Samir's article. A few days ago, after a failed walk (no details) we saw two dances called Kechak and the fire dance. At the start of Kechak a bunch of sweaty guys burst out of the temple, fingers a waggling, making fighting cat-duck noises. The rest of the dance was about the monkey god Hanuman, two brothers and a monkey army fighting a demon and a giant (guess who won). The fire dance started with a man walking out and dumping a basket of coconut shells onto the floor, then painting it with lighter fuel, then setting it ablaze with a match. Next, another man riding a hobby horse "trotted" around the flames, then ran straight up to the fire and gave it a good kick in the middle! (Now I'm not saying the guy was a nut, but the guy was a nut.) Sparks and shells scattered and heart attacks were delivered to the front row. The hobby horse rider kicked the flames a few more times, and then two other men ran out and tackled the flame-kicker. The next day we took another shot at the walk (again, no details) and managed to finish it. We (us kids)
decided to make up for it by going to a really nice water park in Kuta that was designed by some Australians. The best ride was called the Boomerang, and you took a raft down a slide that spiraled a bit, then took you down a 40 foot drop, up a 60 foot ramp (up, not off) and then down to the pool below. There was another ride named Smashdown, where you basically freefall 50 feet. Mom, Alia and (I hate to say it) I decided against going on it, but Dad and Jamil tried it, and Jamil looooved it. I forgot to mention it, but yesterday we drove up to the ridge of the crater of a dormant volcano. There were actually a few villages in the crater too. The day after the water park, we drove to a bird park full of free-to-fly tropical birds that just walk around the sidewalks and restaurants. We all got to hold cockatoos and macaaws, one of which lied on his back in your hands. I also had a mini war over a bench with a pinkish cockatoo, and was followed by a troop of enormous pelicans. After that we drove to
Tanah Lot (a temple on the beach, nicknamed Tan-a-Lot) and we got hasseled quite a bit. We couldn't explore the temple, so we walked over to a look out. On the way there Jamil suddenly shouted "Cool!" and we all turn to see 3 meter long python/boa constrictor heading towards a person seated in the grass. We walked over to him, and he offered to let us wear him on our shoulders so we could take a picture. Me, Alia and Mom agreed, but Dad and Jamil (the only two to ride Smashdown) declined. I got the dirty work of holding onto the snake's head on the picture of all three of us, and on my own. Neither Dad or Jamil would even pet the snake. More later.
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