Monday, Sept 22nd to Wednesday, Sept 24th

Monday – We slept great and we were down at the restaurant for breakfast at 9:30. We were greeted by name when we walked up and we asked if M & M were already here. They said we were first and escorted us to what we later found out is M & M usual table which they try to keep open for them whenever they are staying here. The restaurant manager came over to greet us and got us some juice and coffee while we waited for M & M.

After breakfast Michelle had made haircut appts for us (before we left Australia) for 11:30 so we went back to the room and got ready to go out. The hair place is a short distance from the hotel so Michelle walked with us and pointed out the local grocery store and an ATM so we could get more Monopoly money. I got my haircut first and then Kathy got hers cut and Michelle waited with us. Merv will come down at 4pm and get his haircut. After the haircuts we walked to a “spa” of which there are dozens all along the road and we all went in to get pedicures. Kathy and I opted for the foot scrub and pedicure which took a bit longer so Michelle did some shopping next door and then checked with us to make sure we knew our way back to the hotel and she went back. Our pedicures took almost 2 hours and cost 12 US dollars each. Crazy prices. Kathy will probably come back and get a massage when I go diving so we got a price list for future reference.

After the pedicure we went to the same shop Michelle had just made some purchases in and Kathy bought a pair of shorts and t-shirt that she can wear to the resort gym. We checked out the gym the night before and Kathy plans to go there some during our stay. We also went to the local grocery store and got some more Coke Zeroes (they do not have Diet Coke here) and some more Bintang beers for the hotel fridge. Along the roadways to the resort are tons of small shops selling knock-offs. Fake name brand purses, shoes, sports shirts etc. There are some nice shops mixed in but most are cheap knock offs and you can bargain to get the prices down. Kathy and Michelle both have their eyes on a pair of blue plastic “Birkenstock” sandals. The prices start high but go lower as you start to walk out the door.

We went back to the resort and we both went to the gym and did the treadmill. Kathy lasted much longer than I did so I went to the pool and read some and had a nap. Kathy joined me after she finished. We spent a couple of hours at the pool and then back to the room for a Coke Zero & Bintang and to get ready for dinner. We met M & M at 6:30 and walked to a Vietnamese restaurant about 30 minutes away. We passed tons of shops along our walk. We passed one restaurant where the waitress recognized Merv (they say they have known her for years and she has worked at different places) and she was quite confused and upset at first because Merv and I were ahead of Michelle and Kathy so she was very concerned when she saw Merv with me. She was so relived when Michelle walked up. It was a little funny.

Dinner was excellent, I had chicken pho and Kathy had vegetarian Pad Thai. We walked back to the hotel stopping at some of the shops along the way. The shop owners are not high pressure which is nice. I did pass one shop that had apple air pod max headphones that looked like the real box. I already have a pair but I am curious what the price is and how good they are. Who knows maybe they have a Nintendo Switch 2 somewhere.

We went back to our room and tried to watch the FSU game which neither one of us knew the score to but trouble downloading or streaming so we will try again tomorrow night. I packed up to prepare because I am being picked up by dive company at 6:30am for a 3 tank dive.

Tuesday – I was up early and out front of the hotel before 6:30. To get into all the resorts, or at least the nicer ones, there is 24 hour security and they inspect every vehicle that comes in. They use a mirror to check under the vehicle and then they open all the doors and look in. All of this dates back to the bombing at the Bali night club in the area we are in. The blast was in 2002 and killed 202 people. My pick-up was a little late and we had a 30 minute drive to the dive shop. I have used this company before which is why I chose to dive with them again. I was met at the dive shop by my dive master for the day Noe. Turns out I was the only diver so it was just going to be me and Noe. I also found out later that Noe is the son of the owner of the dive shop. I signed all the papers needed and then we made sure all the equipment fit and I had everything I needed. All this gets loaded into a bag and then back in the van for a quick ride to the beach. The beach is where all the dive companies meet and bring their customers. The dive companies all use a 3rd party companies boats and crew to take people on the 1 hour ride to Nusa Penida which is where the mantas are. So depending on how many people your dive company has you are then assigned a boat and told when to leave. In the morning it is high tide so you walk a short way to the boat and step in. Your gear is already loaded and each dive company brings snacks, lunch and drinks for their respective customers. So while there was only Noe and me from Neptune dive company there were 9 other divers and 6 dive masters in total. Some divers were just learning and an assortment of experience with the rest. The boat is covered to protect from the sun but also has an area outside to sit. Before I left the dive shop they offered me a sea sickness pill which is never a good sign. I make sure never to eat or drink before a dive and I do take meclizine for sea sickness but lately the motion sickness has been getting worse.

The first dive is manta point and this is the manta feeding station. Almost always mantas here and so it is a VERY popular site for both divers and snorkelers. Luckily there was just me and the dive master so I did not have to worry about staying with a group and Noe just had to make sure he kept me in sight. As soon as we got in the water there were mantas. I cannot tell you how many we saw but they just kept coming. You looked up and there was one over head, or heading toward you or underneath you. The area is not that deep and there is a rock pinnacle that sticks up and the mantas circle that pinnacle. Hence the name Manta Point. At one time I counted 6 mantas circling. It is very hard to get an idea of their size unless you have a diver in the picture for perspective. The area is rich in plankton which is why the mantas are always here.

Up close and personnel.

Passing by below me.

Gives you a little perspective

Merv asked me how wide I thought they were and I said 30 feet. I don’t think he was convinced until he saw this picture and then he said maybe 40 feet.

We saw a few clown fish and everyone knows how much I love those.

