Bali Bound!

I've done it again, left a big gap between blog entries! So I'm sketchy on some details, but here's the story in Indonesia so far...

The trip to KLIA LCCT was straightforward - up at 5am, out at 5.30, on metro to KL Sentral station at 6, on bus to LCCT at 6.30, arrived at airport at 7.15, checked in, boarded and took off at 9.40, arrived Bali 12.40pm! Phew!

I was expecting there to be a bit of hassle and waiting at Ngurah Rai International Airport, as you have to organise visas etc, but it was very straightforward, I just handed over $25 and I got yet another nice sticker in my passport! I was soon through baggage and customs and getting heckled by taxi drivers! In short, I went to Tourist Information and found out exactly how much it should cost to get to Kuta and where to get the good taxis. It paid off as I was able to avoid the original tout who thought that $19 for a single room was the best deal in town!

Once in Kuta, I quickly found Puri Agung Homestay and there was a room spare - cheap and friendly, with rooms set around a shady courtyard. I washed some laundry, including my daysack which I decided really needed a wash, given that it was still impregnated with the fish 'juice' from Chiang Mai! However, that odour had been masked by 11 weeks of sweat instead, pooooh!

Then I wandered off to Kuta beach, to do a spot of geocaching and to part with 150,000 rupiahs, on two bracelets and a sarong, all at stupidly high prices as the ladies there were such good businesswomen, they had me hook, line and sinker! Damn, I'm so close to leaving Asia and had thus far escaped the scams! I thought 100,000 rupiahs (down from 350,000) for the sarong was a good deal - it was only later that I heard that you should be able to get the best quality batik ones for no more than 50,000! Oh well, it's only £5 after all!

Beware of Balinese Ladies on the Beach

I met up with KT and Fiona at long last at 11pm that night - they made it to Puri Agung after their flight in from Singapore, and my, did we all have some tales to tell! On Wednesday, we organised transport to the Gili Islands and spent an hour or two on the beach and wandering around the shops. On Thursday morning, it was an early start to take a minibus to Padang Bai, where we then boarded the Gili Cat to Gili Trawangan. It was a quick crossing and once there we met Rupert and his partner (whose name still escapes me!) from New Zealand, who were heading straight off to Gili Air, our island of choice. We soon chartered our own boat there and at
Rupert's recommendation, we had walked across the island in the midday sun to Lombok Indah, cheap beachside bungalows including breakfast with the most hospitable host ever, Anto!!!

That afternoon, we chilled on the beach, and on Friday, more of the same followed! Gili Air is absolutely beautiful and it is incredibly easy just to relax there and do nothing at all! On Saturday, we took a day trip snorkelling on a glass bottomed boat around the Gilis, and saw lots of cool fish and three turtles! All for less than £5!!! Lunch was delicious urap-urap (mixed veg and coconut) on a stretch of white sand on Gili Meno, the smallest and quietest of the islands.

Paradise Found?

The girls decided that they wanted to stay on Gili Air until Tuesday, but I had things to do back on Bali. Admittedly, it was a bit of a wrench to leave paradise, but I knew I would kick myself if I didn't make it to Amed for diving and Ubud for culture! So, off I set alone once more back to Bali on Sunday morning. I met Sandra from Melbourne on the water taxi back to Trawangan, and soon she was giving me loads of great tips for travelling in Oz and I had someone to share the cost of transport to Amed with!

We hit Padang Bai around lunchtime and I needed cash! There were no ATMs on the Gilis, and luckily, I'd had the foresight to get some money in Kuta before we left, but it wasn't enough to get me to Amed and to organise some diving. I knew that there was one cash machine in Padang Bai as the girls had used it on Thursday morning. Could I find a single honest local to tell me where it was? Not really - "No, no ATM here, I change money for you!", "What card you use? WHAT CARD YOU USE??? NO, not accept Visa, I change money for you!" Eventually, I found a nice lady who pointed me in the direction of the bank that I full well knew existed. Indeed, it didn't accept Visa, but...

...for everything else, there's MasterCard! LOL!!!

