Food Purgatory

I knew I was in trouble yesterday when I asked my driver to drop me at a grocery store and he took me to the Minimart. Mini marts are like 7-11 or Circle K. When I said to him, “No, I want to go to a grocery store,” he stared at me blankly. “You know, the shop you go to to buy your food.” He replied, “There are many warungs (restaurants) along the highway, I can stop at one.” I said, “No, no, I mean, I want to go to the place you buy the spices and rice to make your food.” Again, he stared at me blankly then replied, “People do not make their own food. We just buy food that is already cooked and take it home.”

Healthy, inexpensive food was abundant in Ubud, but here in Candi Dasa on the east coast of Bali, where it is far less crowded and touristy than the south, central, and southwest of Bali, there is a lack of great reatuarants and grocery stores. The east coast is the place to go if you like black sand beaches, good snorkeling, and diving. The chill vibe here is great, but there is nothing to do except leave here to go elsewhere on tour, or hang out in your resort. It is not really snorkling season as the monsoon season tradewinds keep the water rough, and I already saw most of the highlights in the area on the way here, so I suspect my week will be filled with nothing but trying to figure out where there might be some decent food.

So, I climbed out of the car and stepped into the minimart. I bought myself a dozen eggs, some coffee, a block of cheese (that tasted like a cross between Velveeta and rubber), and a tin of tuna, only to get to my room and find out my “kitchen” had no bowls, no pots, no stove, and a broken microwave. I was tempted to turn around and head back to Ubud. Instead, I boiled a couple eggs in the kettle.

Today I got up early as usual to get in my 2 hours of walking before it got too hot. It is hotter here on the coast than up in the Ubud region which is at a higher altitude. If it were not for the ocean breeze it would be intolerably hot, so I headed out at 7:00 to wander. There are not a lot of streets to stroll as the stretch of villas and hotels here are squished between the mountain behind and the ocean in front. I did find a few more warungs and I also came across a huge pond full of lotus flowers. And there, overlooking the pond, was a restaurant. A real reataurant, with a menu, and lattes! 

I came home happy.

By 10 each day I am so damned hot I literally cannot DO anything - not even read - as my brain seems to melt as soon as I get out of the pool. Needless to say, after two days here I have perfected the art of sleeping on my back while floating. (Must be all the fat in my butt that keeps me afloat!) Today though, because they were fumigating the hotel, I had to bug out (no pun intended) for a few hours. I knew walking about would be too hot, so I hopped on the back of a total stranger’s scooter (everybody here is a taxi driver!) and asked him to take me to a temple about a half hour from here where the altar sits in front of a large bat cave. I mean who doesn’t like bat caves??

It is rumoured, though not proven, that the cave connects via tunnel to another temple at the base of the Mount Agung – a volcano many miles from here. The volcanoes here are sacred - and although many people trek up Mt. Batur and Mt. Agung, I shall keep my distance. I have climbed a volcano in Nicauragua, so do not really feel the need to do it again, though the main reason is that I made the mistake of watching a Netflix documentary a few weeks ago on volcanoes. Bad idea. I also do not recommend watching documentries on plane crashes before travelling...though going down in flames in business class might be OK. Nope, on this trip I will limit my adventure to bat caves. 

Back at the bat cave...I watched a young Hindu family sit before the cave and worship with their three children. It was interesting to watch their rituals while the sound of the bats hummed in the background. While I sat there watching the worshippers and the bats, my tummy began to gurgle and I got a bad feeling about the satay I ate on the way there…oh dear, it was time to leave.

Food purgatory? This week could be foodie hell!