R & R
Trip Start
Oct 09, 2011
1
10
25
Trip End
Nov 06, 2011
Today was possibly the most relaxing day anyone could ever have! To start it off we went for breakfast at this little restaurant down the street that really was not all that great but I had banana pancakes which were all right. The pancakes here are super different then the ones back home though, they are more like crepes. After we ate we walked down to the beach and set up camp on a couple loungers right by the ocean. I spent the next few hours tanning (burning) while reading my book and watching people surf. It is super fun watching all the people who are learning, they got so excited when they just manage to stand up. I am not one to judge though because I woul have a total freak out if i got even close to standing. I then went for a hour long walk down the beach in the water. Once I felt like I had turned lobster enough for one day I headed back to the hotel to relax for a little while and then headed back down to the beach again for supper! We went to this cute little hut right on the beach. They have bean bag chairs surrounding these little tables with lanterns on them sitting on the sand where you can just lay back and watch the sun set over the ocean. It was a pretty cloudy night so the sunset was not the greatest but it was still really neat. Right beside the hut were these local Balinese surfer guys and they had out a bunch of different instruments and were just playing and singing for hours. A little further down the beach were about 6 women dressed in traditional Balinese wear and setting up offerings. When we went to leave the beach we were blocked because there was this huge procession of people walking also all dressed in Balinese sarongs and such. First it was just a bunch of people walking, carrying different plants and some of the people were all sort of roped together. Then there were a bunch of people playing different sorts of drums and stuff, they were followed by a mass of people riding scooters. There was probably like 300 people all together. We sorta followed them for a bit and they went and joined the women sitting on the beach in this massive group. They passed around this flame and each lit these little stick things on fire and all held their own little plant things. We found out that someone had just passed away and been cremated and this was kinda like the ceremony for it where they release the ashes into the ocean. It was absolutely amazing to see. I guess it is a super old Balinese tradition for whenever someone passes away. I really wanted to take a picture but I felt like it would have been rude to have my flash go off (it was dark at this point) so i decided against it, sorry! After watching this for awhile we headed down to a spa and got an hour long foot massage for $7, have i mentioned I love Bali? I actually almost passed out because it was super relaxing, when that was over we walked and got some ice cream then came back to the hotel! So it was a day of tanning, sunsets, and massages. Doesn't get much better then that!
