Getting ready for a trip away from Bali

For those who haven’t been in Bali recently the wet season is here.

That means steamy days with a possible early morning shower, mostly sunny days and late after / evening showers.

Most people take it in their stride and for the visitor there are enough places to hang out and enough taxi cabs that a downpour shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Talking to a couple of surfers they told me a rainy day was refreshing as it washes the salt off while you sit on your board. Getting tubed was especially enjoyable as you would get temporary shelter from the storm. They also told me that many locals surfers will head for land when it starts raining for a variety of reasons including leaving their car window open, leaving clothes on their motorbike and also that they believe the Gods a urinating on them.

I know that sharks like to come closer to shore on cloudy days and you can’t see into the water but the absence of local competition might make a little ‘jaws encounter’ worth it.

The new drain system in Kuta seems to work okay but I have yet to see it in a sustained doun-pour. One section on Jl. Benesari is quite entertaining. The new brick road had raised the height of the road surface and the drains are in the middle below large rectangular grills. Only problem is some of the entrances to the shops on down a slope from the road so when it rains the water tends to go down the slope instead of down the drain. Never mind, living in Bali you become accustomed to these slight technical oversights.

I am leaving on Saturday afternoon bound for the US and the UK. I will be visiting friends and relatives and today did a bit of souvenir shopping. I almost never buy stuff that’s being sold in the handicraft shops around Kuta, but today I gave it a shot. I got a few t-shirts and other items like place mats. My strategy was simple…ask for the same item at 3 places to find out what the going rate was (bearing in mind most will try to charge you 2-4 times the value) and then offer 10-20% of the price. Not everyone goes for it but I got what I wanted for not too much and without a lot of ‘BS’. I’m not afraid to walk away and leave it to them to call me back. If someone let’s me walk away it’s actually a good thing as it is an indicator that I am close to the minimum price.

The way the handicraft shops work is that they are owned by someone who maybe has a couple of them. He stocks them with goods from Denpasar and the staff get a few thousand rupiah everyday for food. One vendor told me she got 1% of sales. They are free to negotiate but one thing you hear a lot is ‘boss very angry if I sell for that price.’

Barrie (The Wombat) is set to leave Bali soon with his new footwear. He’ll be back in March and between then and now will be educating us with some cultural pieces.

At home this afternoon I chatted with ‘pembantu’ (helper) Wayan, who put in her request for an ‘oleh oleh (gift) when I return. She asked for a t-shirt, color red. We’ll see.

Wayan was busy clean the house, doing a bit of laundry and cutting the grass. She has previously told me she used a ‘gunteng kacil’ small scissors to do it and I assumed she was referring to hand shears. This afternoon I saw that she indeed was using small scissors to cut the grass. “ I like gunteng grass,” said Wayan, “snip, snip.” Sometimes I wonder about the mentality of Balinese people. On one hand they seem to be looking for the shortest route to money, on the other they take the absolute longest route to perform a task.

Friday night here in Bali I will be getting my essentials ready and saying goodbye to Ika for a month. I’m always sad to leave Bali but look forward to seeing old friends.

Plenty of articles coming up so don’t change your channel.

• Tourism at the beach at Kuta Bali
• Sunny Saturday afternoon in Kuta Bali
• My papayas are ready in Seminyak Bali
• Wednesday house hunting
• Scenes from Poppies Lane II

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