Shopping in Legian, surfing in Uluwatu

Today we decided to do a little more relaxing. For 5 dollars a day you can rent lounge chairs on the beach all day…so that’s what we did…actually I think Lacey bargained the dude down a bit to get to 5..but regardless..pretty good deal…we sat out all morning and watched the local riff raff surfing. Every two minutes a local woman will approach you and offer you a) fruit b) “mani pedi” c) massage for feet d) massage for back e) random things…you get used to it and you can’t give in or you will be bombarded all day.

After a morning of soaking in the sun and swimming in the Indian Ocean..we ventured down towards downtown Legian for some local shopping. We stopped at a nice restaurant on the beach for lunch and our 12:00 bintang beer. Some local kids sold us some friendship bracelets…probably some of the cutest kids and most grateful I have ever met.

After downing our bintangs we started for the shops..In Bali there are shops after shops after shops..mostly selling the same thing…we wonder how they stay open..but the tourist economy during the high season is what keeps them going we assume… the local jewelry is breathtaking..so intricate and beautiful and so cheap I feel bad only spending a dollar here and there, but as Lacey and I decided…time to stock up! (note, all my girlfriends will be getting earrings for Christmas this year oh and maybe next)

After our early afternoon of shopping, Steve picked us up and we made our way to UluWatu..here is a pic that shows what it is like: http://images.google.co.id/imgres?imgurl=http://somedaynevercomes.com/images/65.jpg&imgrefurl=http://somedaynevercomes.com/article/uluwatu-surfing&h=480&w=640&sz=109&hl=id&start=2&sig2=PZbaYRdyKJ1TQxtvJ9qZVA&um=1&tbnid=-6W2qCz9aekJGM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&ei=CLKPSMrYNovO6gO4_sGnBw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Duluwatu%2Bsurfing%2Bcompetition%26um%3D1%26hl%3Did%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN

There is one of the 12/year surfing competitions starting today and lasting for 10 days. Steve is helping work it so we decided to check it out during the “waiting” period.

This place is simply amazing. High cliffs lead down to white sand beaches where you have to climb under boulders to get to the clear beaches. The surfers are so far out you can barely see them, but the waves crashing near them are bigger than any I have ever seen. After playing in the water and threatening to take off my clothes and head out to the surf, we headed back up the cliff where about 10 local restaurant/bars hide against the mountain. Steve introduced us to all the owners including one of his friends they call “Blackie” who developed a crush on “us westerner girls” he tried to ask Steve how to “play it with us” and steve just laughed! He was sweet but hilarious at that.

After watching the sun set across the Indian ocean and seeing all the tired surfers hike up after being in the water all day..we decided to call it a night and head to dinner…We are heading there actually today for the competition so more updates on Uluwatu to come shortly.

We drove back into town and had dinner in Oboroi. We dined at an amazing Italian trattoria…and when I say amazing..I mean A16 style amazing. And for sooo cheap. We had drinks, the best pasta I have ever had (I am not exaggerating) and appetizers for about 10 dollars each…we are living like royals here because everything is pennies!

After dinner we called it a night…as the next day we had our adventure planned in Ubud.

Cheers!