Friday March 12

In the morning Mike and Pete went into Kuta to run some errands while I explored the area around Thomas Homestay. The place is above an isolated beach that has smaller waves and shallow water due to the reef. The dog/animal that Thomas owns followed me on my adventure.

Thomas's dinosaur and beach

In the afternoon we joined fellow hostel-mates Olga (Germany) and Damien (France) on a trip to Bingin Beach. It was probably my favorite beach because it was possible to swim right under the cliffs and I saw a HUGE (1m long) iguana along those cliffs. There are beach bungalows, a small hostel, and very few people this time of year. Bingin is a bit more isolated, and a trek off the main road (we had to climb down a rock slide to get there). We left before sunset, afraid to get stuck without a ride back, but luckily the family selling parking spots was there and generously piled us into there truck; children, fish, and all. They took us to there home where we practically met the whole family.

All pictures of Bingin

By the time we got back to Thomas’s there were about 30 motorbikes in the drive and a whole group of Balinese men in a clearing behind his house. Pete and I were a bit curious about all the commotion, but didn’t want to intrude. One of Thomas’s friends informed us that there was a cockfight taking place prior to the Nyepi ceremony and that we were welcome to go back and check it out. We grabbed our cameras and were absolutely amazed at the spectacle. First, they compared the two roosters, touching their feathers, picking them up to check the weight, etc. ensuring their equality in terms of bets. Everyone was putting money down (except for us of course) and those with more on the line definitely wanted to inspect every inch of their rooster. Then a red string was wrapped around the rooster’s leg, and to our surprise, was securing a knife blade. The fighting lasted until one rooster was down for a certain amount of time and the winner got both birds. During the course of the fighting we were offered a chicken to take home and cook as well as various Obama chants (I was wearing my election t-shirt and the Balinese LOVE Obama, especially now since he is supposed to arrive in Bali on March 21). Of interesting note to us, one of the locals found it ironic that some Westerners consider this animal cruelty, however would eat industrial chicken killed in slaughter houses. We ate dinner with Olga and Damien at a small warung in Padang Padang, enjoying more noodle soup and nasi goreng…which I doubt will ever get old.