Jalan Subak Sok Wayah Trail

What we call the “Jalan Subak Sok Wayah Trail” is about 3.3 kilometers (2 miles) one way, but our entire walk was about 8 kilometers (about 5 miles). When Kenric walked the route by himself last week, he loved it so much he wanted to show me the gems he encountered. First, we were to visit Gusti who convinced him to buy a fresh coconut. After much cajoling, Kenric followed Gusti to one of the ten coconut trees under his care. He climbed the tree, picked a coconut, opened it and served it with a straw, all for 10,000 Rupiah (USD $0.73).

Tangerine

As we were getting close to Gusti’s store, there was an old lady selling a hodgepodge of fruits – two tangerines, two snakeskin fruits, a bunch of three bananas, and a bunch of about eight bananas. She was trying to sell us all her bananas for 20,000 Rupiah (about USD $1.50). We had intended to give her the full amount but take only the small bunch so that she could make more money. As I reached for the smaller bunch, she said that would be 5,000 Rupiah, but immediately added on the two snakeskin fruits and asked for 10,000. I told her I would like one of the tangerines (which was the only thing I was really interested in) instead of the two snakeskin fruits. When we told her to keep the entire 20,000, she kept saying “Terima kasih” (thank you) and insisted we take the two snakeskin fruits as well.

Coconuts

Gusti remembered Kenric. After he left to pick some coconuts, Kenric struck up a conversation with the young lady who was there. She said she is from Sweden and has been here for many days and she buys a fresh coconut from Gusti every day, but she leaves the following day. Kenric told her he has relatives in Sweden and will probably visit next year. When she left, she was holding her flip-flops and walked barefoot. We saw her two more times that day around town, barefoot. Shortly after she left, we saw a couple of tourists walking by Gusti’s store eating from that big bunch of bananas. Kenric and I smiled to ourselves.

We chatted with Gusti for a while. He lives with his parents and younger brother. He’s single, but used to have girlfriend. He said he’s not good enough for her or anyone. He asked if we have kids and said he doesn’t want kids because life would be very tough for his kids. As we were getting ready to go, the Fruit Lady approached holding her black plastic bag with the remaining tangerine. She offered it to us but we shook our heads. Whatever she said to Gusti must have been in Balinese because I couldn’t understand any of it. She said “Terima kasih” again and went on her way. We told Gusti we’ll be back for more coconuts.

Meaningful Interactions

We stopped by two galleries and chatted with the painters; and made many more stops to take pictures, and greet the locals. Kenric said he was glad I could speak with the locals which allowed for more meaningful interactions besides the nodding and smiling. Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia are quite similar.

More than an hour later, as we were chatting with a man about his bebek (ducks), the Fruit Lady was approaching again, still holding her one tangerine in that black plastic bag. I couldn’t understand what she said to the Bebek Uncle, but he smiled at us. I asked Fruit Lady where she lives. She said it’s very far. Again, she said “Terima kasih” and started walking away.

Bebek Uncle asked if I would like a ride back to the hotel. It was very tempting because it was at least 5 kilometers back to the hotel, but I thanked him and started walking. For the ride, if Bebek Uncle didn’t mention how much he wanted, I would have given him 70,000 Rupiah (about USD $5.00) because I really liked him, and we saw him again later closer to town. Kenric would pay a lot more to have someone take me off his hands.

The Other Tangerine

Suddenly, Fruit Lady turned around and shoved the tangerine at me. I waved her off. While my hand was in the air, she shoved the tangerine into my bag. “Enggak!” but she wouldn’t take no for an answer. She must have been so fed up carrying that tangerine for hours. She turned around and walked away. I shouted, “Terima kasih!” “Sama-sama!” Then, I thought I should give her back her black plastic bag so that she could reuse it, but when I saw how effervescent she was swaying her hands, I turned around to take more photos.

Map of Places Visited