CAIT AROUND THE WORLD

April 27, 2023 — I woke up on my first full day in Indonesia after a solid sleep. When I crashed, I crashed hard, and woke up the next morning ready to go.

After months of having to fix my own breakfasts (even though there really was nothing to this most of the time), it was so nice to have free breakfast provided. There were a few options on the menu and I decided to go with a fairly normal choice since one of the things I was concerned about on this trip to Indonesia was coming down with “Bali Belly” (more on that later). It was with great delight that I tucked into my banana and chocolate toastie that morning. I also had the pleasure of chatting with a guy from Germany who was actually staying in the same room as me and who had arrived late last night.

I went out for a walk after breakfast with a few sightseeing spots in mind. I had a hard time getting to any of them — and the heat is just insane — so I switched paths to head to the Turtle Conservation and Education Center. This was one of my main reasons for staying in Serangan anyway, so it made sense that it wound up being my first stop.

I had an awesome experience there and spent a couple hours by the end of it. Once you’ve entered — and the only thing you need to do to enter is fill in your name, email, country and a couple other little details — you get your own personal guide through the sanctuary who can show you around, explain what they do, and answer any questions you might have. I loved this!

The other very cool thing you can do at the center is adopt a turtle! No, not to keep, but you do get to pick your own out of their baby tank and release them back to the ocean. It was 230,000IDR (roughly $23) to adopt a turtle. You get to name them, you receive a certificate from the center with their name, you pick your turtle, and the center provides transport to the port, out to a special location far enough from the beach and the harbour that the turtles will have the best chance of survival, and you let your turtle swim off to the horizon! It was such a special experience and I hope Squirt is well and happy in the ocean.

After, I walked back toward the hostel and tried to get down to the area I was hoping to see, but it was all blocked because it was private property (??). I’m still not sure how you’re supposed to get down to those other areas, but considering I was sweating half to death anyway and ready for some relief, I didn’t worry about it too much and I just headed back to the hostel.

I chilled there for a while and took a dip in the pool, which was extremely nice and which was very much needed. Eventually, though, I simply had to get up and get some lunch. I asked Kadek again for another recommendation and she reminded me of the name of the place I hadn’t gone the day before, Warung Mola Mola. It was all Japanese cuisine, which was a new experience for me but which was very delicious. The woman there was also so helpful, suggesting what I might enjoy eating. I ended up getting a couple different kinds of sushi, one of which was sashimi, rice, and miso soup. I loved the miso soup, enjoyed the tuna sushi, wasn’t a huge fan of sashimi, and really enjoyed the rice (of course). They even gave a little fruit at the end of the meal as a little dessert. It was my first time trying papaya!

After lunch, I headed back to the hostel and hung out in the pool for a little while longer. Then I curled into my bunk for a while, too. Eventually, though, I was getting hungry and needed to eat dinner. I’d decided that I’d have dinner at the hostel instead of venturing out, so I went downstairs and had an Indonesian dish called nasi goreng and which came with chicken and vegetables. It was so good. I also bought a litre bottle of water since I was running low on my supply.

I sat in the dining area with my writing and with others from the hostel who were doing likewise, or who were also down for dinner, or who had come out to chat or just arrived. I passed a delightful couple hours with the group — a girl from France, a guy from the Netherlands, another guy from the Philippines who’d just arrived from Nepal, and Kadek. Time flew and before I knew it, it was almost ten at night and I had to be up at 6:00am the next morning. I said my good night’s and goodbye’s and headed upstairs to shower and get into bed.

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