Hello, Where Are You From

We had only booked the hotel for 2 nights because we intended to find new accommodations on Sanur Beach, which we had heard was less crowded than Kuta. We were still dazed and confused and adjusting to the oppressive heat. We got a Blue Bird taxi, the kind that has a meter, and it took us to the address of a homestay that we had found on line. We were looking for the proper address, 37 Jl. Hang Tuah, when we came across a man sitting in a chair beside a small barrier.


Cab driver – We must pay 2,000 rupiah to proceed.

I handed him 2,000. It just happened to be in front of 35 Jl. Hang Tuah. He drove another 20 feet and stopped in front of 37.

P- Well what the hell? Why didn't he just let us off before the barrier?

G- I don't know and I had no idea what the barrier was for before it was too late. Whatever.

We inquired about the rates in the guesthouse, it was cheap at only 175,000 rupiah (about $18.00) but was only for a fan room, cold water, no breakfast, and no internet. Screw dat! The guy told us about another one a little further away and we headed off. It was HOT!!!!

P- If I had known we were going to be doing a lot of walking, I would have worn my Keens and not my flip flops.

G- What are you talking about? The plan was to taxi over, then walk around and find a new place.

P- I just didn't realize we'd be doing so much walking.

G- What the hell? What did you take “walk around to find a new place” to mean? Are you trying to trick me and start a fight?

P- I don't know! How far are we going to have to walk?!

G- How the hell should I know?

P- You wrote the names and addresses of the places down, didn't you?

G- Newsflash, I've never been here before so I don't know where any of these places are.

P- Don't get bitchy with me! I don't know what I thought, but I didn't think I'd be walking around so much and sweating my ass off!!!! I thought you said the places were next door to each other or very close in proximity.

G- I said no such thing.  How could I possibly know.  These addresses don't even make sense to me.  Let's calm down, baby. We're both hot and miserable and delirious. Let's walk along the beach and look for side alleys where we might find homestays.

After walking south along the beach “boardwalk” (which was made of stones) we decided that the Legian Beach was much more beautiful, not nearly as crowded, and our hotel was much better, with more amenities, than we could afford over on Sanur Beach.

P- I don't like it as much over here.

G- Me either. Let's just stay where we are.

P- I agree. I'm ready to head back and get into the pool. First let's stop and have a Bintang beer at the Circle K and rest for a few minutes.

There are Circle Ks all over the place and some of them even have little deli counters. We drank our Bintang, then walked the remainder of the path along the beach. With just about each step, we were met with a new Balinese woman................

Balinese woman – Hello. Where you from?

Us – America.

Balinese woman – What you name?

Us- I'm Phyllis and she is Gina. (Phyllis is not an easy name for them to say.)

Balinese woman – You come to my shop to buy pretty sarong?

Us – No thank you. P- Oh no, too small.

Balinese woman – No. I have big. I have to fit you.

Us – No, thank you (tree-ma-casie).

Balinese woman – Maybe tomorrow?

Us- Ok, maybe tomorrow.

Balinese woman – Ok.  See you tomorrow. My name Rosie (or insert other names).

We returned to Sinur Bali hotel and jumped back into the pool where we remained for the rest of the afternoon. We met Garth & Pam, Australians who had lived in Canada for many years and had been to Bali several times. They were wonderful sources of information and we chatted with them during our stay at Sinur Bali.

That night we felt adventurous and walked up the street to a restaurant. On the way to the restaurant, we dodged cars, mopeds and hawkers. It is not possible to just walk on the sidewalk in Bali because cars and mopeds park on them and because they are like the streets in Lakeview in New Orleans. It takes a great deal of focus to walk anywhere. Also, with every step, someone is asking you if you'd like to have a taxi, buy an item from their shop, eat at their restaurant, or take a tour. With every “no thank you”, you receive the question, “maybe tomorrow?” I had read that it is rude to just say no because the Balinese don't like conflict, so we just said “yes, maybe tomorrow” and walked on.

G- For gawd sake! It is exhausting just walking anywhere. I feel like I'm running the gauntlet!

P- I know. It is totally a pain in the ass, but at least the people smile and don't press after you say no.

G- Absolutely. Give them a smile and say no thank you and everyone is fine, but I'm tired of saying that with every step. I wonder how long it take to get use to that.

P – I'm not sure I'll ever get used to it, but I guess it's what they feel they need to do to try to make a living. They must get a taker every now and then or I guess they wouldn't do it.

Dinner was wonderful. I had roasted duck and Phyl had sweet & sour pork. We met a fun Aussie couple (from Perth, which is only a 3 hour plane flight to Bali) and talked with them for a while. Back at the hotel, I tried to write a blog while Phyl showered, but fell asleep with the computer on my lap. Phyl woke me when she was finished and we crashed early again. We had still not recovered from the sleep deprivation while traveling, the heat was draining, and we still had an occasional light headed feeling, like the dizziness you might feel after a cruise.