We've managed to accomplish quite a bit in our limited time in Bali so far. Here's a quick recap.
On our first day we drove out to a Balinese wedding. One of Uncle Tim's (UT for short) colleagues was getting married and he graciously brought us along for the cultural experience. None of us had thought of packing a suit, but thankfully there were spare outfits to prevent us from sticking out of the crowd too much. Walking into the wedding we were greeted by "om suastiastu", a respectful greeting in balinese. Also the only words we know in balinese.
Traditional Balinese dress. Can you spot the tourists?
After the wedding, we made our way to our hosts favourite snorkelling spot - a quick motorized canoe ride brought us to a set of reefs not too different from the one in finding nemo. Clown fish, puffer fish, giant clams, anemones, and more!
After a quick cup of ginger tea and some delicious street food (rice and tuna bbq in banana leaves) we found our way back to UTs for some well deserved R&R.
Little did we know the fun wasn't over yet. Because up next was renting mopeds. So fun. Throttle is touchy. Capped off our first day with a sunset ride through rice paddies with road lined with banana trees. No MAJOR crashes yet :)
Day 2 had us beach exploring on the mopeds with Harlan, my cousin from distant cowtown. Without getting too lost (surprisingly) we found a volcanic rock beach ft. a spontaneous bocci game on the sand with rocks. More gnarly back road scootering led to a picturesque temple by the sea, more rice paddies and scores of smiling locals enjoying the sight of 4 white boys crouched over their mopeds.
In the afternoon, cousins JJ and Ben brought us to the beginner surfing beach, where the waves were as big as houses, everybody had a chiseled 6-pack and all the boards had been half chewed by sharks. Well, that's what we saw but JJ might tell you otherwise. Regardless of who you choose to believe, the fact is we suck. Everything hurts. Ryan burnt to a crisp. But through patient coaching, tenacity of spirit and shear force of will we all managed to stand on our boards and ride out a handful of gnarly waves. Shredding. Hang loose.
Bali is so much fun.
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