As the rays of sunlight hit each
tiny speck of Mica, the East Bali beaches comes alive with energy.  The
beaches sparkle like they have diamonds hiding in the black sands.  It
is a brilliant sight to see.  I have experienced black sand beaches in
Hawaii but I never get use to them.  They are such an unexpected
surprise.  Another surprise is just how darn hot they
can get during the summer heat. Although we were not ready to leave Sideman, we had to get to a place
near the airport.  Turns out Beau and I are really good at visiting
places on their holidays.  It is wonderful to see so many different and
beautiful religious practices but we have also learned towns shut down
during this time.  We found out that we were about to be apart of
Silent day and that there would be no transportation, most restaurants
and shops would close, and locals would not use electricity.  Since we
had an early morning flight out the next day, we planned ahead and moved
back towards Denpasar. 

From Sideman, we drove
down through Semarapura to the coast.  Then we continued along the
coast stopping at little beaches on our way to Seminyak. On our road
trip of beaches, we saw several Hindu religious procession returning
from the beaches.  The Hindu Balinese walk from their villages in
traditional clothing caring offerings and statues to the beaches.  Have
I mentioned it was almost a 100 (36-37 c) degrees?  It was crazy hot!
The wonderful part was from young adults to the elders, they all were laughing and having a great time.  It was so wonderful to see the sense of community and pride. Most of the beaches we stopped at were completely empty but one beach we stopped at had people in the distance collecting things.  At first we couldn’t see what so I assumed they were collecting shells or snails.  When we got closer we saw they were collecting the black pebbles that were washing up on shore.  I wonder if this is the source of all the little black stones sold at Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, Smith and Hawkins, and other similar retail decorating stores?  It is definitely backbreaking hard work.  I know.  I am a minor shell and stone collector, so is Beau’s mom.  After a day of bending over searching, my back always hurts.  So I feel
for these ladies and guys but everyone of them gave us a smile. I have to say once you start searching for stones or shells it is quite addictive.  Yes, I am compulsive but that makes me a good designer.

The Balinese are down right nice people.  Every town we stayed in the people were kind to us.  I hope we get to return one day to see the beaches and hills again.