Blogs from Indonesia, Asia

I did not summit the courage to do a night dive until I had already completed about 50 day dives, over a period of two years, at a number of dive locations and under varying current conditions. The fear factor of the unknown is indeed significant. But after eight night dives I am now fully embracing the opportunity to dive at night, and can strongly testify that night diving is not simply diving in the dark - it is in fact a completely different experience than diving in daylight. I can also understand now how many seasoned divers actually prefer it over day diving, particularly, it seems, as one acquires more and more dives. Many of the dive masters and instructors I have met prefer night diving. It is comparable to going on a safari, where ... read more

An update on our visit to Lombok!! It was an hour's drive from our port to the beautiful beach at Seniggi. When we disembarked the ship we were greeted by a steel band and many stall holders selling souvenirs. A cacaphony of noise enveloped us. Lombok is less developed than its neighbouring island of Bali but has some great scenery. During our hour long bus trip to the beach we went through the capital city of Mataram and the old city of Ampenan. The streets were lined with stalls and shops, some very dilapidated while others were better maintained. It was Friday so the holy day on this mainly Muslim island. The mosques are abundant and are brightly painted. The main mode of transport is motor bike or scooter and helmets seem optional. Most had at ... read more

Today, so far, didn’t go quite go as I had planned! My plan was… to get up, get showered and sorted, then go off the beautiful roof top to enjoy my first breakfast at the new hotel. Well… that didn’t happen! I woke up at about 1am this morning, and I was struggling to get back to sleep, but eventually I did. I finally woke up very comfortable, totally relaxed in my huge, and very empty feeling, bed! Due to the sheer size of it! Then I slowly turned over, got up. The first thing I did was to unplug my phone, as it’s been on charge overnight. OMG!!! Shock! It’s 11am! I have slept through the whole of the morning plan! WOW! I dropped back the non- prepared plan b!! I notched up my speed! ... read more

It was an earlier start for me today, as I have booked a private tour. I felt it was the best option to see more of Ubud as I only have 3 days here. It would be a shame to miss out! I set the alarm for 6:45. It wasn’t difficult to get up early, as I purposely went to bed early in preparation! I’m seriously not a morning person these days! I had scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. Then was ready for the driver to arrive at 8am. I walked up the street to the ATM to get extra cash for the day, and also water, I’m making a concerted effort to drink lots! I will need cash to buy tickets for the entrance costs. I’m not sure if they all take card payments! ... read more