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Published: February 15th 2011
Indonesia: Land of Diving, Dancing & Dragons
With diving and resort living on our minds, we were on our way to Indonesia, our eighth and final country and the exclamation point to our already amazing Southeast Asia experience. We couldn’t believe that we would be returning to the States in just a couple of weeks, and we were not quite ready to concede our time. From Singapore we flew to Bali, an island in the Nusa Tenggara chain, known for its unique Hindu traditions, stunning emerald rice terraces, and a welcoming, hospitable culture.
The original plan to visit Bali had been made after our wedding when Aaron’s parents gave us a weeklong stay at a resort as a honeymoon gift. However, before we were to travel to Eastern Bali, we had arranged to meet up with Aaron’s friend from university, Scotty, who had been living and working as a dive master an hour’s flight away on an island called Flores with his girlfriend Val. They had invited us to join them on their last live aboard dive trip of the season, and we eagerly accepted.
Arriving in Bali shortly before midnight, we caught a little shut eye before
heading back to the airport to meet up with Scotty’s parents, Dan and Terri. We took the morning flight to Flores where Scotty met up with us. After a warm welcome, we were off to the dive shop to meet Val, the crew and the two Australians who would be joining us on our diving adventure.
From Labuan Bajo, we motored out to the protected Komodo National Park, an extraordinary place for diving. The topography of the island chain along with the confluence of the currents from the Indian and Pacific Oceans create a funneling effect and a nutrient rich environment. Because of this, many species of fish, both pelagic and reef, as well as thousands of other animals and plants are able to flourish making it one of the most biologically diverse aquatic ecosystems on Earth.
From the moment we descended on our first dive site the evidence of what makes this diving some of the best in the world stunned us like a double rainbow. The vibrant variety of underwater colors and species made us want to move to Atlantis. The coral was healthy, the fish were plentiful and the visibility seemed endless. It was then
that we understood how and why Scotty and Val ‘got stuck’ in Labuan Bajo seven months earlier.
All in all we dove nine times over the three days at sea, and without a doubt, the highlight was the multiple ‘mantastic’ manta ray sightings. On a dive named Manta Point, divers are nearly guaranteed to see manta rays because of the converging currents that provide them a pit stop for feeding and cleaning. We also spotted sea turtles and white tip reef sharks on nearly every dive, and often found ourselves surrounded by immense schools of large tuna and trigger fish. The various species of smaller creatures were also exciting to spot. (For those of you who dive, we saw crustaceans, eels, nudibranch, octopi, batfish, scorpionfish, anemonefish, sea snakes, lionfish, trumpetfish, unicornfish, boxfish, pufferfish, angelfish, and parrotfish, to name a few).
On the last morning of our dive trip, we took a break from the rocking boat to trek around Rinca (Rin-sha) Island with hopes of seeing the famous Komodo dragons in the wild. A guide led us through the island’s trails in search of the endangered species, and we had the good fortune to see a variety of
interesting animals along the way; this included orange footed scrub fowls, macaque monkeys, and wild water buffalos. We were most impressed by the Komodo dragons, the largest living lizard species on Earth. These dragons are only found on the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, and Flores, and are known for their bacteria carrying saliva that if left untreated can be deadly to even the biggest animals (or humans!) We were lucky to have spotted eight, including a few lingering near the camp kitchen at the ranger’s station. After seeing these prehistoric looking lizards and exploring the island, we were ready to get back in the water and take our final dives. Our final decent was a perfect end with sightings of all the grandest species that make the region famous. That evening after we returned to shore, our group celebrated a great trip with pizza, beer and watermelon shakes in the little town Scotty and Val called home.
The next morning we woke up for our morning flight back to Bali only to find out that in typical third world fashion, our flight was delayed and wouldn’t be leaving until the late afternoon. In many ways it was nothing
new for us after living in Panama, but it can still be a test of patience. With nothing on the agenda, we read, ate, talked and slept on the reclining couches of The Corner Restaurant’s outdoor patio until it was time to go. That evening we were glad to be back in Bali and to be staying at such a lovely guest house only minutes from the beach. Terri, Scotty’s mom, had a birthday that day, so we celebrated at an amazing BBQ restaurant called the Satay Club with great food and delicious desserts.
The next day was spent with the gang putting around on motor bikes through the lush tree lined roads. We motored up to the gorgeous Uluwatu Temple, perched along jagged cliffs with stunning views of the crashing surf below. This Balinese cultural sight was breathtaking; however even with an onshore breeze the heat of the day became unbearable, and it was with a unanimous vote that we headed to the beach. As we sat on the sand with watermelon smoothies in hand, we watched the water pound the shoreline as surfers were catching their breaks off the point, and a sandy toed wedding party was
stating their vows to an intimate crowd.
That night we went into Kuta, Indo’s party town, to meet up with Scotty and Val’s German bosses from the dive shop. We unconventionally ate at a restaurant of their choice, Mama’s German Cuisine. Kuta is to Australians what Cabo San Lucas is to Americans, a crazy scene where people come to party like a rock star. Thus when in Rome, it only seemed appropriate to do as the Romans do and check it out. As we walked along, the party was spilling out of the clubs and into the streets, and Scotty, Dan and we danced for hours, enjoying the craziness until way past our bed time.
After our night on the town, we were ready for Rama Candi Dasa (Chan-dee-da-sa), the resort that Aaron’s parents had booked us for the final week of our honeymoon. We rented a motor bike for the week and took the two hour drive along coast to the hotel. We arrived in the early evening and checked in to what would be our home for the next week; a place for us to relax, unwind and enjoy a little spoiling.
Our time at
Rama Candi Dasa was what we imagine a typical honeymoon to be. Our week consisted of relaxing pool side, reading, writing, massage, room service, sleeping and a small dose of exploration. One day we went into the quaint town to walk around the shop and restaurant lined street. Otherwise the only other time we left the resort was to drive north to see the rice terraces and do some snorkeling in a town called Tulamben. While doing nothing was a bit of a challenge at first, once we got used to it, we were glad we had the time to just chill out after two and a half months on the road.
Our final few days in Bali were spent with Scotty, Val, Dan and Terri in Ubud. Ubud was a surprisingly developed tourist town in the middle of the island with great window shopping and delicious cuisine. After touring the famous rice terraces, we spent our last night in Ubud dining at an amazing Indonesian restaurant called the Lotus Café. Knowing that we had a lot of travel ahead of us, we used our last morning to get a 90 minute Balinese massage, an excellent way to end
our time in Indonesia.
In the blink of an eye we were back in Bangkok. We spent our last day and a half gorging ourselves on the best food the city had to offer, fitting in any last shopping, and joining Ray and Nok for drinks at the State Tower roof top bar. We toasted to a great trip and new friends as we looked out over the beautiful metropolis.
Our final stop was the following morning in Seoul, South Korea, and had the chance to spend our last day with Steve. We got in one final meal at our favorite Korean restaurant and enjoyed some Soju before our transpacific flight back to Seattle.
While the adventure continues, the Southeast Asia honeymoon chapter had come to a close. We feel so fortunate to have seen, learned and experienced all that we did. Our trip of a lifetime was the perfect way for us to start our lives together as a married couple, and no matter what else we do we will look back fondly on our 85 day escapade in a fascinating region of our planet. Thanks again to all of you, our family and friends, who
made our trip possible and allowed us to follow our hearts and see the world.
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Dara Smith
non-member comment
Great Photo!
Hey you two! I've enjoyed reading your travel blog and living vicariously through your adventures in Asia, Indonesia, Bali, etc... I hope you learned a lot about yourselves and the cultures of the places you visited. All good things must come to an end, but you have many exciting times ahead of you as a married couple. Congrats and good luck on the next phase.