Blogs from Padangbai, Bali, Indonesia, Asia
April 25th 2012
Totally awesome day diving in Padangbai! Went on our on a boat to the island, first dive was deep went to 29 metres freezing, dark and bit scary even cold with a 7mm wetsuit on. Next dive much more fun the current drags you along so less effort needed (hence the name drift diving). Saw loads of lovely fish including a puffer. Very happy today. Now I am a qualified advanced diver, just in time for South America. Went to Denpasar today as weather not great this morning. Was a crazy market over 3 stories, colourful, noisy and chaotic. Did lots of haggling for Nat. Came back to seminyak to catch up on my sun worshipping!... read more
January 19th 2012
We arrived in PadongBai by taxi from Sunar - $12. Padongdai is a pretty small village and from what I can see their main economy is fishing and tourism mainly boat transport to the Gilis and snorkeling/diving trips. Apparently there is pretty good snorkeling in this area. We only stayed here one night and spent most of the day planning and exploring. We did stumble onto a Bali funeral from our balcony where we saw a 100 people marching by our hostel to the ceremony up the hill. They were carrying the body and the mood was happy almost festive. Bali funerals are different because it is a celebration of life, so everyone was smiling and no tears were shed. We spent most of the night trying to figure out transport to the Gillis Island. There ... read more
a lot of drunk aussies, a few scooters, one volcano and 2 very evil men!
Published: August 31st 2011Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Padangbai
August 31st 2011
Wow its been a while and things have been busy so this may be quite long!!! I’m currently sat in a small ferry port on Bali which I have so far visited 3 times already, heading back to Lombok tomorrow in an attempt to cross 2 islands in the shortest time possible to reach Flores but more of that later. So Bali is interesting, very busy and full of traffic and tourists (it being peak season). But the people are lovely, the temples very sweet and religion very strong here. After Luke left me in Kula Lumpar my whole plan for Bali (having done no research) was get on the plane, read the lonely planet whilst on the plane, find someone else at Bali airport on their own and do whatever they were doing. Well this ... read more
our freedom comes in how we choose to respond
Published: August 30th 2011Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Padangbai
July 31st 2011
July 31 Right now I am on the "white beach" in Pandaganbai waiting for the sun to come out from behind the clouds. Today we havent done much besides the "goodbye breakfast" and come here - and there isn't much here besides a few streets with funky restaurants and hostels. I don't think ive ever been in a town this small actually, but it's low key and relaxing. I was really hoping to do some shopping while I was here because we haven't really bought anything on this trip in anticipation of buying in Bali, and now there's hardly anything off interest in the stores :( but maybe tomorrow in Legion (where we're going continuing on to). Okay i just took a 5 minute break to go into the water - wow! That was the ... read more
June 11th 2011
Hey fellas, long time no write. After coming back from Ubud we went to Padangbai again, since this is the only point on Bali, where ferries leave to the Gili Islands. Before we went there, we had some amusing days again in our beloved Padang Bai. Longing for some action we rented 3 motorbikes to cruise around. First alone and the next day with our new lovely friends Tankas and Agus we visited Candidasa, Amlapura and a beautiful water palace called Tirtagangga. We had a lot of fun, although we sometimes got slightly scared on our motorbikes. Arie and me figured that turning left is way easier than right. Of course Kimi fell after riding the bike just for 5 mins, which made me pay my budget for the next 3 days. Damn. Rip off. Anyway ... read more
March 16th 2011
Bali is several thousands of miles and several centuries away from Australia. It is a mystical island which is deeply infused with the Hindu religion touching every aspect of Balinese life. To us, it is one of the few countries which has been able to maintain its spiritual traditions and way of life in spite of the world wide rush to modernity. We haven't been to the big tourist cities in Bali which are probably like any third world urban areas filled with cars and noise and high-rise buildings. Our ship drops anchor in Padang Bai. This is a rural part of Bali where there are as many temples as there are homes. The hillsides are covered with terraced rice paddies and tropical flora. There is currently a popular movie/book entitled "Eat, Pray, Love." The last ... read more
March 7th 2011
At sea on our way to Bali we enjoy a variety of games including pool volley ball in the small but adequate swimming area. The wave action combined with a slippery bottom surface adds to the fun and exercise. We also have golf putting and trivia contests plus a Service Club gathering to facilitate our Rotary makeups. Of course on Sunday we enjoy champagne and caviar. Last night we had a special dinner with two of the acrobatic entertainers from Estonia as they shared their lives with us and fellow diners. During the day a special tour of the ship’s bridge was a treat as the captain explained the inner workings of the facilities and what they plan to do to improve it in dry dock next year. We have noticed that they work very hard ... read more
July 21st 2010
Richard and I went to Kuta which is a 20 mintue moped journey if you don’t get lost. We were with two other divers with one person who was meant to know the way. Anyway after what was quite a long journey and a bit of scary driving from my friend Edwin who was driving the moped I was on. He is Malaysian and let’s just say, he ignores the red lights but so do most people. Richard was very English, waiting for it to change to green as lots of other drivers went straight past him anyway. I saw the memorial between all the clubs for all the people who died in the bombing in 2002. I was surprised actually because I thought the bombings in Bali had happened 20 years ago but apparently there ... read more
March 31st 2010
It was going to be a bemo (minivan) ride from Lovina to the main bus station in the next town across and then a bus ride to Tulamben but as the sole aim of public transport in Bali is to rip off tourists rather than convey people, we chartered a car and driver instead. As a typical tourists won't know the correct far from place to place, the usual trick of any bemo driver is to ask for as much as they can get away with whilst keeping a straight face. Even if you do know the correct fare that the locals would pay (say be asking a few locals), the bemo rivers will swear blind that their inflated price is what the locals pay and quickly becomes a battle of wills. As Lovina had very ... read more
February 28th 2010
Cruising into the Komodo National Park is visually one of the most beautiful set of tropical islands in all of Indonesia. This is one of Captain Dag’s favorite cruising areas of the world. The Indonesian Archipelago is comprised of over 17,000 islands and has the largest Muslim population of any country. Komodo and Flores Islands are right out of a picture book description of what a tropical island should look like—palm tree covered mountains descending to white sand beaches spilling into azure seas. Who would ever suspect that the largest living lizards call Komodo home. These carnivorous monsters have evolved from dinosaurs over the last 130 million years. Adult dragons weigh in at around 300 lbs and measure 12-15’ in length. They can run at speeds up to 18 mph and are pretty good swimmers also. ... read more
