The tale of the Indonesian gecko

Bambu Indah, Bali

We’d arrived exhausted and late in Bali, and after a couple of hours in a stuffy taxi had finally reached the sublime Bambu Indah just outside Ubud. It was dark and we gingerly picked our way through the seductively illuminated gardens, balancing on stepping stones across the natural pool to our very own bridal teak house and the 4 poster that had our names written all over it. After gorging ourselves on the thoughtfully provided bowl of fresh exotic fruits we collapsed into bed, our minds on nothing except sleep.

Heaven! Bambu Indah near Ubud, Bali

Heaven! Bambu Indah near Ubud, Bali

An hour later hubbie was snoring peacefully, no doubt dreaming about the delights breakfast would bring. I on the other hand lay wide awake, unsure whether to be amused or indignant at the noises that were keeping me from my beauty sleep.

High pitched cries at regular intervals were emanating from the honeymoon bungalow next door, getting louder and louder as the hour wore on. It was a female voice, shouting out “f#ck me” over and over again. Ok, so they were probably newlyweds, and good on them for making the most of it, but honestly, does the whole world really need to know? It reminded me of the couple who lived above us when we had our first flat back home – before long we’d nicknamed them ‘monkey boy and screamer’, the latter for purely descriptive reasons.

Next morning hubbie wondered why I was a little bleary-eyed, apparently he’d slept right through it! Whilst we were sitting eating breakfast on our veranda overlooking the padi fields, the couple emerged from next door and waved a cheery hello to us. I gave them a knowing look and settled down to my coconut and palm sugar crepes.

Bambu Indah, Bali

Bambu Indah, Bali

Next night it was the same, and I began to wonder at their sanity – it really was far too hot for that sort of thing! Yet again hubbie slept through it.

A day later we moved onto Alam Indah – another delicious spot near Ubud (once again a case of not being able to chose between accommodation so deciding to stay at both!). I’d really had enough by now, and crossly stuck a pillow over my head to drown out the racket. There would be a reckoning in the morning!

Alam Indah, Bali

Alam Indah, Bali

As usual we were up early and breakfasting on our veranda (banana pancakes this time) when the couple came out of their room and waved good morning. The odd thing was, they’d aged about 50 years overnight! Either that, or it was a different couple entirely…but surely they wouldn’t have been up to no good at their age, and in this heat? Confused, I put the question to hubbie, who by now thought I’d been out far too long in the sun. So that night I waited for the concerto to start and made sure he was awake to hear them.

The performance duly began, but hubbie just looked at me in disbelief.

“That’s not people, that’s a gekko!!!!!”

Gecko

Gecko

 

13 Comments

  • Ria says:

    I have gecko in my home (Yogyakarta) Local people believe, if at home lives gecko it brings happiness for a family:)

    • Heather Cole says:

      How lovely! I think it’s a wonderful belief, and I’d love to have a house gecko. I hope yours is as lucky as they say!

  • We Travel Together says:

    Clicked on the post to read about Bali since we’re going there later this year and was looking for some inspiration, but at least I got a good laugh. Haha!

    • Heather Cole says:

      Yeah, still need to catch up with all our Bali and Indonesia posts, but glad you got a chuckle. Still can’t believe I was so dumb!

  • Amy says:

    Ha! That’s hysterical! I probably would have thought the same thing. Hope you finally got some sleep after that 🙂

  • Adrienne says:

    This sounds like absolute bliss – despite your lack of sleep!

  • Paul says:

    LOL!!!! Hahahahaha, that is brilliant, made me chuckle, I was expecting a massive argument to break out or something, not an innocent Gecko!

  • Lisa Goodmurphy says:

    Too funny! I had no idea that geckos even made noise though so I could very well have made the same mistake!!

  • Tim says:

    That is too funny. I have heard many gecko’s at night feasting on mosquito’s and proudly letting there fellow bug-munchers know of their good fortune. Not once though did I ever mistake the sounds for honeymoon style love in the tropics. 🙂

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