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Published: August 23rd 2018
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August 17
th is
Indonesian Independence Day.The forecast called for a mostly rainy day, but we were still excited to see the holiday festivities. We slept in on our first day at the Four Points and went to a late breakfast. The breakfast spread was very good and included traditional Indonesian food and typical Western breakfast food. We tried some of the Indonesian breakfast but mostly stuck to the pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. The sausage was much better than what we had seen in other parts of SE Asia.
In the fridge, we had a few
Bali Hai beers purchased at a Circle K the day before. We decided to have a few early afternoon beers in the hot tub. The hot tub was a short swim across the lagoon from our room which was super convenient on a rainy day.
After we finished our beers, we headed to the beach where we previously saw a stage being erected. There was less fanfare than we expected, but the festivities were underway. The first event was a sack race that pitted different area elementary schools against each other. The kids were giving it their best and often fell over in the sand as
a result of over-aggressiveness. We walked past some vendor tents on the beach and happened to catch a concurrent event. Kids of the same as the sack racers where about to engage in a cracker eating contest. There was a clothesline with several strings tied to and hanging from it. At the end of the vertical strings, adults had tied circular rice crackers at each kid’s forehead height. On the count of three, the kids started hopping and trying to eat the cracker. The crackers were in constant motion with each kid’s tug. The competition was hilarious to watch and looked like fun for the kids.
Next, we wandered along the beach while storm clouds were still overhead. We had walked about a half-mile before Kristy noticed that rain was approaching. We found a pop-up beer bar with chairs and an umbrella. We grabbed a seat, ordered Bintang, and watched beachgoers scatter in the shower. We stayed for a while and bought some chili street corn. The corn was good but not as good in Berastagi.
When the rain subsided, we went to check out what was happening over where the sack race occurred. We arrived mid pole climb, which was the third and final event about which we had read. The objective of this competition was for a team of four men to ascend a slick ~20’ pole and remove envelopes tied to the top. The first man would bear hug the pole while the next would climb his back and stand on his shoulders. This process was repeated until the fourth man could reach the top. We watched a few teams go and most were successful.
We had plans to go out to one of the Kuta nightclubs but instead ordered room service for dinner. Kristy got some rest and Brad watched movies.
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