Day 21 - Bali : Bye Kuta ...

Good Morning Kuta. We slept for only 3 hours but it was the best 3 hours I’ve had all week. No pigs oinking, roosters calling, kids playing, neighbours talking or cooking in the early hours of the morning – it was silent. Peace at last. What’s more cool about it all was waking up to an awesome view. They lived tucked away amongst the rice paddy fields. I’ve been told that sunrise and sunset is just breathtaking. Sofie and I went and got some breakfast, she suggested that I try the cap cay (pronounced chap chai) – Cap cay contains various vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage, chinese cabbge, carrot, baby corn, mushroom and leek chopped up and stir fried in a work with a small amount of cooking water and water, added with chopped garlic, onion, salt, sugar, soy sauce and oyster sauce and is served with rice. I got the other girls their usual – nasi goreng. We drove down to the local warung – Marina. Each order was packed in a foam takeway box for the convenience of eating out of it. I was impressed, it was very different not receiving our food in brown paper wrapped in a pyramid shape. We devoured into our yummy breakfast. 

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We took some last photos of the villa. At least we can look through the photos vicariously when we're back in our "luxury teachers home". Featuring the pool, kitchen, lounging area and the bulls in the paddy. I loved it here. It was so peaceful. But unfortunately, we have to say goodbye. After breakfast, we said goodbye to the crew and thanked everyone for an awesome night (all those that were awake anyway). It was so nice to have met them. We exchanged numbers and I told them that I would probably be back next week for another drinking session. :)

Sofie called a taxi for us to get back to our hotel. It was so cool hearing her speak in Indonesian. I am so fascinated by languages. I'm hoping to pick up a bit of Indonesian before I leave. We are back in Kuta and Christina needed a bag as she came with none and Julia needed to do some last minute shopping. That girl never stops shopping. haha. We were all in last night's outfits, makeup or no makeup at all - like me, browsing the streets. I felt like a zombie and I had no sunnies to hide behind - Gross. Kuta looked so different during the day, I love it. The city really excites me, I guess it's all being part of a typical tourist. In saying that I also enjoy living like a local and I'm glad that I get a taste of both worlds. With Julia's outstanding bargaining skills, we quickly found a bag for Christina at a very reasonable price and rushed back to the hotel to freshen up and check out. 

On our way out of the hotel, we were stopped by a taxi driver offering his services. We didn't require the service at that point but will require a driver to drive us back to Bondalem - 3 hours drive from Kuta. So we asked whether he could do it, he quickly agreed and we negotiated a reasonable price with him. Pick up will be at 5pm. We now have 5 hours to spare which we will spend most of it at the local beach - Kuta Beach. It was a nice short stroll from the hotel to the beach, I was amazed by the grand entrance to the beach. It was so beautiful. The two meter white sandstone fence was built to block sand from blowing into the cafes and restaurants. Although, it does obstruct the full view of the beach, I still think it was a really nice structural fence. Typical Balinese, very detailedly carved. 

We chilled at the beach for a while before Julia taking off alone to do MORE shopping. Christina and I laid on the beach sunbaking and laughing – oh good times. We had the locals constantly pestering us about getting massages, buying jewellery or icecream from them – it was rather annoying having to tell them ‘no’ several times. I also caught up on some blogging, it was so nice blogging by the beach but then it started to sprinkle a little so I had to pack my laptop away. The sprinkles only last a short while. It was a very nice day in Kuta, it wasn’t too hot or humid. It was just perfect to lie on the beach and bake.

The convenient store is the new hang out spot. We were looking for lunch and couldn’t decide where to eat, so we ended up in a convenient store. The three of us got a cup of noodles each. Christina not knowing how to prepare the noodles; threw the seasoning sachet into the boiling water without tearing it up and emptying the packet. It was the cutest yet blondest moment. It was a good laugh. We were enjoying our noodles in air conditioning and watching Indonesian Idol – it was surely a different eating experience. I stocked up on more noodles and cigarettes, whilst at the counter – Julia pointed out a local’s pair of thongs. I laughed hysterically and snapped a photo. It was in such a bad state. I know it was rude to laugh, but I just couldn’t help myself. I did however didn’t make myself known to the guy that I was laughing about his thongs – so I was discreet about it? 

After lunch, we decided to call Made (pronounced Mar - dere) – our driver to pick us up one hour earlier than the scheduled time. So we met him nearby the hotel we were staying at and hopped into a nice, comfortable and air conditioned Suzuki car. Ok girls, another road trip ahead of us. We were all so tired from the weekend that we knocked out during the ride. Christina slept in the most awkward position for a long while during the drive. Made was a really good driver. It was a really smooth drive.

We finally made it home and were so impressed with his driving, we gave him an extra 100,000 rupiahs as tip. He was very thankful for allowing him to drive us. Us girls were so buggered. We grabbed nasi goring for a quick dinner and freshened up before crawling into our beds to snooze the night away. It’s been a crazy weekend, but we had such a wonderful time making some new lovely friends, drinking and dancing the night away. It definitely felt nice to be back at home though.

Good night world.

XOXO