So, with a little extra money, Sandra and I took a car to Amed and a few hours later, after traipsing the poor driver around a variety of hotels and guesthouses, I settled at Eco-Dive Resort. It had been recommended to me by people at Buddha View and I was pleased that the accommodation was cheap. However, they seemed to be the most expensive for diving! But it was late in the day, hot and sticky, and the area was so remote, I simply didn't have enough energy to shop around. I managed to negotiate a deal for 2 dives for the next day - not as cheap as the competition, but at least I got a discount! And the guy let me use a snorkel and fins that afternoon for free, while I waited for my room to be vacated!

On Monday morning, I was up early and off to Tulamben to dive at the wreck of USAT Liberty Glo with Made, my divemaster, and Benjamin from France who had logged more than 30 dives. All went well, and I was excited about doing my first shore dive, as well as my first wreck! I couldn't remember how many weights I needed though - I'd used four on Ko Tao, but I didn't actually know what size they were. The ones there were round, but on Bali, they were square, so they must have been different... I just took two.

Well, it was obvious I'd got it wrong as I couldn't even descend a metre I was so buoyant! It was quite hilarious, there I was bobbing at the surface while Benjamin and Made were disappearing into the depths below! Made shoved a spare weight into my BCD, and at last I began to sink! The wreck appeared below very rapidly, as it is situated only 40m from the beach. It was a huge hunk of rusty metal, covered with corals and fish of all shaped and sizes.

At one point, we actually swam into the wreck, which had me a little concerned at first until I could see that it was till very open and just like swimming between rocks as I had done on Ko Tao. I spotted a giant barracuda before the others and soon we noticed that a huge grouper was hanging around with it! It was very surreal and at the deepest point, we had descended to 27m, so I wouldn't have been able to dive there, had I not taken the Advanced Open Water course. As we began our ascent, I found it hard to keep level for the safety stop - my buoyancy was still out of whack and Made had to hang on to me and fill my jacket with rocks! I was worried that I had spoiled the dive for Benjamin, with my amateurishness, but when we surfaced, he said how amazing it had been and we had been down there for 50 minutes before I was low on air, which was a pretty decent bottom time!

Later on, it was time for my second dive, this time just me and Made, a little further along the beach at Tulamben Drop Off Wall. I made sure I had 4 weights this time, and after the correct surface interval, we were back in the water! This was another fantastic dive and I saw a huge variety of marine life - batfish, parrotfish, snapper, pufferfish, triggerfish, trumpetfish, moorish idols, emperor fish... at one point, I was convinced I'd spotted a turtle in the depths below. I signalled to Made, who excitedly swam over to look... but alas, it was just a large pufferfish!!! Oh well!

This time around, I had much better buoyancy control, and at one point I was suspended, motionless, with nothing but blue below, blue above and a sheer wall of rock and coral to the side. It was quite incredible and there I was, no fear, just in awe at it all. On our return swim to the beach, we saw a large shoal of yellow snapper, and it was great to see such a large group for the first time since I had learned how to scuba dive. (I'd seen large groups before, but only when snorkelling). When we surfaced, I asked how long we had been down and Made confirmed it - ONE HOUR!!! Woohoo, my record on my birthday was 58 minutes, so I was so pleased to have lasted for the full 60!

After arriving back at the resort and filling in my logbook, I was so exhausted that I spent the rest of the day reading, relaxing and reorganising my rucksack. I also ate only bread as I had run out of money again and had to mind the pennies so I could afford the taxi to Ubud for the following morning, that I had pre-arranged with Sandra. There were no ATMs in Amed either!!!

Anyway, our taxi driver arrived early this morning and Sandra was ready and waiting at her hotel, so we were soon on our way to Ubud. I'm glad I met Sandra as transport in Bali is not particularly cheap, especially when food and accommodation is! It was good to be able to spread the cost! At 11.30, we had arrived and I found Donald's Homestay, right where the Rough Guide said it should be and exactly as described. It is such a quaint little place, I have my own patio overlooking a tiny garden, the shower in the bathroom is set into a rocky wall and breakfast of fruit, pancake and tea is included! Bargain!

A Room With A (Garden) View

There seems to be plenty to do in the area, so I think that I will stay for 2 nights, rather than just the one as I had originally planned. I'm quite tired from all the travelling I've done over the past few days, so I think I'll just relax this afternoon and maybe take in a dance performance this evening. I also need to buy a good sarong, but hopefully I'll not get ripped off again... I'm sure there'll be a tale to tell about it in the next installment!