The Weather

Bali is in an unpredictable weather I guess. It’s raining heavily the past two days. I heard Seminyak area and some parts of Denpasar is flooded (first time in history, they say). I feel sorry for the tourists that come for holiday and expect to have nice time in Bali. And more for people who can only come to Bali in December. No choice but to stay in. No sun-bathing, less shopping, and more eating if they are caged in restaurants from time to time.

Ubud is no better. I feel confined because of the weather. Ubud is unique. Every stay gives me different weather experience. When I moved in in May; it was hot, no rain, and humid. Later I experienced mixed of hot and no rain, hot and humid, wet and not humid, wet and humid, or other combinations with sun and rain at the same time. So my bamboo-blinds obviously could only be useful four weeks ago for a few days before I left. Now I hardly need to unroll it because sun hardly shines and I don’t know for how long till I can unroll again because rain usually continues till end of February.

Well, this heavy rainy season has given me a new rhythm – new way to do things. Having open-air shower makes me waiting for the rain to stop to take shower! It’s the same water but showering in the rain has given me different feeling. I never experienced showering in the heavy rain, only once when it was drizzling. I felt like between wash and not wash hair because I wanted to keep my hair dry but hair became a little bit wet after shower eventually. So it’s fun to have to wait for the rain to stop before taking shower. And it’s strange too because actually I can shower in covered bathtub.

Going out also needs good timing. I’m better in predicting the weather now. I can just check the sky and see what happen before 9:00 o’clock. If I want to walk downtown, I should do before that time. Also when to return home, I could sense when it’s time. The gear for rainy season is also different. I wear something warming but short so it won’t get wet when walking, and rubber thong.

And today I also learned that the rain makes shops lose business. The rain in Ubud can be really heavy that it’s almost impossible to walk without half body wet. Forget about going shop to shop. Then I also feel sorry for the shops (while I’m thinking about Pallava) too. Except one business that benefits from the season, laundry with big dryer! It’s amazing that weather can change many things.

Photo of my open-air shower.