To Kalibuluh Lovina: Pulestis Hotel

September 17, 2006

We have breakfast of cornflakes, milk and bananas on the porch of our bungalow before we push our bikes between the rice fields back to the road. Patrick still has to pay for our room and the girl tells us breakfast is included in the room price (80,000 Rp or $9). So, we each have second breakfast of a banana pancake and some thick Bali coffee. We already know the first couple of km, is uphill and around the corner to the view we saw yesterday. The rice fields are still beautiful, but it is a bit cloudy this morning so there is no light on them yet. We crest the hill, have a short steep downhill and another climb to a shrine where monkeys roam and some girls are blessing vehicles and their drivers. Then a long winding down hill to the Bali north-coast.

We are adjusting to the traffic and figured out the brief honk means "stay where you are; don't make any sudden movement for we will slow down, weave in and out and miss you." Longer honks means get out of the way.

The sounds of motorcycles, big yellow trucks hauling dirt, minivans, and people shouting "hallo" as we pass by is non-stop. For lunch, we stop at a roadside cafe and order Indonesian food. We are given a small bowl of water with a slice of lime for washing our fingers. The road has been dusty, we use our cool neck clothes for the first time and it seems to help ward off the mugginess.

As we get close to Lovina Beach we are waiting at a red light. The guy on the motorcycle asks if we are looking for a room and gives us a card and wants to escort us to the hotel. Patrick says we already have a hotel, others on motorcycles slow as they pass us and ask if we are looking for a room--the standard easier answer is that we already have one.

Rachel says that now she is relaxing a bit with the traffic and beginning to look around more as we cycle. We pass through small villages, past wood carvers, rice paddies, people harvesting rice, with an occasional whiff of a spice; there are temples everywhere and offerings being made or the remnants of offerings that we try to avoid. Rachel is happy when we find the street and the Pulestis Hotel. The time of the short days building into long days is over.

It's good to be on the road again. Has it really only been a week?

Breakfast on the porch before being told about breakfast being included in the room....we have a second breakfast of banana pancakes.

Today's ride: 95 km (59 miles)
Total: 202 km (125 miles)

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