Ba-aahhh-li

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The ferry journey between Java and Bali was short but our boat took some time finding a docking platform. A myriad of ferries and cargo ships steamed out to all areas of the archipelago from Bali’s western harbour, Ketapang.

The ferry eventually docked and I made my way through the throngs of aggressive touts to the bus station. I was bombarded with offers of private transport and onward tickets by a group that crowded round me but I made it to my destination eventually. The mid-day heat was incredibly oppressive making the crowd of touts even more annoying. These groups are all over Asia, making small commissions from the hotels, buses and taxis they try to ferry you into. Basically meaning you end up paying more.

Despite the price being printed on the wall of the bus station at 13,000 RP to Pemeuteran, the driver still wanted to charge me 30,000. We negotiated to 20,000 and we were eventually on our way on the surprisingly smooth tarmac road along Bali’s northern coast.

Pemeuteran turned out to a bad choice of destination for a backpacker as the small village was lined with a handful of premium dive resorts. Their popularity stems from the proximity to one of Indonesia’s premier dive locations – Menjangan Island.

I ended up staying one night here and paying waaay over my budget for a wonderful room. The luxury was nice but I knew it would make my following hotel room, closer to my modest budget a more primitive experience.

The bungalow was glorious, set amongst lush tropical gardens with small cobbled walkways that snaked out revealing hidden stone Hindu statues and serene pools of water. Inside, the spacious exotic theme was crowned by a large bamboo bed and outdoor (enclosed!) bathroom with a single bamboo pipe providing the shower on smooth pebbles.

The following day I reluctantly left and travelled further down the coast to Lovina, which is a much more affordable and livelier. I had to negotiate my fare again but found that it is much easier to just get on the bus and get to my destination first which makes for a much stronger bargaining position. I went back to basics as far as accommodation is concerned and reluctantly back to a fan-cooled, cold water only room.

Lovina was a great place to spend a few days. The atmosphere is relaxed with many cheap massage parlours, cafes and restaurants. I spent a day enjoying these aspects of town and especially having a Balinese massage for about £4.00 an hour. The food was varied and good value with many different types of international cuisine to choose from. The Indonesian food was always the best though as you’d expect. I tried many variations of traditional Indonesian fare as well as some new curries and a particularly tantalising spicy tuna dish.

From here it was also possible to dive at Menjangan Island, which prolonged my stay further. As opposed to the £80.00 the dive resorts were offering for a standard two-dive trip – the cost here was just £35.00. This included transport and lunch! Therefore, the following day, after carefully checking their equipment, I was off back down the coast to Menjangan Island.

The island is small but the marine life is apparently incredible. After getting all of my gear on and descending I soon found this out for myself. The islands shallow coral extends out for 30 metres or so before plummeting straight down about 60 metres off an underwater cliff. The coral on this cliff face is wondrous with an enormous array of fish to swim through, each different shapes and sizes. The experience was fantastic and our 45 minutes underwater flew by remarkably quickly.

After a lunch of nasi goreng (what else) and surface exploration we began the second dive in another location. The coral was similar but the visibility was not as good or the fish as plentiful as the first dive. It was still a great dive however and the coral gardens were beautifully coloured and overall the dive was exhilarating.

I made my way south, over the central mountains the following day. The air was much cooler here than the heat haze that lies over the coast. The respite did not last long though as we made our descent on the other side, weaving in and out of traffic towards another sticky day.

My bus passed many different temples and shrines that adorn many parts of this small island. The dominant religion in Bali is Hinduism but not the traditional kind practised in India and Nepal. Here they have their own version of Hinduism which borrows some aspects from the traditional kind but also incorporates new gods and rituals.

Hinduism, regardless of its variations is always an intoxicating religion to explore with many symbolic deities, shrines, temples and ceremonies that always exude peace, calm and complete, commanding devotion. The smell of sweet incense is a common feature all over the island as it wafts over the streets from temples or from small straw basket offerings that are laid out in front of local businesses.

These small baskets always contain colourful scented flowers and a burning line of incense that, when coupled with the above present this small island an infectious spiritual calm. It is clear to see why this is a popular holiday destination - the entire area is calm personified. Where I have been anyway, the throbbing nightclubs of Kuta could well tell a different story!

I was heading for Ubud, Bali’s cultural centre. I spent the night in a little home-stay away from the centre of town with a nice little family that made possibly the best banana pancakes I have ever tasted. They also had two dogs that never really seemed to like me very much – growling at my constant coming and goings.

