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Wayan Outing Parts 3 & 4
Part 3
For this outing we left early in the morning in order to walk amongst the rice fields in cool weather. Wayan picked us up at the hotel with his boy Putu - the same age as Abbey. He took us to the rice fields around his village. We squelched thru the narrow dividers that separate the paddies, occasionally losing a shoe and rescuing it again. When we heard a wooden clanging sound Wayan explained that was a large bell used to alert the farmers of various things happening in the village: meetings, calls for help, a thief in the village. Different bangs for different issues. So simple. Abbey and Putu watched each other with interest but couldn't quite break the ice. We wandered back in a loop to Wayan's home - a traditional Balinese compound housing Wayan's parents and the three sons and their families. Each has their own building. The family temple sits at the front. The daughters have gone to live with their husbands in their family compounds. Wayan brought out coffee and cakes while Abbey and Putu tried to play hide and seek (they both kept hiding at the same time!)
Wayan then brought us back and we had a late breakfast and spent the rest of the day in the pool.
Part 4
Yesterday we set out later in the day and went to a few less touristy local attractions. We started with a nearby waterfall, where we were asked by some Javanese tourists to have our photo taken with them! It was the first time we'd been seen as a novelty :) Back at the top we have a quick snack and discuss how hard it is to change people's habit of throwing garbage on the ground...right as Putu chucks his empty bottle over the cliff. How can you blame him? It's all he sees.
Back in the jeep and onto a nearby black sand beach. There are no tourists around but ourselves. The walkway down to the beach is lined with people selling large fish. We recognize Tuna, but that's about it. The beach is dotted with a few people at 3:00 in the afternoon on a Monday. Colourful fishing boats line the shore, parked for the day. People stroll, kids play in the sea, boys hold onto long fishing lines. The black sand sparkles in the sun... and nobody is trying to sell us anything. Even at the local market we go to next, we wander undisturbed. No cries of "Taxi? ...maybe tomorrow?" or "Yes, massage?" or "You like? Morning price!". I should say that even with this, nobody is pushy. Everyone we have come across is polite. And sometimes it's funny when passing someone reading the paper on a doorstep on the street, who catches sight of your pale legs and then says one of these things before they've even raised their head. But now, in this market, we are free to just look. Clothes and food and shoes and watches and cheap plastic toys and live fish in plastic bags. I accidentally -ironically- drop my hand sanitizer in the garbage, and then catch sight of a horrified look as I go to fish it out. Mental note to sanitize the sanitizer. Wayan buys his son a car and so Abbey needs something too. But since she can't seem to find anything she likes, we try to promise finding something another time. Panic sets in. She bursts into tears. Wayan smiles, he says he knows this well. So what we've read about children not having temper tantrums here is not true. Apparently, in Bali, children are thought closer to God, and a child who has not yet lost their first tooth can get away with almost anything. This is a concept I would be curious to see put to the test, but something am not at all ready to take on! Finally we settle on a dolphin bubble blower and we can leave. A quick stop at a Javanese warung for takeout and we are dropped back off at the hotel.
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