Shops closing early today for Nyepi

Nyepi, the Balinese Day of Silence is almost here and local people are preparing. This morning the staff at Cafe Seminyak were all wearing traditional outfits, ready for ceremonies later in the day. Almost all the people I have talked to are going back to their village to be with their family. To accommodate this many businesses are closing early. Cafe Moka will be closing at 3pm today, re-opening on Saturday. Bintang supermarket is closing at 10pm today and will be open again on Friday.

Last night I met up with Teri and Ollie who are still around. They hired a car and driver to go to Ubud for 130,000rp and he said he was only available for half a day today. Ika sent Ana to the pasar senggol (market) to look for fruit and veg. Ana reported that a lot of stuff is already sold out. The local market is cheaper than the supermarket, with 5 corns going for 5,000rp instead of 12,000rp at Bintang. Let’s hope Bali Deli hasn’t run out of Storm beer.