This place is something out of the Jurrasic Park movies, The Beach with Leo, or a large version of Tom Hank's island on Cast Away. Wait, wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. More on the scenery in a later post. The segway is the motor-bike story and the two flat tires...
Ok, Having already been to Mawi beach the day before, I was confident on the route necessary to get both Morgan and I there again. We head towards the Airport, avoiding the steep pot hole ridden path and sticking to the smooth expressway. Don't worry, we look like tourists and are wearing the dorky helmets everytime, despite what the locals do! We pass the outdoor market that resembles the one in Mataram. The next left turns into a half way descent road with only 50% pot hole coverage. 30 minutes later it connects with another nice road that heads us back down towards the beach and away from the airport. We pay the $1 parking fee for Mawi, head to the beach still 10 minutes from the gate. I have talked this place up to Morgan for a few hours and I was eager to get to the sand. It was maybe 1 pm, after an hour and half bike ride from Kuta.
And it is just stunning. Morgan loves it. The backdrop is spectacular. A perfect setting for lounging in the sand on our newly bought sirongs. Doing the feed Jason's face and otherwise romance thing for a couple hours, the surf starts to pick up. Oh yeah, Mawi is a world class surf break that pumps from way outside. A heavy left that spits, crushes, and humbles the best of the best. On our way in, we spoke with some older Aussie's who had just snapped two boards and the other guy was pretty well exhausted. It happens with 10 foot sets rolling through!
So after a couple hours of kissy time, I wade out waist deep, carefully stepping around the sharp reef and take the rip current out to the break. I paddle south or to Morgan's left as she watches, to put myself in position for an epic session alone! Yes, I was alone, 10 footers rolling in...and needless to say I was pounded for a while. I caught some great ones though, and even Morgan saw!
This was right about when I noticed two young boys climbing the goat trail to the otherside of the cove to wear Morgan was laying by herself... I puffed up like a bullfrog trying to exude my dominance and frieghten away the preditors from a couple hundred meters away in the surf. I was about to paddle in but the boys stopped at the top of the hill...I got smashed by a couple more sets and realized they were just watching the surf...or were they?
The sun is setting and I knew I needed to get in before it got dark becuase driving back home with Morg's on the scooter through rough hilly conditions would suck. We get to the bike, everyone had left by now. By everyone I mean the 4 or 5 locals who supposedly watch your bike but really just try and sell their fruit, snacks, and drinks. I start the bike, Morgan hops on the back, and then a couple locals pull up. An older local and a young boy. Small talk for a bit and we carry on...I make the turn out of the sandy parking lot and almost wipe out! "What the heck? Do we have a flat babe?" Morgan looks down and says yup! I'm furious, just fuming! "WTF!!!! Pay to get into this place, they slash our tires and now it's getting dark....what now?"
A group of little kids drive up, playing dumb, they offer their services for a small fee to fix the bike. First they try and get Morgan to leave with them and return for me with the fixed bike. No way was that happening! Seen too many movies for that one. Then they said they would drive the bike to get it fixed and they'll be back in 20 minutes... Then I start thinkning to myself "wait...if they can drive it, then it's not flat, they just let most of the air out of the tire...little bastards!" I began raising a fuss and probing questions trying to indulge my ego for some sort of hopeless redemption...the wiser of the two, Morgan, stays practicle and gets me in survivor mode. "Who cares what happened, we need this fixed now!" she irritably says to me. She's right too.
The old man helps out, puts Morgan on the back of his bike, I follow. She burns her leg on the exhaust pipe, I swear at the kids who scammed us. We stop at a local hut, where a family lives with the chickens. Naked babies, cocunuts, and rice paddies are abundant. The old man takes the bike and the last of my $50,000 rupiah ($5 American) to go put air in the tire. Left with the family, Morgan and I small talk our way into getting coconuts. The 15 year old climbs the tree barefoot and knocks a couple down. The bike returns fixed, the change was given to the kids and another 10,000Rupiah for the coconuts. It was dark. With lights on, the bugs hitting my face and eyes, and the scam artists left behind, Morgan and I headed home. Pissed, vulnerable, shaken, pleased, excited, scared, nervous, anxious, happy, and among other emotions we made it safely home. This flat tire was not my fault. It makes for a good story though. I think I will buy land on this beach one day. The kids who flattened the tire can work my rice fields for 2 bucks a day for all I care!
No comments:
Post a Comment