Finished the yoga retreat on Sunday and now there are five of us at the
North West tip of Bali in a place called Pemuteran. A traditional fishing village with just a few resorts on the beach. We are staying at a homestay for $20.00Us or 200,000 rupees a night which includes breakfast, all taxes and one hour of internet... The majority are on a budget because of circumstances but at least we have air/conditioning and hot water.. Ubud was fantastic with all that QI GONG and Yoga plus the cultural. We drove for about four hours to get here and we seem to be drawing attention as whites. Today for example got caught in a monsoon as we were walking back on the beach and this woman came out of her tiny shack on the beach and invited us inside for shelter. Very basic home, her husband is a fisherman.. She gave us Balinese coffee. One gal is an artist and sketched a picture for them of their family.. Then the beadwork came out and a few of us bought some necklaces that were very cheap.. So here we are in a fisherman's home, enjoying their hospitality and in two days we are invited back. The people here are super friendly and we have endeared ourselves to the young men who work at the hotel.. We are getting their prices (maybe) but definitely not hotel prices for taxis, etc.
The calamari, tuna and seafood are absolutely fantastic and indeed fresh. tomorrow night we will be eating at one of the men's family home and he is preparing a meal for us, very simple, fish, fresh tender corn and of course rice..
Really getting into the locals and enjoying the language.. the snorkeling here is unbelievable in the protected coral reefs. The fisherman used to use dynamite to fish and now that has been abandoned. There are now 40 large cage-like structures in the water and all the different types of colorful coral is coming back. The fishermen's boats are quite unique and we taken quite a few pictures. It would be neat to go out on one of these boats but they go out at night and use lanterns to fish at night.. The small boats have bamboo outriggers which I assume would support all the nets that they use.. I was just visualizing how these small men walk on the small bamboo poles. Actually the boats look like a trimaran but the two outside hulls are just bamboo.
We are going out to sea tomorrow to do some more spectacular snorkeling in this warm Bali Sea. Don't know what kind of boat but it does have shade. Adventures every day! We have decided to stay the entire week and leave here on Sunday for Sanur Beach which is close to the airport. The plus side is that there are no vendors here enticing us with their Balinese goods.. The common refrain is 'cheap', they start off very high and somehow end up lower.. Of course, we will bring them good luck if we buy from them..
Take care everyone! Will be home soon.
Love
Sam from Bali