One of the coolest things I saw was a small octopus, out in the open, that I have a 10 second video of changing colors 3 times in the 10 seconds. The video is great but the picture not so much.

After the dive we spent at least 15 minutes bobbing around in the water waiting for the boat to pick us up. Since everyone surfaces at different times and in different spots the boat crew has to spot you and then weave their way around other divers and snorkelers to you. We made it back into the boat but I ended up getting sick on our way to the second dive site.

The second dive site is where you can sometimes see Mola Mola or sunfish. They are quite large and are only seen at certain times of the year of which Sept/Oct is one of them. What I did not know is that you have to go very deep to see them unless one happens to come up into shallower water so we did not see one. we did come across another, larger, octopus that was also out in the open and while it did not change colors as much as the first it was quite fun to watch it move around.

It was definitely something I had not seen before and never a whole octopus out in the day light. Usually glimpses of them under rocks and coral.

After the second dive we stopped at an area when the boat can dock and you can use the facilities and eat your lunch. The dive companies all pack you a lunch which consists of pieces of fried chicken breast, rice or noodles and a fried egg. I was still not feeling 100% so I ate the chicken and fed the fried egg and most of the fried rice to a stray dog that decided to sit next to me where I was for lunch. There are tons of stray dogs where we stopped so I think the dogs do quite well.

The last dive is a drift dive and there were tons of fish and very healthy coral. We also saw a couple of turtles.

We also saw a very large moray eel. He was under the coral so I have no idea how long he was but his head was huge.

The moray and my new personal favorite the little box fish.

We also saw lots of these “doughboy” starfish which I don’t remember seeing before and a last look at “Nemo”

we finished the dives around 3pm and then we had another hour ride back to the beach. Of course now it was low tide so the boat can’t pull all the way up so they have to anchor pretty far out and then wait for a water taxi to come and pick everyone up. So you step down into the water taxi who takes you as close to shore as he can get and then you walk the rest of the way to shore and it is quite a walk. In the meantime they have to send a 2nd water taxi to pick up all the dive gear and then they have to carry it all to shore so you can collect it and load it into the van for the ride back to the dive shop. Very convoluted process and several people getting paid for 1 service, to get you out diving.

Low tide and Noe, my dive master for the day. All the other dive masters called him “handsome Noe”.

Back at the dive shop I was offered coffee or tea and thanked several times for diving with them prior to being driven back to the resort. Of course the traffic was horrible so it took over an hour to get back. M & M had made dinner reservations at 6:30 thinking I would be back. The restaurant would not hold the reservation so they went ahead and I jumped in the shower and we met them at a quarter to 7. They had a nice table looking out at the beach.

Our sunset view.

The dinner was good and I had another Nasa Goreng which was not as good as the first. Kathy had veggie sushi which was great. The service was spotty and M & M said that was because neither manager was on duty so no one to supervise. After dinner we walked back by a gelato shop ad we all got gelato. You get 2 big scoops per cup and each cup is 2.15.

While I was out diving Kathy got up early and went to the gym and then cleaned up and had breakfast with M & M and then walked back to the spa where she got a facial and full body massage. That took over 2 hours and then she spent some time at the pool.

When we got back to the room we were finally able to watch the FSU game and I kept falling asleep. We figured FSU would win since it was Kent state but still enjoyed the 66-10 win.

I slept like a baby that night.

Wednesday – Slept in and then breakfast at 9:30. The staff is all so nice and they would do anything for you. They all love M & M and since we are friends of theirs they include us to make sure we are enjoying ourselves. After breakfast we went back to the room and I watched the Kansas City vs Giants game and even though the Chiefs won they did not look their best.

We decided to take a walk on the beach before going to the pool and ended up walking 3 miles along the beach. It was hot, sunny and humid but nice scenery and we have been eating so much at breakfast we needed to burn some calories.

The beach front is lined with surf shops, bean bag chairs and vendors selling drinks. You can also get cheap tattoos and massages and who knows what else. There were tons of surfers out because the waves are not too big for beginners. There is a strong undertow so red flags were flying and they have security walking the beach and whistling if they see anyone getting too far out in the water. You saw people wading but no swimming. we walked past a giant indoor mall that had H&M, Pull and Bear and Uniglo. Michelle says we will go there one evening.

BY the time we walked back Kathy was so hot she wanted to go back to the room and cool off. I got in the pool for a few minutes and then went upstairs to shower for dinner. we walked out the front of the resort to an Italian place that M & M said had great pizza so Kathy and I shared a Margherita pizza which was wood fire cooked and excellent and also a basket of truffle fires. The Indonesians have lemon tea which is basically ice tea with lots of lemon juice in it. You can ask for sugar water on the side but the tea is excellent without the sweetener. I also got a side of olives. The whole meal was 23 US. On the walk back we stopped in several shops to look and price the shoes. The prices ranged from 550,000 (33 US) to 100,000 (6 US) again this is for knock-offs. We did not purchase anything but we are getting closer.

Back to the room for some TV.

We have sort of gotten into a routine here and we can see why M & M love it here. Plus we were lucky enough that we got included on some of M & M’s special privileges, such as 4 pieces of laundry a day, free transport to and from airport and a really nice price on the room which will not be offered to any of M & M’s friends again.

The majority of Balinese people are very poor and also very religious. They are some of the kindness people we have ever met. They always greet you and thank you and want to make sure everything is okay. With all the traffic we have seen they never honk their horns or yell out the windows or shoot birds at you.

Although I did see this painted on a truck window we passed on my way back to the resort.

We have no plans for Thursday except for a relaxing day and catching up on the blog.