THE ADVENTURE BEGINS
The first two weeks in Indonesia have absolutely flown by. Journeys thus far have included surfing, hiking, motor biking around the country, and embracing the culture of an amazing country. The surf at Uluwatu, Bali's most famous wave has been very good (4-10 feet) with relatively few reef cuts among the crew thus far. We also surfed Nusa Dua on the east coast of Bali at 8-10 feet as well. Nusa Dua is a very powerful right hand wave with quite a bit of water moving around and only a fraction of the crowd when compared to Uluwatu. A couple of the other spots we have surfed include Canggu and Nyang Nyang. Nyang Nyang is at the base of a massive cliff with approximately 550 steps from top to bottom (yes I counted...) On our way to one of the surf checks (at Green Bowls) we had to enter through security for the set of Eat, Pray, Love which is being filmed on the island of Bali. We didn't manage to catch sight of Julia Roberts yet..
We have been staying at a very unique homestay on the cliffs at Uluwatu called the Gong. Winnie and Yeo Man are the owners & operators and are some of the most hospitable people you will ever meet.
Still looking for good volunteering & philanthropic opportunities. Have been looking into microloan (Kiva) work or potentially organizing a large beach sweep. The amount of trash in some areas is immense due to the local beliefs that the earth will rid itself of all of the waste. It also seems that overfishing may be an issue along the coasts of Western Bali. Anywhere from 100-250 boats can be seen fishing the same location just off of Uluwatu point every night. Upon first glance, it looks as if there is a city floating at sea.
The surf has dwindled in size over the past few days and we have spontaneously decided to travel to Thailand, Vietnam and potentially Cambodia as well as Laos over the next few weeks. This update is being written from the Sawasdee House in Bangkok. We'll try to take it day by day and see where our journeys lead us. Any suggestions or advice on great places to go/stay/see in any of these countries would be most helpful.
Any advice on navigating the red tape of working with NGO's in Indonesia would also be greatly appreciated.(Special Visa/Permission Required??)
Anything else to add, feel free to leave comments!
Warmest Regards,
John Luff