I crossed both the International Date Line AND the Equator in one day! I've never done that before, and for some reason I find it incredibly exciting. In fact, I've never been south of the equator. I'm still trying to get my head around the time difference. We flew west, following the sun and there was no Thurday night. Somehow we went from Thursday morning to Friday afternoon with no night-time in between. It was so weird, endless daylight, watching Alaska melt into Siberia, as one indistinguishable vast expanse of white and grey bumps, no visible human interference.
The trip was loooong. 4 1/2 hours to Dallas, 14 hours to Seoul, Korea, and then 7 hours to Denpasar. Luckily the layovers were quick and smooth, with just enough time to stretch my legs and buy more bottles of water. I loved Korean Airlines. Their colors are aqua and cream, and the stewardesses were perfectly turned out in these tailored aqua and cream outfits, complete with upturned chiffon scarves. Even after 14 hours, they looked immaculate. They were all women, elegant and slim, unfailingly polite and gracious. They constantly served us yummy bits of food. When dinner was served -- bibimbap -- they even handed out instructions on how to eat it to us non-Korean-looking people. The flight from Seoul was packed with Koreans off for a holiday in the sun. I think I may have been the only non-Asian face, and certainly the only person travelling alone.
I arrived at my hotel in Sanur at nearly 1 am and was cursing myself for violating my water rationing rule for late night arrivals in developing countries when I have no local currency. Little hope of getting water before morning. I contemplated the tap water but it smelled like it probably tasted bad, so it didn't seem worth it. Yes, I am water obsessed.
I'm staying at Pondok Prima Cottages, a place I found on the internet. I'm paying $16/night, a/c, hot water, breakfast and swimming pool included, but not toilet paper nor pillow cases. Luckily I picked up a mini roll of Charmin at CVS before I left and remembered that in Nicaragua during the rainy season I'd use T shirts as pillowcases when it would sometimes take days for the linens to dry. (UPDATE: tp and pillow cases appeared later that day before I got around to asking, so it is officially the best budget hotel ever).
My room is half of a little bunglow, with a porch for lounging. It's very quiet, even though it's only a short walk from a busy street. A garden surrounds the pool and bungalows, with hibiscus, frangipani (aka sacuanjoche, the national flower of Nicaragua), orchids, bouganvillea, mango tres and others whose names I do not know. Everyone on the hotel staff is lovely and helpful, introducing him or herself and asking my name. As I would find later, this extends to nearly every Balinese person I've met so far. Everyone seems to speak English, which is good since my Bahasa Indonesian extends to about 4 words. I'd like to learn more, so hopefully in a less touristy area I can practice a bit.
I picked Sanur because it is a beach close to the airport. It's supposed to be quiet and quite touristy, so I figured it would be a good place to recover from the trip and to get my bearings. It consists of a strip of beach protected by a reef where tremendous waves break and surfers dart in and out of the churning white water. Hotels line the beach and behind that, a busy commercial street. The place is jam packed with hotels, restaurants, shops, vendors, people offering all kinds of services (the women want to massage or manicure me, or take me to their shop, and the men want to transport me or take me snorkelling)...but very few tourists. It's low season they say, and the effect is quite sad. This great enormous tourist infrastructure, but no tourists. The locals appear more bored than desperate about this state of affairs, and everywhere I go, people want to chat with me: what is my name? where am I from? how long am I here? where am I staying? am I alone? do I want transport/massage/etc???
I've been walking around in a jet lagged daze. With a 13 hour time difference, every day feels like pulling an all nighter, and every night is a series of short naps as I wake up every 2 hours. I sought out the beach the first day, paying way too much to rent a beach lounge, complete with umbrella and and towel. I didn't care because I had reached the point of not being able to walk any further. It felt good to sit, but once I was still, it seemed too still. It was incredibly quiet. Next to me, a fanny-packed mother and teenage son, two doors down, an overweight, overtanned, overexposed European couple (who says Americans are the only overweight ones? I've never seen so much European and Australian flesh. Way too much). It was package holiday central.
Then, the sales pitches began. Everyone who approaches you is so friendly, gentle, and gracious that you can't really feel annoyed or assaulted. And even after you've said no, or maybe tomorrow (seems the better face saving response), you chat and learn that everyone is going to the temple today for a ceremony that is like the full moon ceremony but not the full moon ceremony or that there has not been much rain lately and other little tidbits.
The massage lady was the one I could not refuse. My muscles felt like they were still frozen in the shape of an airplane seat. She poked and prodded and rubbed me every which way, yanking my bathing suit aside in full view on the beach, but I didn't care, it felt so incredibly amazing. It had to be the Best Massage Ever. She found places of tension I didn't know existed, behind my knee caps, in my calves....it was fabulous.
There's lots more to write, but I've got to go check out of my hotel. I'm off this afternoon to Ubud, north and inland, where the plan is to do yoga. More later.
