drunken scrapes
i think cricket's a bit like throat clicking in swahili: if you haven't got to understand it during your formative years, you may as well give up the fight. a fact which, of course, will never deter slightly drunk brits eulogising on the game to hapless canadians who have to endure it for a few hours, but never mind. i've had quite a nice, boozy, final few days in kuta, mainly in front of the afternoon session with some like minded chaps (a special mention to neal, a legendary 51 yeear old irishman whose predilection for, er, professional ladies led to an impromptu 'marriage' on a java beach last week... doh!)i've actually been quite well behaved here, considering it's reputed to be something of a den of iniquity, so i thought i may as well go out with a bang on friday night. after a few afternoon (cricket) beers, the real session stared at around 8pm: i was accompanied by rather jovial irishman rich, kiwi lovely evelyn/angie, and, bizarrely, anna, one of the swiss girls i'd met on the ferry to flores who'd resurfaced in bali.
i think everyone knows how these things go. plentiful beers and some pool led onto paddies, a ropey, dark, bar which was bombed the first time round (i can see why it might have attracted fundamentalist maniacs... i'm pretty sure friday nights in the mosque don't look like this). from there we moved on to new bounty ship, a bizarre club that's decked out like a pirate galleon, down to lighted rigging and bar staff in sailor suits. by now it was about 1am and things were starting to get a touch out of hand, but the girls had all sorts of silly ideas about dancing more and the suchlike, so our rapidly expanding group went on to mbargo, a bar that would be quite cool if it wasn't so full of people that were so drunk.
at 3am we got turfed out and i thought the night was at an end: sadly not, as i was manhandled into a cab, alongside a plethora of other people we had acquired, to go to double 6 in seminyak. cab rides away from where you're living when you're drunk are always a harrowing experience for me: i can't help but think i should be heading towards bed, not away from it, and i always end up getting a touch confused. we got to double 6 to discover that entry was $5: unacceptable, but the girls were adamant, and so it was that about 4am i found myself looking at a corrugated iron fence, before getting a leg up and staggering over it.
the second hurdle was a sheer brick wall: perfectly manageable with a leg up, but more of a challenge for the last man up. step forward, taking one for the team as usual, me. the ascent took ten minutes, numerous attempts, a hand up from rich who was too pissed to actually pull, and culminated in an undignified scramble over the top. it also led to me scraping all the skin of my wrists and forearms: i look like an angst ridden teenage girl who's gone at herself with a pair of scissors.
at 7am the music stopped and, pausing only for anna and angie to jump into the sea, we stumbled back to kuta. the 17 hour bus ride to solo was not fun, especially as my arms hurt like buggery, but i'm here now, and intend to make the most of cheap food by gorging myself on chicken satay for a few days.
posted by bicrom @ 5:04 am
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