Today, we’re back in Denpasar for a couple of days. This time though we’re located on the opposite side of the city to take a boat for our next destination. When we get into our room we are all delighted, there are two beds!!! For the past few nights the three of us had been sleeping in the same bed. Aren’t we happy now?! Particularly Julia and Doo who are a bit tired of getting seriously beat up by Côme at night. We have never seen someone tossing and turning that much. After settling into our room, we head straight to the beach. It’s a 5 minutes walk and we have promised Côme we’d spend the day there. Our first impressions? We are a bit disappointed. The beach is “a bit” dirty, there are a lot of motor boats, algaes and no waves. But we settle nonetheless. Côme builds Harry Potter’s castle and we take a dive in the warm ocean. When we are back at the hotel, the security guard is preparing offerings. We had tried to braid palm leaves in Munduk without any success yesterday so we stop to watch him do. When he sees Côme watching in awe, he braids him a magnificient bird in about 2 and a half seconds. We are very much impressed. Côme will ask us to do the same thing but the man was doing it way too fast for us to remember the steps so we tell him we can’t do it (you know the moment your kid stops looking up to you as their hero? Well for us, it was now…). In the evening, we find a restaurant right by our hotel that doesn’t look like much (Côme will have fun spotting the rats playing on a nearby tree) but that serves delicious chicken satays (chicken skewers), lemon juices and chocolate milshakes. It will be our restaurant for the reminder of our stay here and Côme will befriend the very nice manager.
The next morning we’re going straight to the pool. It’s the warmest pool we’ve ever had. What a pleasure! We know there’s a beach 5 minutes away but none of us wants to leave. We have to though. We have to buy our boat tickets for tomorrow. It’s a 40 minutes walk on the beach to get there (Google maps time… it will take us a good hour and a half). The walk is pleasant though (despite the scortching sun). We finally hit the “paradisiac” spot of Bali (you know the one from the pictures in the travel agencies). There are very luxiourious hotels on the way, fancy bars, restaurants and massage salons on the beach… Most tourists here are retirees toasting up and sipping on cocktails. On our way, we find a turtle saving center. We spend some time there, Côme is able to touch the sea turtles’ shells. Then we walk a bit further. As we walk on the beach, Doo notices the plants he has been looking for everytime we were in the jungle. He had first seen it when he was in Papua. It is a plant that “plays dead” when you touch it so it’s not eaten by predators. It’s rather incredible. Côme is very much impressed and we all play with it for a few minutes. Then we finally reach the ticket counter for the boat and buy a return ticket to Lembogan, an island off the coast of Bali.
On our way back, we settle on the beach in a beautiful spot and Côme plays for hours with a little French/Indonesian girl named Cecilia. They will have a lot of fun playing with small hermit crabs. In the late afternoon, we go back to the swimming pool and the delicious restaurant for our “usual” satay, lemon juice and chocolate milkshake. We are loving our “daily” routine here!
But we have to leave in the early afternoon the next day. Before we do, we take a last dive in the swimming pool of course and say goodbye to the sea turtles. This time, the man in charge is not busy and take a moment to answer our questions. He tells us that the turtles only breed once every 25 years and that the center was created more than 20 years ago to preserve the different turtle species. He has been working there since its beginning and he insists that he is doing that for them (pointing at Côme), for future generations. And, as he watches Côme being excited about the turtles, he gives him a present: a salad so he can feed the turtles and even allow him to take a baby turtle in his hands. Côme is amazed! He wants to save turtles too.
Then of course, we are getting late for our boat (we had to feed squirels too!) so Doo runs ahead to make sure we have our tickets. We’ll then roam for 5 minutes trying to find each other again and Julia and Doo will be angry at each other for this misunderstanding before getting into the boat. But the boat ride will swipe that anger away…
In Denpasar, Côme:
Did not understand: why there were waves on one side of the beach but not the other.
Learnt: that a plant that played dead when one touches it existed.
Loved: to play with the hermit crabs and Cécilia on the beach and take a baby turtle in his hands.
Julia:
Did not understand: when were the sea turtles released at sea.
Learnt: that there were micro climates in Bali (rainy in the mountains and scorching hot on the beach).
Loved: the warmth of the swimming pool (a gigantic bath).
Doo:
Did not understand: why Balinese people only went to the beach from 5 o’clock pm (on a week end day).
Learnt: that people got massages on the beach.
Loved: “our” little restaurant for its chocolate milkshare, lemon juice and chicken satay.
PS: The fight against the flea/bed bug is won! Doo got rid of it in the washing machine. Yooohooooo!!!