Being located in the south side of Bali, Ubud is much more heavily touristed than the north. A sign of this is the newly built Starbucks that sits in the centre of town. The heart of town consists of a few roads adorned with palaces and moss-covered ornate temples. Around this there are countless restaurants, cafes, travel agents and tour operators catering to the masses that descend on this place.

I began my time here by having another relaxing Balinese massage before sampling some of the local warung’s (little restaurants with just a few seats) and local cafés where I drank copious amounts of Bali coffee. The latter is a small, incredibly strong coffee that, despite how much milk poured into it, remains black. The small warung’s outside of the city centre were the best, serving yummy Indonesian food for a fraction of the cost of the larger, central restaurants.

Ubud is where most tourists come to shop in Bali. There are hundreds of artisan shops in the surrounding streets which sell locally made cosmetics, bath products, toys, clothing, ornaments and statues amongst a vast array of other products. A market is located in the centre of town which is a small warren selling many of these items at a negotiable rate that usually starts at 400% the original value. The haggling is all good fun though and I bought some sunglasses and a large sarong for my upcoming beach time.

The area surrounding Ubud is part of the attraction of coming here. Many different crops are cultivated in the rich soil on Bali with the main one being rice. I wanted to make my way to a specific area 10km outside of town called Tegallalang which is the location of some beautiful rice terraces. I tried to bargain with taxi drivers to make the trip, which would take an hour at most, but none of them would take me for less than 150,000 RP.

I took matters into my own hands (or legs) and ended up hiring a bicycle for the journey which initially seemed like a great idea, costing only 15,000 RP for the day. I started out at about 8.30am and began cycling out of town, through the traffic. The journey to Tegallalang turned out to be an arduous slog up-hill all the way. The terrain was not mountainous, but a steady 20-30 degree angle for an hour in the baking morning sunshine turned me into a sweaty mess very quickly.

On the way there were many small rice fields, artisan shops selling huge wooden Buddhist monoliths and moss-covered temples which made the journey much more interesting. I eventually made it to Tegallalang, which proved to be much further than I anticipated. I cycled to the end point of the terraces to a café to enjoy a panoramic view of the area.

The view was fabulous. The terraces were a bright green colour that gleamed in the sunlight. Thick forest and coconut tree’s provided the backdrop as the green terraces stepped down towards the foot of the valley. Every inch was dedicated to the cultivation of rice.

The café owner I think could see the effort I had put in to reach this point and so took me out onto the terraces for a little tour telling me about how each area is owned and farmed by different families which was all very interesting. Afterwards, whilst drinking in the view and my fresh pineapple juice he offered me a free snack that consisted of tapioca with coconut and palm sugar which was wonderfully sumptuous.

After a few stops along the way to admire the rice terraces I headed back down to Ubud. The trip down was much easier than the incoming journey and the wind cooled my sweat-drenched clothes quickly. I arrived back in Ubud in about a tenth of the time it had taken me to climb up to Tegallalang.

The following day, after another delicious banana pancake, I caught a mini-bus to the east of Bali and the port of Padanbai. From here a 1000 hp speedboat awaited to take me and other passengers to a paradise called the Gili Isles, located off the coast of Lombok. My proper beach time was about to begin!

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Photos

Storm Clouds above Bali
The clouds sail over Menjangan Island and hit the central mountains in Bali where they unload.

Ship to Shore
Menjangan Island

Coral View
Looking down at the deep blue cliff face wall.

Rice Terraces
Tegallalang, Ubud

Comments

[Mum & Dad]

Bikes away!
I think you did the right thing undertaking that journey by bike (these touts are everywhere and all taxi drivers will try and overcharge - we have found that in most countries we have visited - one price for a local and another for a tourist) and initially it was hard work but the rewards came later as with every exercise and you enjoyed the ride back and the exhilaration of your achievement. Well done! I would have preferred to stay in the bungalow as although I enjoy the hard work put into each day I do like to return to luxury which makes it all worthwhile. However ?I know you like to work to a budget and that is part of your travelling enjoyment. Dad would love to have a massage that cheap but has never found anything like that even on holiday!! I would love to have tasted that pineapple juice as it sounded exquisite. You really seem to have a knack of hunting out the best in every country you visit. The photos are all fantastic too. The picture of the storm clouds - was there an actual storm from these clouds whilst you were there. Take care and have fun, speak to you soon. Enjoyed the skype - you looked so well. Love Mum and Dad xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx