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Published: August 16th 2007
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Me and my trusty board
At Canaggu beach towards the end of my trip... Hello,
It is belattedly time I wrote this blog - I got back 6 weeks ago so it is unacceptable that I have been so lazy...
Where to start???
First of all my carbon footprint was shockingly bad this summer - Kuwait to UK then 4 days later UK to Bali was not my greenest travel ever. Although, I must give credit to Malaysia Airlines - nicest I've ever flown on...
So, I landed in Bali on the 28th June - knackered (never sleep on planes) - I took the easy option and headed to Kuta for some R+R on the beach. Now, if you read enough blogs on any travel site you will see people slag off Kuta and call it a tourist dump full of Australians etc etc... This may be quite accurate, but it does serve a purpose (mainly the post flight jetlag stage). I actually quite enjoy it and it's 'Costa' style nightlife (come on.... I had just spent 9 months in Kuwait) and actually returned for my final couple of days there in late July before heading home. That was primarily to meet up with my Spanish mate Jordi who I met
Chess legacy
Me building up my 24-4 win ratio against the Indonesian Chess mafia.... on my first day staying at Kendins 2 hotel!!!
Surfing - it's hard - unbelievably hard in fact. Harder than I remember when I became almost half decent in 2000 whilst living near Biarritz, France. To the extent where I deceided to recap with some lessons. In principal that was a goo idea, but I got some muppet coach (from Hardrock Hotel) whose idea of learning to surf was to paddle across a swimming pool 500M from the sea.... Nehows, as with anything time does eventually lead to improvement and I became possibly adequate by the time I first left Kuta. I think each mornings hangover from each 5AM night didn't help my development much either.... By the time the hangover subsided the sun was setting and, well, there really wasn't much to do other than enjoy the sunset and start the next session ) So, I left Kuta after a week or so, leaving behind my mate Jordi to surf, with the plan to meet back up in 3 weeks....
From Kuta I caught a boat to the neighbouring island to the east - Lombok! Lombok is less touristy, but roughly the same as Bali except prodominantly
Boat Trip
Me and Nicole on our way to an Island to the north of Bali to do some Scuba Diving... muslim, whereas Bali is mainly Hindi. I travelled to the north of the island to visit the much hyped Gilli Islands.... Now, don't get me wrong they were lovely, but if you read their write up in the LP and other travel sources you would think that you were heading to some secret mecca of wonders.... Whereas in reality they are like every set of islands in the region, just with more tourists and louder music. In fairness you could escape by going to the west of the island, but it didn't really do much for me except to offer me some great chess games against the local shop vendors! - they did not like losing ) Also, part of my annoyance of Gilli Trawogen was my choice of accommodation - I arrived quite late and were too tired to explore looking for nice hotels - so i took the first one I came across - which turned out to be behind the loudest nightclub ever created and kept me up til 6AM. Well, I say kept me up, it really just persuaded me not to go to bed and join the overly hyped parties until 6AM. This is where
Moped Surfer
Looking down upon 'Dreamlands' beach - supposedly legendary surf haven, but the swell was pretty lame the day I paddled out there.... I met the evils of Arak ((
After 4 nights on the island I decided to cut short my trfip and head off in search of adventure - what I found and did was the amazing Mount Rinjani (see previous blog)... That was an exhilararing few days and easily the highlight of my holiday.... After the mountain climb I chilled in Sengiggi with some of my fellow climbers for a few days, but there really isn't much to do there so I made the call to head back to Bali. Now, Bali and Lombok are geographically very close, but the inept transport links mean that you waste a day getting from A - B, a most frustrating experience when your days are running out....
So, once back in Bali I went to Ubud - supposedly the 'Cultural Capital' of the island. ummm I'm not sure pretentious restaurants, dodgy european artists and aggressive shop owners = Culture, but the term has stuck nehows. It wasn't an unpleasant few days there, it just wasn't for me. Too much rain, too many hapy couples and too many monkeys wandering around! Sadly, the novelty wears off suprisingly quickly.... Although, the rain did
Unshaven Thugs
Me and David at a Hindu Temple in Canagiggi the day before we set out to climb Mt Rinjani.... allow me to hang out in a shoe shop all afternoon brushing up on my chess technique against the town champion!!! )
Anyhows, after Ubud I headed up to the north coast and Lovina. The Lonely Planet, in one of it's many pretentious articles wonders why the north of Bali is not as popular with tourists. Simple answer, the beach is black, there are no waves and the sea is filthy!!!! That said, I had a lovely time loitering in a very nice hotel with some Swiss girls I met and a random Chinese chap called Ted!! We also did some scuba trips, via boat, to an island near Java - Lots of beautiful reef and an abundance of tropical fish. Would I recommend the resort though? Simply put - NO. Although, if you are there make sure you check out the local bands in any of the empty bars in Lovina. They all end by playing Guns N Roses 'November Rain' - a most cheesy show stopper that has to be witnessed me think.... )
After Lovina, i went back to Kuta to give the old surfing ne more shot. Absence had made me yearn for
Kuta Sunset
Some people give Kuta a hard time, but I really liked it. The highlight of each day in Kuta was sitting down the watching the sunset with 1000s of people.... another go, although tragically I were still not great. I were, though alot braver and, with the company of a good surfer (Jordi), I doid feel confident enough to tackle the big breaks of Dreamlands, Kuta Reef and Cannagu!!! Which was quite an achievement considering I were struggling to stand up even in the tiny swell at the start of the holiday. I will, however, not be quitting my teaching job to pursue a career as a pro surfer...... ( It was nice to end the holiday with a few large nights out and the old Arak too.... I were sad to leave, but ready I think - many people stay on Bali for months, for me - just over a month was just right....
Most people that write about Bali mention how the bombings have crippled the tourist industry and that the country will never recover from it.... I'm not sure how I feel about this, I were there during peak season and outside of the main resorts in the south it was a ghost town.... I were never in Bali before the bombings, so it's hard to say the real damage that has been caused, but the
Inept Paddle Team
Rafting in Ubud - our boat got overtaken by every other boat on the river!! The shame... island is definately struggling. The people, however are very resilient and hardworking and with a bit of luck, I see no reason why the resorts cant be a very popular destination again in the future.
Nehows, as I am writing this blog so late I am actually back in Kuwait teaching now..... I hope everyone is well and happy. Keep the emails coming, it is always lovely to hear from everyone. Take care....
Matt )
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maya
non-member comment
hi... u didn't seem enjoy Bali very much. but i ensure there many beautiful ( not hyped :) ) places to explore in Indonesia. anyway, whats your favourite place?