The gods don't like me

A damp morning in central Java


Tue 8 May

Another damp morning, so maybe a good idea to update this blog before going out again. I was up early, earlier than necessary because Bali is in a different time zone to Java, in order to experience the glorious sunrise over the eastern sea. Mandungan villagers had returned with stunning photos of the sunrise from Sanur beach but for me, as with Merapi volcano everything hidden by cloud – maybe the gods don’t like me or want me to come back sometime? All I get are some dumb pics of uninteresting cloud formations and a number of offers for massage services from some admittedly attractive girls but at six o’clock in the morning! Never mind, back to the hotel for a quick swim and breakfast – yoghurt with fruit and cups of hot black Java (or Bali?) coffee. Tito texts a cheerful message from the laundry although what takes a student there at that time in the morning!?

Yesterday I took the opportunity to drive out into the countryside and despite Bali having some street signs soon got lost in the many little lanes, pretty but not much use when you are trying to get somewhere – may be on my next trip to the tropics I will bring a compass since with the sun so high in the sky it is really difficult to gauge which direction you are facing. On second thoughts perhaps a satellite GPS system now that they are the size of a hand phone?

Also went shopping, nothing like leaving it to the last minute for prezzies to force me to fork out some money, In this coastal resort of Sanur the shops, even the kiosks seem expensive and I can’t find anything I really like, even replacement hats for the one I gave to pirate Priyo or the one I left in a restaurant. So a drive into town where I had seen a street of fabric shops and to confirm that the traffic is a bit more cautious and restrained than in Jogya. Found the street and the adjoining colourful flower market (must be to service all the local Hindu festivals). Browsing round I find a myriad of attractive materials and at one third of the “best price, specially for you sir” prices in Sanur so I buy a couple of pretty bags at the same time to add to my collection of toys I got yesterday so only the hats still to do….

Prices here certainly are much higher than in Jogyakarta, a comparable meal costing 10.000 Rph in Jogya costs here 60 or 80 thousand, my laundry – only two shirts and a pair of pants (English pants, not trousers) cost me 12 thousand compared to 3 or 4 I would guess in Jogya. The happy little prostitutes in the nearby bar charge (so I am told), four times what one would pay in Jogya. I do get the impression that the area is still undergoing a recovery from the Bali bombings setback with a number of new shops being built and it seems more restaurants open and more foreign tourists than when I was here in October. Locals dispute this but perhaps hotel staff and shopkeepers are like farmers and can never be satisfied?

I had planned to get out on the bike again this morning but the showers seem to be continuing so I will make my way to the local museum of a French artist and check out the internet prices in the shopping mall, one establishment across the road charges 36.000 Rph for an hour, its 3.600 in dear old Jogya!