False alarm
I had an early 5:30am start today, this was because it was ‘car free day’. This event is held every Sunday and consists of a long street that is made pedestrian only to allow for market stalls. Jogging the length of the street is an unwritten tradition of the event to encourage some exercise. So, I slowly got up and got ready to go out at this ungodly hour of the morning. Not long afterwards, I got a call from my friend, Elva. She told me that it’s raining heavily outside and to hold on for a bit. My room has no windows, so I’ve got no idea what the weather is like outside. Instead, I went back to bed for a bit, a recurring theme of the coming weeks!
At around 7am she called again to say that she and Ekutt were on the way and that I should be on standby. The pair of them arrived at my room and said our good mornings. We got suited and booted, then left on our scooters for the car free day market. It was only 10 or 15 minutes away on the scooters. We parked up and started walking down the car free day street. To park up at most places, you have to pay 1 or 2 thousand rupiah (5-10 pence). Not a huge hit to the wallet. The 3 of us began our walk and even jogged a little bit. I don’t think Elva’s cut out for jogging, at least not in her current attire. However, Ekutt was kitted out in much more suitable gear and set out for a proper jog down to the end of the street and back.
Breakfast on the street
Ekutt went on ahead, whilst Elva and I had some breakfast on the street. There were foods of all kinds, lots of little fried snacks, noodles, and all the good local stuff. I love Asia for this, all the good local street food, you just can’t beat it. A little later on, Ekutt met us and we began walking back to the bikes. En route we visited a large mosque and it was pretty majestic. They had plans to take me to some sort of hang out on a hill somewhere. However, the rain was still touch and go, so we decided against it.
After this, I returned to my hotel to have a bit of a rest, and I also had a nap to catch up on the early morning I had. Once I’d had a few hours of sleep, I extended my hotel stay for a while longer and then Elva came and we went to the beach for some food. We parked up on the side of a path, then walked to a small eatery which expanded onto the beach. So we got a couple of bean bags at a table, and had some dinner. It was pretty overcast today, so the sunset that was hyped up wasn’t really present.
Night journey
We ate and then chilled at that place for an hour or two, and then we had a small walk up the coast, alongside the waves. When we left the eatery, we went on a small journey through a quiet part of town, and up some winding roads which gave us a nice view of the city. I always feel like I’m going superfast on these scooters, but then remember that I’m not going half as fast as I do when I’m in a car back home.
After our little trip, we returned to the hotel so that I could pay, and then we had a cheeky McDonald’s, which was a 5-minute walk from the hotel. The food I had had today was on the skimpy side, so I knew a good meal at McDonald’s would set me straight. I demolished my food, and then we returned to the hotel for the final time tonight, and Elva went home.
