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Published: July 22nd 2010
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After our great boating adventure, we made our way back from Flores by taking a 9 hour ferry from Lubanbanjo to Sumbawa, then a 1.5 hour cramped bemo (minibus) to the capital, Bima, then a 16 hour bus journey (+ car ferry) to Mataram in Lombok. We could have flown but that seemed like cheating and besides we have a lot of time but not a lot of money!
Kuta, Lombok
After being dropped off in Mataram, we got a bemo to take us to Kuta on the south coast (not to be confused we hectic Kuta in Bali!). This was a small and quiet little tourist village geared up for surfers. We stayed at The Surfers Inn and spent a couple of day zooming around the unspoilt Lombok countryside, traditional villages and coastline on a scooter in search of beaches and surf. Found many pretty deserted beaches but no surf suitable for beginners so Dee didn't get a chance to practise surfing like he wanted too. After 3 days we made our way back to Bali.
Ubud, Bali
We got a shuttle bus to Ubud, Bali's spiritual and cultural centre (according to the guide book). We
got soaked looking for accomodation when we first arrived as it was unseasonally stormy. Found a basic bungalow on cheapie Arjuna Street run by a sweet family (Anom Bungalows) and took advantage of the cheap Indonesian food and laundry. We didn't stay here for long as we had rats running along the beams in our bungalow and it creeped us out so we changed to a nicer rodentless hotel.
Spent 5 days in Ubud, don't know where the time went. The big sprawling village was very built up with many hotels, restaurants and shops. It wasn't how we imagined it would be. It was very crazy with millions of hawkers and Japanese tour buses. Some days we did very little (Holly was sick) and some days we did loads of cool things. We walked in the beautiful fresh green rice paddies, did an early morning yoga class, browsed the amazing art and antique shops and the boutiques, Dee had a hair cut for 80p! and ate at many wholesome organic health food cafes. Interesting to watch the locals prepare and put out offerings to the Gods everyday. A small palm leaf tray containing flowers and food is put into
shrines, porches, pavements, even motorbikes as a sign of respect and gratitude to Gods. Lovely, but no wonder they get rats!!
There were many spas here so we indulged and treated ourselves to the works at fab Zen Bali Spa. We had a Mandi Rempah, that's a Spice Bath Treatment to you and I. We had amazing body massages (it's called a ''deep tissue massage'' in the trade, think pressure points and knuckle cracking too and Holly had the bruises to prove it!) followed by a body scrub with ground spices then a herb and spice bath overlooking a tropical garden. It was brilliant and all for 12 pounds each! I could only get an eyebrow shape for that price back home!!
The thing to do in Ubud is watch a traditional Balinese dance. We ended up seeing 2 because they were so good. First night we went to watch a Kecak dance in an open air stage. A large group of traditionally dressed men sat in concentric circles around lit candles and provided the music (only by singing and chanting) for the male and female dancers, some of whom were supposed to be in a trance-like state.
The finale was a guy who walked on burning coconut husks! Very dramatic. The second dance we saw was a Legong and Barong dance performed by a Women's Group in the Ubud concert hall. The beautifully dressed ladies on stage played musical instruments (xylophones, chimes and drums) while the younger girls danced. Amazing outfits, flashing eyes and quivering hand movements. Spectacular.
We couldn't help notice that there were thousands of stray dogs in Ubud. There are some nice looking animals that clearly have owners but most are street dogs, some are in a terrible condition. We heard about a local charity called Bali Dogs or Bali Animal Rescue Centre (BARC) that helps wounded and sick dogs, tries to rehome puppies and adults and vaccinates (against rabies) and sterilises dogs on the street. They have a charity shop which we donated some of our unworn clothes and unused stuff too and we went to their Rehab Centre to see what they do. We visited at dinner time and got to see the mammoth task the staff have of feeding 95 excited and hungry dogs rice and chicken. Some tiny poorly puppies had to be hand fed. All were desperate for
our attention and some affection, cute but heartbreaking.
East Coast, Bali
After being pummeled, stretched and soaked, our bodies were detoxified so we moved on to the quiet east coast for a couple of days. Hired a scooter and the 2 of us went on another road trip. We stayed in Tulamben, which is famous for having the sunken remains of the US Navy cargo ship USAT Liberty just 25m off shore. Apparently, it was torpedoed by the Japanese in 1942 and left on the beach until 1963 when volcano Agung erupted and pushed it into the sea! It is good for both snorkling and diving so we went to check it out. The sea was quite rough the day we were there so visibility was brilliant but we did get to see the wreck and all the corals and fish that now call it home. We did more snorkling down the coast at pretty Jemeluk. There were loads of fish here, thought we were swimming in an aquarium. Drove back to Ubud via the beautiful coast road.
Kuta, Bali
With only 3 days to go until we flew to Australia, we spent the last days
of our Asia adventure in infamous Kuta. The guesthouses here must be some of the worst value for money we have seen in 9 months, all expensive and not that good but we found something half decent in the tiny alleyways back from the beach. Dee hired a surf board on the busy Kuta beach and got in some surfing practise while Holly tried to ignore the thousands of hawkers - ''massage?, pineapple?, postcard?, ice cream?, manicure?, beach mat? necklace? taser or nightstick (no joke!)? No, no, no, no, no, no! The traffic jams here were awful, it's grid-lock 24/7. We browsed the crap shops and stocked up on cheap CDs/DVDs, sent a load of stuff home (not tasers or night sticks BTW), dined at posh Seminyak and Holly got to see Twilight Eclipse at the cinema. We hated Kuta after 3 days and were very glad to say cheerio and go to the airport bound for Brisbane (weirdly via Hong Kong)........
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Brad Cheatham
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Goodbye Asia!
WOW, I know you must have mixed emotions about leaving Asia... seems like such an amazing time! The temples, the elephants, the food... all will be missed I'm sure! Wishing you both safe travel to Australia and can't wait to see all the adventure you get into there!!! Much love and God bless... Bxxx