Sanur, Bali, Day Three

Wednesday, July 16: Our last full day in Bali and our last full day of this amazing vacation. We had an early morning appointment so when we went to breakfast the tide was at the lowest that we had seen and the water at its calmest. There were still fishermen out looking to make a catch. I have wanted to fish with them - to ask them if I could try it - but they are not fishing for fun or for sport - this is for sustinence. I just couldn't do it.

After breakfast our driver, Kutu, picked us up to take us to see Barong and Kris dance in Batubulan. The traffic was amazing - not because it was heavy, which it was for the size of the roads, but because of the hundreds and hundreds of motorscooters. I wonder how people got around before their invention! We had some time to kill so Kutu took us to see Batik and Ikat. The problem was that he took us to the same place where we had made our purchases a few days previous. Oh, well.

The dance, Barong and Kris, is a five act play. Even though they handed out a description in about eight different languages, we might as well have read the one in Balinese, because even in English we still couldn't understand the convoluted story! But that mattered little as the dance was really interesting and the costumes beautiful. Some of the characters reminded me of a cross between Sesame Street and Where the Wild Things Are! Kutu took a picture of us with a woman in full costume and I noticed that there was another guy taking the picture at the same time. I thought maybe it was her father and he wanted a picture with the Americans! When the show was over, there was our picture for sale, along with dozens of others. Oh well, it was like a donation.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped in Mas, a village that specializes in wood carving. We were looking for a mask. At the same time, I was intrigued by the huge wood tables that we had seen a few days ago. We stopped at a shop that displayed slabs of wood and I asked for the price of a piece that was about 8 feet by 3 feet by 5 inches thick. It was 8 million rupiah. If you've been paying attention then you would know that was less than $800US. Of course, shipping could double the price! Plus legs for the table, etc. They are still amazingly beautiful!

As Kutu pulled back into the hotel, I saw, once again, that every time a car comes through the gate there is a security man with a mirror on a stick and he looks under the car. I don't know if this is comforting or concerning. There does seem to be a lot of security both on the street and on the beach. 

In the afternoon we had our daily massages - I could really get used to that, and then worked on our tan - finally! We certainly won't have the kind of tan that we get in Belize most summers, but we have some color and are well-rested. At the hotel, we continue to be amazed by the beautiful grounds. They seem to take a lot of pride in the plants, the lily ponds, and the koi ponds that are spread throughout the property.