1-16-2011

Started this sunny morning with a swim before going to breakfast. The fisherman was there again just off the beach. I went swimming after breakfast. About 5 yards into the water there is a band of dead coral bits about 10 feet wide. This was very painful for me to walk on with my soft American feet. We walked down the beach to the right toward the fishing village. It is small and nestled between our hotel complex and the next one. About 8 Palm huts lined the beach where the fishing boats are moored. These boats are hand made and although they look unseaworthy, in fact they are quite strong. Chickens wander the beach along with children and dogs. Lina spoke with a woman who owned a small toko. We bought some Selak and bananas there and ate some selak while we talked. Lina learned all about how the area had changed and rumors of how it would change once the airport was finished.

After lunch we set up our towels on the beach side chairs. We rented a kayak from the hotel and spent about an hour paddling and floating around off shore. The water is so clear we can see the coral and some of the fish from the boat. Interesting view of the shore with the mountains behind it from here. We returned to the beach and spent 2 hours relaxing on the beach chairs. I ordered a cold beverage from the restaurant to wash down one of the bananas we bought earlier and enjoyed watching fishing boats sailing. I could see thunder clouds far out at sea but they were not moving toward us. Lina slept.

Later in the afternoon we went for a long walk down the road to shop. Not many tourist shops here but we managed to find some sarongs and a wood carving shop. We passed under a stone gateway to Pemutaran that had ornate statues of dragons and Balinese designs on it. After about a mile or so we turned around and walked back to the gateway and had a drink and fried bananas at a small restaurant. This place was made entirely of large bamboo pillars and a palm frond roof. The sides have waist high walls with large open windows. It was next to a farmer’s field where a cow was eating grass. The cow gave me the creeps. She kept giving me the evil eye. She would be eating then turn totally around to look right at me for a few seconds before going back to eating, then doing it all over again. I decided against having the Prime Rib and stuck with the pisang goreng. Lot of flies in the restaurant, naturally because it is practically in a farm.

On way back to room we spoke with our neighbor Jon. Jon owns the villa he is in and told us that each of the villas is privately owned and the “hotel” maintains them and rents them out for the owners. Jon bought his place 5 years ago before they built it. He said the place was exactly like the land behind the fishing village – a farm field complete with goats, sheep and cows.

The fishermen had caught some tuna today so the restaurant special was grilled tuna with a fruity sambal sauce. This was fantastic. Then off to bed to fall asleep watching Australian rugby.