Sunday, January 2, 2011

Naz & Mike: Fall Off a Bike

Okay, let's back track a little, to October 8th, 2010. Justin gave you the highlights, but there was one highlight he quite purposefully skipped over. The story of one Nazak Nowtash and Michael Slatkin and their fateful day of Indo scootering, so here goes...

We arrived in Nusa Lembongan, a tiny carless island off the southeast coast of Bali via long tail boat. Our mission: to find Dream Beach. A pristine white sand beach tucked away on the island's southwest coast. We arrived in the early afternoon and rented two scooters from a local man who continuously referred to himself as a "professional". When we asked him to teach us a little about the workings of his rentals he exclaimed, "For me to teach you it would cost extra," because after all he was a "professional".

After a few short spins around the dirt-packed block, Naz and I hopped on the back of Mike and Justin's scooters and we were off. Wind blowing in our hair, feeling like we were straight out of the Motorcycle Diaries when...

CRrrrAaaaSHhhhh

Justin and I, who were 20 meters ahead and just out of eyeshot, quickly pulled to a stop when we heard a screeching sound accompanied by honking and more screeching. We followed a few of the local children who were running to the scene of the accident. Apparently, Mike had turned the sandy, pothole-laden corner to come face-to-face with none other than a mini-van, filled to the brim with western tourists whose golden tans had suddenly escaped their faces. Who knew the car-free island had cars!

A pharmacy was located, wounds were dressed and Naz was driven home by a local man whose driving she feared much less. We had some Bintangs and food and discussed how we were going to return the now musical scooter back to the "professional". Luckily, we were able to take the bike back without too much questioning and spent the next hours praying he would not come find us. After all, the island could be circumnavigated in under two hours and there was really no where to hide from him.

I'm glad to say we made it out of Nusa Lembongan alive. The damage minimum, Naz and Mike sporting a few battle wounds that would be excellent for storytelling in the months to come - yet another story, of a group of westerners who came, rented, and wrecked.

CRASH

IMG_0387
Michael Slatkin, bravely dressing his gashes and wounds.
We pray his beautiful ankles did not receive life long damage;
and he'll be back modeling them in no time.

mike nazz
The duo and their battle wounds.

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