Goodbye Lombok and Bali

We spent our last three hours on Saturday with Gregg and Leigh and Jacob at our favourite Coco Beach Warung by Senggigi Beach front.  It was sad to say goodbye to them and beautiful W. Lombok, but rather wonderful to know we were leaving G., L. and J. so happy with their lives on Lombok.

After our rather late flight back to Bali on Saturday night it was a bit of a shock to wake up in busy, buzzy Sanur after the quiet of the Puri Saron.

Sunday is family day for the locals on Sanur Beach especially up the Eastern end of the beach where our hotel is.  

In Sanur village there are plenty of signs of new affluence and contemporary craft and design in amongst the old Sanur style trinket and jewellery stalls.  

I did my bit to support these new developments by spending all my clothing budget at Animale on Sanur's main street (French style for the tropics - don't know how well it will translate to Canberra!).

Back on the beach tourists were relaxing on sun loungers, locals were picknicking, swimming and fishing in the calm gentle Sanur sea, kids were flying their amazingly intricate kites.

 
We checked out the Hotel Griya Santrian on the beachfront for J & J & Miss E. and thoroughly approved their choice.

And while all this was happening a wonderful, colourful, relaxed and somewhat joyful Balinese cremation ceremony was being conducted in a beachfront open air temple compound, in amongst all the other Sunday buzz.

I always feel affected by the ready evidence of rich Balinese spiritual life around us, especially in amongst all the tourist blather. Over the centuries they have managed to resist the pervasive influence of the Javanese, Islamic Arabs, the Dutch and Portuguese and now a million tourists a year, and increasing globalisation.  We're lucky that we live so close we can experience this amazing culture so easily.