I got up at some point to use the bathroom and really banged my shin good against the corner of the bed when returning. OUCH. In the morning, I saw that I had a gash (and had transferred a few spots of blood onto the white sheets). Bummer.

I was slept out at 7:30, the last hour being a futile attempt to go back to sleep after going to the bathroom again.

I had a half hour before the credit union closed, but I didn’t need to call as I received an apology, explanation, and remedy via email. I would later notice that both failed withdrawal attempts processed as successful, and when I replied to the first email, they were quick to issue credits at my request and work to get their funds back from the ATM bank on their own. Also, they confirmed at my request that the same trouble would not occur in Japan.

I stepped into my outdoor shower with a view of the moon through the open ceiling and washed off the travel. This boutique hotel is a bed-and-breakfast, a table just outside each room, with the pool in the center and a surrounding garden. I took a seat and found that I couldn’t get into a comfortable sitting position due to continuing nerve pain in my left leg

Still, I enjoyed the peaceful setting and especially the fried egg over fried noodles. Yum. My orange juice arrived with ice in it, and I had to decide how vigilant I was going to be against contracting the dreaded Bali Belly. I have a pretty strong constitution and I’d read that ice is regulated and OK for foreigners, so I went with it this time. On subsequent days, I would toss the ice so as not to risk ruining my stay or jeopardizing my travel to Japan.

Checkout wasn’t until noon, which made for a nice, leisurely morning reclining on the bed with my laptop (composing a blog post for 3 days prior; just as it’s difficult to strike a balance between living and capturing moments in photos, I’m finding it hard to carve out time in my days to describe my days, though I still very much want to do so).

I’d grabbed minimal cash from the credit card withdrawal and planned to get more when my debit card situation was cleared up, so it was nice that I was able to pay for last night’s driver with my credit card, as this allowed me enough cash to pay my driver to Amed. He arrived 35 minutes early, which was fine with me as I was just killing time and it meant more of the day to enjoy once I got settled in my new listing.

It was about 2 hours and 15 minutes to Amed, and sitting in the van activated the nerve pain something fierce. I did my best to both sit all the way back in the seat and keep my knees below my hips, two positions that provide relief but are somewhat at odds with each other.

We arrived at the Classic Beach Villas at 2:00. It was the listing that brought me to Amed rather than deciding to visit Amed and then choosing a listing. In the Fall of 2014, I assisted the host with a payout issue over the course of two months. His last name is similar to a sanctioned country, causing his funds to be held in compliance by an intermediary bank, so it was a complicated case. I ended our correspondence by saying I hoped to stay in his listing some day. Tah-dah!

I got settled in my villa. It was a rustic hut with a lanai for lounging, either on a day bed or at a table. Inside, an old boat stood on end served as shelving. There were gaps and holes in the wooden walls, but the elegant mosquito netting around the bed took care of any worries about being eaten alive as I slept (I am very attractive to the critters). I still had to watch out for them when not in bed, if not from the gaps in the wood then from another outdoor shower. This one was, again, more rustic than last night’s, the “shower” being basically a hose attached near the ceiling. I’m not the rustic type, but I grew accustomed to the space the more time I spent in it.

By 3:00, I was pretty hungry and I was nearly out of cash, so I ventured down the main road in search of lunch (warungs aplenty) and an ATM (not so plentiful). A 10-minute walk and I reached the first ATM, where my attempts again did not go through (BALLS), not because of fraud protection but because of signal connection failure (so the screen told me).

I was so very happy to see a giant satellite dish on the next ATM another 5 minutes down the road. The denominations of rupiah (IDR) are quite large: bills are dispensed by the 100,000, which is a little over $7 USD. I opted for the maximum amount offered, which was 1.2M, or about $85. I have no idea why, but what came out was 2.5M, or about $178. Full meals here cost about $5, so it was kind of an ‘aw shit’ moment until I realized that a significant amount of that would go to my hired drivers from Amed to Ubud and from Ubud to the airport, plus if I have to visit a money changer, no biggie. Carrying a wad of 25-100,000 bills felt weird, though.

I perused the warung options (a small restaurant or cafe) on my way back, choosing one at random that once I entered from the street had a lovely breezy view of the beach. I enjoyed some fresh papaya juice and grilled barracuda with rice at Warung Bobo and headed back to the villa, stopping at the Indomaret (market? mart?) for a large bottled water and granola for snacking.

I brought my laptop out to the lanai and caught up on emails and money stuff. I thought I might have had a late enough lunch that I didn’t need to eat again, but I felt peckish at 8:00 and walked through the villas past the gorgeous infinity pool out to the beach warungs (this is the life, man).

I ordered a fruit plate and salad before remembering that hot food is best, as cold veggies are likely to have been washed in tap water. The vegetable salad arrived hot, though. Well, that worked out. I ordered a Bintang beer with my meal, which I finished on a lounge chair looking up at the Big Dipper and listening to the high tide. Magical.

Whether the four-hour time change or still recovering from having been awake for 24 hours, or both, I hit a wall and actually started to sleep a little on that lounge chair. I gave in to it a little and then headed back to my room for proper restful sleepy time.