Bean Traveling...

June 3, 2010

Kuta - Day 5

Well who knew I would be such a good surfer? Not me...in fact, as we were heading towards the water I was having second thoughts about the whole surfing adventure. I haven't had the best luck in the past. We hired a local to teach us, Iwan. He met us at the beach, with all the boards, ready to go. We had a short lesson on the beach and headed into the surf. Kuta is the beginners beach for surfing. Last time I checked, beginner waves were 2'. These waves were over 6' all the time and some of them were getting up to over 8'. We started on the smaller waves, after they had broken. Amazingly enough, I got up on the first try! I shocked myself. Pretty quickly, I was building up the courage to head out deeper and deeper to the bigger waves. Carl picked it up pretty quickly too, so did Kristin. It was so much fun, but after 3 solid hours, we were pretty beat! $20 for a 3 hour lesson and the best morning yet. It was awesome.

Afterwards, we walked through Kuta, looking for a new place to eat. We found a great restaurant right off the main strip and had lunch. We browsed a few stores and headed back to the hotel to get the salt water off. Surfing really took it out of us, so we mostly lounged around the pool that afternoon, avoiding the sun as we all got a little burned that morning. That night, we went to the Green Cafe for dinner, which is attached to a very cool spa. Mango Pina Coladas and a chicken stir fry hit the spot!

Carl and Kristin are heading home tomorrow, a 38 hour journey, and I'm heading to Ubud. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time in Kuta, but am ready for a change of scenery!

~Bean