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Indonesia
Having been highly recommend to visit Indonesia by Susie, we booked flights to Bali a few months before to link in with our onward flights to Oz. We did this as cheap as possible and as a result had a dire flight that got us in in the early hours to Depensar. However; With this knowledge we were able to book accommodation close to the airport and we could move on to our desired location of Kuta when we woke. To our immense delight, we set about finding our way to Kuta, only to find we'd been there all along. So we moved to a hotel on the next road and made our way to the beach and the biggest waves we'd ever seen. Needless to say, I felt the urge to surf with only a lack of knowledge stopping me from getting in right away. Alice didn't fancy it, and actually thay where really really big waves - some Dutch courage was in order so we headed to the bars and clubs for the night to get in the surfing mood. Next day we roused early (15.00 I'd say) and hit the beach to make an ass of myself. Surprisingly I stood up but Alice didn't see (far to busy flirting with the local beach hunks supplying the surf gear) and we have no photographs so you'll just to believe me.
Satisfied that surfing had been conquered we headed to Ubud; an hour or so inland from Kuta. We had heard good things about 'the arts and crafts heart' of Bali and went off ready for some culture after our stay in the Aussie filled party town. Once in Ubud we found a lot of the cheaper accommodation was in home-stays. This is usually when you live with the family in the same building but it Ubud, many of the home-stays have separate building for guests and you share much of the living space. This was a great experience as the family we were with were lovely and even made us breakfast when we left at 6am! Ubud is also home to the monkey forest; this was only a short walk and was good fun although a little nerve racking as the primate residents have no fear and In my case, quite willing to nick my wallet from my pocket. The shame I would've had ringing the insurance company was enough for me to wrestle it from the vice like grip and bared fangs of my attacker. The town of Ubud was really chilled and is a great base to venture out from. We decided we wanted to see the volcano; I had fire and brimstone in mind, but no lava to be seen. I told the guide I hoped there would be an eruption, he called me a fool (the last eruption being in 2002, although not as devastating as the two proceeding it, not the sort of thing you want to see first hand). On our travels around Bali we saw some amazing rice paddies and some beautiful Hindu temples; here we were fleeced by on old lady selling sarongs and preying on unprepared travellers like us who hadn't thought to dress respectfully.
Next day we headed on the 12 hour slow boat to Lombok and onto Gili Truanga. We arrived after dark exhausted from or our ordeal but found accommodation right away. As soon as we settled the place reminded us of Ko Lipe which was a very very good sign. The island is one of three low lying sand islands off the north west coast of Lombok; the beaches are clean and beautiful you can walk or cycle the entire shoreline in little over an hour. We chose to do a day time bar crawl stopping as and when thirst demanded or the beach looked particularly splendid. From any spot on the beach, it is possible to rent snorkelling gear and swim to the corral a few meters out. It was on one of these trips I saw a turtle just off the shore pecking at the corral on the sea bed. Inspired by it's majestic beauty, we left to enjoy the nightlife in an equally beautiful gin fuelled night at one of the many lively beach bars. Sadly, we only had four days but enjoyed them immensely before heading back to Bali to catch our flight. We had planned a night out in Kuta but on finding out there had been an earthquake (12 hours previously) and caution was to be exercised in costal areas, we spent much of the evening on our second floor balcony with no idea that the danger was well past. Despite this (and an awful haircut) we left Bali with fond memory's and ready to take on the Jewel in Asia's crown - Singapore.
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Liz Hanson Hi Jim and Alice Not sure I should be reading some of the scary stuff! Anyway, the price of booze in Oz will encourage you to give your livers a rest! Sounds great, though.