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Published: July 24th 2006
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A lot has happened since the first time I was in Bali. I'm back! Firstly I would like to mention that this part of the world is getting rocked by natural disasters like crazy but I haven't been near any of them. There was a devastating tsunami that hit the western coast of Java a week ago. Java curves up nothewest from Bali and is quite large. I think so far the death toll is around 340 and there are around 200 missing. Lucky I wasn't there because knowing me I would have been sleeping on the beach. Around a month and a half ago there was also a nasty earthquake in Java that left loads of people homeless. So they're hurting pretty bad, as you can imagine. Then a few days ago there were a couple smaller earthquakes. One was in northern Bali and I think the other one was out at sea somewhere. Man, there are so many volcanoes around here who knows when one of those will go off too. Hopefully no time soon if ever.
So anyways, about 10 days ago Rhi and I took a ferry from Bali to Lombok (the land mass to the east)
This one's for mom.
Hey don't you wish you had a gym like this? The only "gym" on Gili Trawangan. and it was quite different. They don't see all that many tourists except for the people that go there for extreme surfing. I didn't before that Indonesia has the best waves in the world. I would have thought it was Hawaii or Australia. The hardcore surfers all come here. I mean, these guys and gals get up at 5 am to go out surfing, some back for a nap in the afternoon, and then go out again until dark. There's a real science to surfing too: knowing when the swells will be good, the tides, the reefs, and simply catching the right wave at the right time. Seriously, these waves get huge and fast. I now know that I will never be a good surfer.
Right off the bat we took another boat ride to the nearby Gili Islands. They're a popular destination, and for good reason. I get sick of describing beaches so just imagine absolute paradise and I'll put up some pictures later. Little did we know there was a full moon party that night. We hadn't slept the night before since it was the World Cup of Soccer final and it was too noisy near our hotel.
Us again.
We walked around Gili Trawangan for a sunset beer. We arrived at maybe 5:30 pm and there were horse drawn carts full of speakers and booze heading for the beach. I guessed there would be no sleep this night either. And there wasn't. The next day was a snorkelling day and I was so shocked at the beauty just along the shore that I couldn't help but go diving too.
***I'm pumped guys. I swam with some sharks! The first thing I saw on the first dive was a bloody 6 foot white tip reef shark. I thought I was done for. Haha, actually it was really kinda peaceful down there. I just sat there staring at it. The shark got a bit agressive after a minute and it made a loop around us so we took off. Never got too close though. We saw a couple more smaller sharks that day, some giant sea turtles, some squid, all sorts of the usual small fish, and a real shocker : the bumper head parrot fish. If you ever want to see an amazing animal this would be a good candidate. Absolutely huge. And we saw a whole school of about 20 of 'em. I don't even know how much
Poor Bastard
These horses just sat there in the sun all day because the island was so small you didn't need a ride. I suppose they hauled mostly beer and water. this things would weigh but they were way bigger than me, so they had my utmost respect right there. And they have huge bumps on their heads for breaking off chunks of coral and then munching on it with their birdlike beaks. The turtles were cool too. You could go right up and stare them in the face, and they'd just chill out on the coral and look at you like you were the stupid one. They were huge too. You could ride on one if they weren't so lazy.
-Note to self: never dive Thailand or Vietnam again. It couldn't compare.
The thing I loved most about the Gilis was the group we were hanging out with there. I tell ya man, it was a gang of really fun and interesting people. I still laugh when I think about some of the times we had. It was short but sweet, and we left the Gilis after 5 nights to go back to Lombok. We went south to another Kuta Beach, only it wasn't similar to the one in Bali.
I tried surfing in Lombok at a good beginners spot called Goupok. We went with a guy, Nas, from Singapore
A sunrise departure
Leaving Gili Trawangan. Early. Cranky. Hungry. Our boat kept stalling. Hungrier. Had rice for breakfast. Cranky. and his friend, Ing, a local guy. It was phenomenal. I wish I had taken my camera to show you all. It's a good spot for beginners, although it is over a reef and some guys get cut up a bit. I just took it easy and did a hell of a lot more paddling than surfing. The spot I first tried in Bali was really easy. It was a sandy beach and shallow enough to touch the bottom. Groupok was a different story. Forget about being lazy and walking your board out. We had to take a little wooden boat to this spot. After catching a wave you'd have to paddle on your board like crazy to get out of the breaks and around the waves back to the start. I was so tired after an hour I thought I couldn't make it back to the boat. Good times.
Nas was a cool guy and he knew how to speak English, Chinese, Malaysian, and Bahasa Indonesian. So it was excellent hanging out with him, and he invited us to come with him further east to Sumbabwa. It was a great idea, cuz we didn't know what to do next. So we rented motorbikes, one for Rhi and I and one for Nas and Ing. It was a blast man, we spent the first whole morning (we got up at 4 am and for being so close to the equator you wouldn't believe how cold it gets) cruising across Lombok to the harbour. We took a ferry across to Sumbawa. There's no feeling quite like driving a moped on to a ferry filled with buses and big trucks and tons of people. Man was I excited. Nas and Ing are good surfers and the waves get too big at Sumbawa for me but I really wanted to get some pictures of those guys showing off. Turns out that after a whole day of travel, the boys were scared shitless of the waves and decided not to surf. I don't blame them. They must have been 12 or 15 foot waves. Nuts. Nobody was surfing.
No worries though, the trip was well worth it. I think Sumbawa might be the nicest place I've seen so far in Indo. It's very traditional and laid back. No fancy stuff there, just bamboo huts, monkeys, hills, farms, and the odd surfer dude. The traffic around the bigger villages was pretty crazy though. There are all these horse driven carts and big mining trucks (they have a big mining industry there) and of course a steady stream of motorcycles. So cruising along was quite the thrill. You never knew who would cut you off next or try to have a head-on with you. We were lucky there were no bad cops on the way. I should have had insurance on the bike and an international driver's license. Oh well, all went smooth. You can always just slip the cop a crisp 50,000 if there's any trouble. I had to bribe the immigration guy just to get into the country. I think it cost me 40 Thai Baht and 7 Singapore dollars, which is maybe 5 bucks.
So we tried a couple different surf spots and it was all much too dangerous. We only stayed two nights (the second night was at a place called Scar Reef. Go figure.) and then once again went back to Kuta Lombok for a night. Now I'm in a Ubud, Bali and it seems really nice but it's dark so I can't tell. We only have 4 days left on our tourist visa and I'm not ready to leave yet. We got a number from a surfer dude to call a guy that can get you a visa extension for an extra month. We might try that but I don't think it's quite legal. Otherwise I'll have to fly out of the country and back. Whatever's cheaper, I guess.
***Keep an eye out for more pictures and less meaningless blabber.
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Robin
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THANK GOD!
Whoa Scott, I was so worried about you, I just kept asking Backs if he had heard anything about you....I am so glad to hear that you are safe, and still having a blast...Please stay safe, and keep all of us.....your fellow Canandians posted please....I can breathe again..