Wednesday, March 19, 2025

After last night’s heavy rain which continued into this morning, the village of Kuta woke up a soggy mess. Andi and I walked down the big, steep hill from our villa on the hillside to the street down below only to discover we were all but trapped. The paved one-lane street was flooded with rain and mud. Local Indonesian men worked to shovel heaps of mud from the roadway into the bed of a pickup truck.

The road wasn’t impassible by scooter or by car, but it wasn’t exactly tennis shoe friendly. Andi followed as I navigated our way across the street by walking on the side of a ditch and then cut over to the other side some distance up the road.

What a mess! How easy is it to take conveniences like city-wide drainage systems for granted? The rain isn’t unusual or unexpected; it’s Indonesia’s wet season, after all. However, based on comments from the locals, I do think it has been raining quite a bit lately.

There’s so much construction happening around Kuta that this is also a contributing factor to the mud. What was once trees or shrubs has now been clear-cut for new buildings. That water has to go somewhere. We noticed some restaurants using sandbag walls to keep the water at bay.

Andi and I made it to the gym eventually, and left our muddy shoes at the door. Fortunately, this isn’t an issue as it seems like most people at the gym work out barefooted. There was a group yoga class happening this morning, so I set up to one side to do my own program. Andi used the weights and machines on the other side of the room.

After the gym, Andi and I walked back to our villa to shower. I did school lessons with Tory and Aden in their bedrooms, then we packed up for an afternoon adventure in Lombok.

Today, Andi hired a driver named Donnie to take us to Selong Belanak Beach. As the crow flies, it wasn’t far from where we were staying in Kuta, but by car it took us about 45 minutes to reach Lantis Beach Club & Restaurant. Today’s weather forecast wasn’t exactly beachy, but who’s to say what the sky might do? One minute it was sunny here, the next it’s a downpour. Since we had a driver reserved for the day, Andi and I decided we’d go check out the beach rain or shine.

We were the only customers at Lantis Beach Resort when we arrived. The employees eagerly set us at a table overlooking the ocean, and Andi placed orders for sodas, chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks, and diced potatoes. Tory and Aden happily munched on snacks while they played Minecraft together on their phones. Andi and I enjoyed watching the scenery. It wasn’t sunny, but that was OK — Selong Belanak Beach was great people-watching as the fishermen readied their boats for the water.

Soon, it began to rain. Our nice Indonesian server rushed over to carry our plates and drinks to another table with more overhead protection. The four of us continued to sit and relax at the restaurant. It was a little bit strange because we had the entire place to ourselves, but also it was totally fine. The pool water looked a little green; I’m not sure I would have let Aden swim in it anyway.

Around 5:00pm, the fishermen set off for an evening of fishing. A team of teenage boys hurried to each wooden canoe, hoisting each boat onto a set of wheels, then pushing it into the water.

They did this one by one, until all the boats were launched. The wind was picking up and the sky turning darker, but surprisingly all the boats went out with fisherman wearing rain ponchos.

Suddenly, the sky opened up with rain and heavy gusts of wind blew through the resort. Our server hurried over to us with an umbrella and invited us inside the building for shelter. The rain was so intense that I couldn’t see the ocean anymore, only beams of light as the fishermen came back to shore one by one.

Gusts of wind picked up the patio chairs and tossed them into the pool. The wind whipped and the rain poured. Soon, the power went out and everyone gasped.

Andi and I figured it was probably safest to sit tight and wait for the storm to die down. Donnie was waiting for us in the parking lot, but contently so. “OK to wait for a while?” Andi text him. “Your call, boss,” Donnie replied.

Around 6:00pm, the four of us darted out into the rain and into Donnie’s waiting car. I wanted to get back to our villa before dark in case the power was still out across town. Not a mile down the road, we encountered the likely culprit. A big tree had fallen across the main road, bringing the power lines down with it.

Donnie didn’t seem phased. He rolled down his window and said something in Balinese to people riding by on scooters, then he followed them through a field to get around the tree. All I could think about was the muddy rice fields, and pictured Donnie’s car getting stuck in one of them. Thankfully, we didn’t get stuck and eventually joined up with the paved roadway on the other side of the tree.

The 45-minute drive back to our villa in Kuta was nerve-wracking. We drove through standing water on the roadway. Parts of the road looked like it was washing away in places. “River,” Donnie said, bopping his head to the music in the driver’s seat without a care. As a local, he’s probably used to seeing the roads in this condition, but we definitely were not.

Andi asked Donnie to stop by the grocery store as we neared our airbnb. We picked up some yogurt, fruit, and croissants for dinner. Safely back at our Above the Coconuts villa, Andi re-heated Tory’s leftover spaghetti and we ate that with fruit and bread for dinner.

The evening calls of prayer still broadcasted loudly outside for all the town to hear, but luckily the heavy rain muted the sound. Andi, Tory, Aden, and I watched a few episodes of Schitt’s Creek on TV and then called it a night.

I’m glad we went to check out Selong Belanak Beach today, even though our day wasn’t what I pictured it to be. The beaches are surprisingly empty, though I do realize it was raining today. It was interesting to watch the fishermen work, and to see how committed they are to going out on the water rain or shine in those narrow spider-like canoes.

We have one more full day in Kuta tomorrow before heading off to another part of Lombok.