to a local barber shop for Tom’s usual international haircut. In most cases, we find the experience quite interesting and photo-worthy based on the usual good quality of service and often surprisingly low cost.
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| Colorful custom made fishing boats at the harbor in Negara. |
As we sat on the rustic wooden bench outside the barber shop awaiting his turn with two customers ahead of him, Tom reconsidered, nudging me, “Let’s go. I don’t want a haircut today.”
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| What can we say about this, other than its simply adorable? |
Long ago, we made a pact. If one of us doesn’t want to do something, whatever it may be, we don’t do it. For example, when we were in Maui in 2014 and Tom changed his mind about getting our teeth cleaned after we arrived at the dentist’s office and were told we’d have to wait for over an hour beyond our scheduled time. We canceled and left. None of it felt right to him; not the hour long wait or the appearance of the facility. Here’s the link to that story.
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| Buffaloes on the beach? Wow, we never stopped enjoying this daily scene! |
“Trust the gut,” Tom says and there’s so much truth in this concept. On bigger issues such as where we’ll travel, how we’ll get there and how long we’ll stay, its all up for discussion. In most cases, we readily agree.
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| Many nights we wandered outdoors to the cabana to watch the sun going down and to revel in our exquisite surroundings in this exceptional villa. Click here if you’d like to see more about the villa. |
We explained to Gede that we decided against the haircut without a further explanation, preferring not to offend him. After a quick stop at the apotek (pharmacy) and little market for a few items, once we returned to the villa Tom explained his reasoning. It was exactly what I’d suspected.
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| We’re always in awe when we see how resourceful Balinese people are using their motorbikes for transporting a wide variety of supplies. |
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| Each day, this neighbor, who lives on the road currently under construction, sits under this shelter and weave small baskets used for Hindu offerings. She always smiles and says hello although she doesn’t speak English. Many Balinese people do not speak English although many speak both Balinese and Indonesian. |
In a three days we’ll be in Singapore where he’ll surely be able to get the much needed haircut in between our three embassy visits and sightseeing.
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| Rambut Siwi Hindu Temple (Pura Rambut Siwi) in Negara, the largest of three traditional temples located in each town in Indonesia. |
Yesterday, we packed our bags. With only a few items remaining including the toiletries we’re still using, it won’t take us more than a total of 10 minutes to wrap it up.
Also, we both got busy washing our shoes. Over these past years of travel we’ve discovered that many types of shoes can be washed by hand or in some cases, in the washing machine.
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| Rambut Siwi Hindu Temple (Pura Rambut Siwi) in Negara is breathtaking in its design and long history. |
With no washer available for our use and preferring not to burden the two Ketuts with such a task, we hand washed three pairs of shoes with antibacterial soap, which included a pair of my leather sandals. We left all three pairs drying in the sun with excellent results. They almost look new.
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| The glass-like surface of the rice paddies inspired many photos. |
We each only have five pairs of shoes. Keeping them in good shape is vital over the next year until we return to the US, when we plan to restock clothing and shoes. Hopefully, they’ll last until then.
Gee…in my old life, I’d have never considered hand washing leather sandals other than an occasional wipe with a damp rag. If they looked worn and dirty, I’d toss them out. Yesterday, when I placed them in hot soapy water, I giggled over the irony. How life has changed.
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| Gede and his parents whom we visited on one of a few trips to Lovina. It meant so much to us to meet them, especially as Gede has become so dear to both of us. |
Here’s the rundown for the next few day’s posts:
- Tomorrow: Villa review and more favorite photos
- Monday (Sunday in Northern Hemisphere): Final expenses for Bali and finalizing favorite photos
- Tuesday: We’ll share comments on the harrowing four hour drive to Denpasar. We’ll also include photos and review of our overnight stay in Denpasar at a four star Hilton for only US $61, IDR $818,010 a night. Later in the day, we’ll fly to Singapore.
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| This truly is Indonesian art. |
From there, we’ll be posting daily from Singapore for one week while staying in a boutique hotel walking distance to Chinatown and the beach. It should be interesting and enriching between embassy visits.
May your day be interesting and enriching.
Photo from one year ago today, June 25, 2015:
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| This beautiful cove was at the end of the boulevard in Trinity Beach, Australia. For more photos, please click here. |
