Our start to Bali wasn’t the best. After the Indonesian budget airline lost Angie’s luggage (they sent it to the wrong country apparently) we were stuck in Kuta, the tacky tourist capital crawling with drunken Aussie Surf dudes, waiting (not too patiently) for the call to say they had found it. It was at this time that Ben came down with a strange nasty bug just to top it all off.
On the third day, rapidly running out of time for the last bus and after several frustrating telephone calls with the airline, Angie’s bag arrived via a little man on a motorbike and we ran for the bus out of there hoping to escape the madness. Our destination was a town on the east coast where we hoped to catch the ferry to Lombok. Now both feeling pretty rough with this strange bug it was an uncomfortable long winding journey in a battered little bus packed to the top.
Feeling a bit down on Bali we were pleasantly greeted by the small town of Padangbai Our homestay was amazing, a intricately carved detached room with a HOT shower and delicious banana filled jaffels for breakfast which, after months of egg in every different form you can think of for breakfast, it was a very welcome change.
Our stay in Padangbai wasn’t long as we had already booked the ferry over to Lombok. Our 9am ferry finally left at 11:30. The tourist passengers were then herded into small minibuses on the other side and taken to several different destinations. Ours was Senggigi. Here we finally gave in and went to see the local doctor who we found lazing around in the sun with his colleague. The consultation fee started off at a bit out of our budget but he took pity on us and wavered the consultation fee as long as we could pay for the medication. Now armed with antibiotics, our strange bug had no chance and was last seen leaving via the rear.
Determined that we would not miss out on our last few weeks on asia Ben went off hunting for motorbike deal ready for a three day tour of Lombok.
Our first stop on our new adventure was McDonalds. This may sound sacrilege but by this point a comfort food treat was very tempting. Plus it was Ramadan and we were in a Muslim country, so it was the only place we could find open for lunch as we set off on our journey. Filled up on Maccy D goodness we then set off for our first day looking at temples, powering down dirt tracks, through tiny villages and finally arriving at Tetebatu, a small town set at the foot of a huge volcano and surrounded by lush green paddy fields.
Angie fell in love with the homestay we stayed in. Small individually designed huts with mini paddy fields for gardens and breakfast with a volcano view (not to mention Gun, a very funny and most welcoming host). In Tetebatu many people take tours to climb to the top of the volcano but still recovering from our sickness we decided a small walk to a waterfall was possibly a more manageable trek.
Having soaked up some highland coolness we set off for the Lombok surf town also known as Kuta. Famed for being the place where you might get your bike nicked we were a little worried but fortunately it turned out ok.
It was here that Ben took a surf lesson, I’ll let him explain.. One of the worst decisions of the trip, I decided to grab a cheap surf lessons in Kuta. The first person said as a beginner it’d be best to go to the beach with hardly any waves, just get a feel for it. The second bloke, a smiley 22 year old Lombok local beach bum with a way with words said that wouldn’t be worth it and we should get a boat out to the decent waves. So I made the wrong choice. I spent about an hour out in the middle of the sea getting absolutely battered by the biggest waves I’ve ever seen (no exaggeration) in a depth where I couldn’t at any point touch the floor. The only ‘coaching’ I got was ‘This is a good wave’ and he gave me a push as it picked me up, rolled me over and spat me crashing into the blue. I think I’m a fairly strong swimmer now but I was exhausted after about five efforts of paddling back to him, through the crazy waves, only to come crashing down again. It was supposed to be a four hour session, I gave in early and I’d say it was the only time this trip I’ve felt completely out of my comfort zone. Should have gone with the tried and trusted Aussies in Bali.
So, we then headed back to Senggigi, ready to start the trip over to the Gili Islands. These islands are famed for their amazing scuba adventures and great social scene. There are three islands in total varying from ultra laid back to party central. We opted for the party island seeing as it was Ramadan, as we hoped that it would still have a bit of life to it. Despite being a bit quiet it was still a really beautiful relaxed island with some cool little eateries and bars. There was one very special bar slightly further away from the others on a beach on its own. Everyone went there to watch the sun set, listening to reggae and waiting for the bonfire to be set alight and the fire dancers to get into gear. While on the island we also took the opportunity for our last bit of scuba diving. This time we tried a night dive, which was a very bizarre experience as it’s pitch black down there apart from where you shine your torch. At times it’s hard to tell which way is up.
After our whirlwind tour of Lombok and the Gili islands we headed back to Bali. We headed towards Ubud which is known to be the cultural centre of Bali. It was still quite a tourist centre but nothing close to Kuta beach and we loved feel of the place. Bursting with art and music, every day there seemed to be some sort of colorful celebration, and this combined with Bali’s very unique take on religion, the place felt like no other we have visited. The first thing we did was book ourselves onto one of the many craft courses available, Ben went on a woodwork course and Angie took a silversmith course.
We had plans to take a motorbike and visit many other places around Bali but having heard of a celebration/cremation going on we decided to hang about. It turned out that the kings wife had passed away and that the cremation was set to happen in Ubud in a couple of days. We extended our stay to make sure that we didn’t miss this and were very glad we took the gample. On the days leading up to the cremation the palace put on free dance shows for people. Balanise dance is something very otherworldly with vibrant big costumes, subtle movements and ‘eye bulging’ being a major dance move.
On the day of the cremation Ubud was brimming with people, both tourists and Balinese people. It started early with many rituals and holy men blessing the huge tower and bull that had been constructed for the procession. The procession set off at about midday in the blazing heat of the sun. Local men had to carry the tall tower which was now holding the coffin of the kings wife. The enormous bull was also carried along the street by local men followed by musicians and other processional things. They were so heavy that it took hours to carry along the street with the local men taking it in turns to carry them. At around 5pm they arrived at the cremation site where the kings wife was transferred into the bull which was then set alight. Words really can’t describe the day properly butwe took plenty of photos, hundreds actually, Ben got a bit over excited, but then it was a special day.
We had time after the cremation to visit one last place before we needed to set off for Australia. Having not been well enough to climb the volcano in Lombok we decided to give Bali’s volcano a go. We drove on our rented motorbike to the town of Sukawana (we think..) and, hearing that it was possible to visit the volcano without a guide and easier if you drive up half of it, we gave it a shot on our rented bike. Perhaps Evel Knievel could have managed it on our scooter but for us the skiddy volcanic ash and huge boulders along the way put an end to that idea. So we head back to town and after a bit of hassle from local tour groups/guides we arranged our trek for the next day at a bargain price. Setting off at 4am in the morning in order to reach the top for sun rise it was a steep climb up and genuinely ultra tough. However, when the first light came we found we’d climbed above the clouds and the views for the sunrise were just amazing. Plus we got a breakfast of banana and egg cooked in the volcanic steam which was truly welcome. The volcano had not been active for some time but it was still good to check out some of the old craters. Our guide took us further to check out other areas and it was probably best that Angie was too tired to care about the sheer drop to her left when walking along an extremely thin path around the crater’s edge.
So, skipping a few ordinary bits here and there, we headed back to Kuta and said goodbye to our South East Asia (and a splash of Indonesia) adventure. We were looking forward to a few of the comforts of western culture but in truth thoroughly gutted that this crazy and amazing neck of the woods would soon be behind us. We’ll be back, that’s an official blog promise.
