Blogs from Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia, Asia - page 3

July 5th After a delicious breakfast we said a sad farewell to Kuba Lalang. Of all the places we've stayed on our travels, this was by far the best (and not even close to the most expensive). Our time here has been like a second honeymoon and we'll definitely return one day. Just before noon we set off east toward Tulamben. We were warned that there's no ATM there so we stopped for a fat chunk of cash in Singaraja. Once outside town the road condition deteriorated rapidly. We were bouncing all over the place and couldn't dream of averaging more than 60km/h. Around lunch time the constant shaking had our bladders screaming for release. We spotted a sign to Poinciana Resort where we stopped for lunch. It's a small and gorgeous resort. There's a sparkling ... read more

Polly: We arrived back in Kuala Lumpur on 24th March and checked in to the Tune Hotel at the airport. Tune is one of AirAsia's products, and whilst fairly cheap, is really only comfortable if you are the size of a hobbit. After checking in, Ross caught a bus into town to collect our wedding outfits which had been kindly looked after by George at Alex's Homestay. On the way back Ross paid a visit to the Colonel for some chicken drumsticks and spicy fries, and although they were finger lickin' good, his fingers needed more than licking afterwards. Even after a thorough scrub with soap and water they were tingling, swollen and inflamed. This continued for a few days until the skin started to peel off. I don't know what they put in their spice ... read more

It's 6.30am - I'm awake - eyes wide no time for coffee; and I'm heading up to the dive shop, the streets of the sleepy village of Tulamben are quiet - the only sounds are from the ever present cockerels and the hiss of scuba tanks being tested and filled. Tulamben is famous worldwide to divers as the village where you can shore dive the Liberty wreck. Thirty meters out from the rocky shore and 30m down is the sunken remains of World War II freighter the USAT Liberty. In it's former life nearly 70 years ago - the USAT Liberty was shipping materials to Australia, across the Lombok Straits, torpedoed by a Japanese U-boat and taking on vast quantities of water, the ship was beached on Bali's north shore. An eruption in 1963 left the ... read more

The diving is getting better and better... The divemaster in Timor helped me improve my breathing, so now I get a decent amount of time out of a tank. The timing was perfect - in Labuanbajo the diving was mindblowing, the best I've done so far, and so much better for being able to spend over an hour at a time drifting around watching turtles, reef sharks and all manner of weird and wonderful fish, crustaceans and other submarine life. Above water, the Komodo National Park is interesting for one very obvious reason - dragons. They're huge... Now I'm in Bali after a two day boat trip and another overnight ferry, and I just dived a wreck off the north coast. I'm doing it again after dark tonight. Then I may spend a day in the ... read more

How many times on my journeys have I stood at the ocean or sat on a ferry while crossing a beautiful sea and wished that I could dive? I can't remember but definitively too many times! But this time I was ready and well prepared with a diving licence in my pocket for venturing into the deep blue... Scuba Diving is undoubtly one of the most incredibly beautiful and rewarding hobbies you could ever choose, especially when you are a traveller as some journeys will lead you to places of this green-blue planet with some of the most beautiful beaches, seas, lakes and diving spots. So diving surely adds another perspective and activity to your journey with new impressions from the world under the water surface which you would not see as a non diver, and ... read more