Scooter

Day 81 – Lovina Beach, Indonesia

So today I got to learn to drive a scooter. First, I had to ask the staff at the BnB to show me how to start it and what the commands were for. Then they took the scooter to a neighbouring field and I got to make a few figure-of-8 to learn to pilot it.

Then I took my bag and got on the road, keeping to backcountry roads and quiet villages, going mostly straight on -until I found myself halfway up a mountain and decided to drive back.

I think I worried a nice couple of drivers who saw me stopped at the side of the road, because they had stopped a bit further, to make sure I went on all right, I think.

So, what went up must go down eventually, I got really good at working the breaks. It was a bit… harrowing.

But still, I’m not ready to tackle the main roads with its heavy traffic, and I still have to work at turning. So, no big trips for me yet.

Driving along the backroads, at least I got to enjoy the scenery. There are rice paddies, palm groves, quite villages where people say hello, and halfway up the mountain, amazing views over the sea.

I will also have to buy more gas, as climbing mountains is work for the engine.

My scooter

After that excitement, I went back to the swimming pool, which at this hour of the day was in full sunlight. I had worn protection on the bike, but even so, between the ride and the swimming, I have probably exposed myself to the sun more than I should have. It might explain my nap.

I have been moved to a new room this morning. It is twice as big and is in front of the pool. (If you look at the picture I took of the swimming pool, on the previous article, you can actually see my door on the right-hand upper corner.) It is as new as the pool too, a week old, which means that some fixtures are missing, such as a mirror in the bathroom, or a towel rack, or a trash bin. Fortunately, there is a fan, which I pointed to the bed.

The light switch is not by the door, and the power outlets are not by the bed, but one makes do.

So now I can dip in the pool at any time, without bothering to put covering on top of my swimming suit!

At the end of the afternoon, I decided that I needed to go grocery shopping, at least for greens. Or fruits. Well, for something else than the delicious fried food and processed snacks available on every street corner. Leaving the scooter at the hotel (driving towards the main road, and coming back with a grocery bag… no thanks), I looked closer at the restaurants I passed by -some look very promising- and arrived to the dreaded main road, where I was lucky to see a supermarket -a real one!- almost in front of me.

I went a little overboard in my shopping, but they have bread, like real one, not only sliced bread, and cheese -French brands, like Babybel, La Mère Loik and Paysan Breton-, and vegetables, and… and… As I say, I may have gone a bit overboard.

But I feasted back at the BnB, and I will feast a bit more in the next days.

I can’t cook here, otherwise I would have bought different stuff, but I can make sandwiches, and eat fruits, and I really look forward to that. I don’t have a fridge either, so I had to be careful of the fresh stuff, and since there are ants everywhere, I try to close any bag containing food tightly.

In all that, I haven’t been to the beach yet. It is reputed for dolphin-watching, by which I mean getting on a motor boat and going in the middle of dolphin pods, and I’m quite sure that it’s a bad idea in the long term. My travel guide also promise that the sand is grey or black, coming from volcanic activity. I’ll have to see for myself.