The surf side of Bali

    We flew from Yogyakarta to Denpasar with Garuda Air and took a taxi to the Hotel Amaris in Legian. This area is the surf center of Bali and very popular with Australians. The beaches all seem to run into each other from Kuta to Legian to Seminyak and you can stroll for miles if you’re so inclined. This would usually be right up our alley but Doreen has developed a real concern about sun exposure so our usual beach walks have been curtailed significantly.    Besides which, though the waves may be very enticing to surfers (and obviously so from the number of boards in the water and around town), the beach itself is not all that appealing. It’s definitely not the North Shore of Oahu. It looks great from a distance but, up close and underfoot, it is a light, sooty color and you come off the beach with very dirty feet. The sand is also strangely resistant to being brushed off. At low tide, the beach is very wide and you have to walk a long ways to get into waist-deep water. It reminds me somewhat of the beaches in northern Queensland or Daytona Beach in Florida.
    We went some time strolling the shops along the main road as Doreen looked unsuccessfully for batik material that she could buy for her quilting. The only batiks available were as sarongs. She did, however, find a couple of beachwear-type dresses so all was not lost. We also picked up a cell phone in Seminyak for use in Indonesia. It’s an unlocked phone so we should be able to buy a SIM card for Singapore if we need one.
    We did have some good meals particularly a lunch at Sang Ria and a dinner at Warung Patrick. Our last night we ate at Mozarella’s-by-the-Sea. Great food, great setting. Not the greatest sunset. The place is so underlit that, when the sun goes down, they bring flashlights with the menus so you can see the choices. Breakfasts were included with our hotel package so we ate there. The eating area was lined up along the pool so the ambience was a little unusual. Only one morning was anyone swimming laps.
    The food was pretty good once we got used to the routine. The first morning we took the omelet pieces that were displayed. Bad choice - cold and all stuffed with so many vegetables (including onions) you could hardly taste the eggs. We learned to wait a few minutes until an employee showed up who would cook your eggs fresh. Much better. Lots of fresh fruit and juice.
    The hotel itself was just a step up from a hostel (though a rather big step). Clean, modern look with an excellent staff. A fairly nice room but small with two twin beds and one chair. We had problems with the wall safe and when the desk sent somebody to fix the problem he blithely said the instructions printed on the safe were wrong and showed us the correct procedure for re-setting the password. I don’t understand why they don’t change the instructions. How often do they face this problem? Or are we the only paranoid travelers who use these room safes?