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Published: January 16th 2014
I'm sitting on the verandah of our little rented house watching the clouds roll in over the sea and listening to the story of this beach. The high tide line is littered with volcanic rocks and each time a wave runs over them they tumble and chatter, and grind themselves down into a rich black sand.
Our goal for this trip was to find a tiny house where we could live quietly and freedive every day. We'd hoped for a place without too many tourists, especially the kind that like to party, and somewhere we'd love the food and could meet and get to know the local people. The perfect spot, though we hadn't dared to wish for it, would be a sleepy town, with easy access to deep water close to shore.
The last couple of weeks we'd been spending time researching where we could find the best freediving in S.E. Asia. The first place that came up was Bali, but we discounted it right away, having heard so much about what a party place it was. But after a little more research we learned that the great concentration of raucous tourists keep to the south side of
the Island, in Kuta and Ubud around Denpasar. The best diving is around 65km away, off of Amed, a region encompassing a string of villages on the north east side of the island, and on the Gilis, a group of islands about 40 minutes away by boat.
We decided to start looking, and serendipitously, found a rental house that was available immediately. It is the off season for Bali, since the majority of tourists are from Australia and it is summer there, so the owner offered us a deal on a long term rental.
When we arrived at Ngurah Rai Airport we were a little overwhelmed by the amount of drivers holding up signs for resorts. Our flight landed just before a big one from Australia did and the arrivals area was a bit of a zoo. The woman who owns the house said she'd send someone to meet us, as it would be much cheaper than hiring a taxi at the airport. It took some time to find Salit in the crowd (she'd described him as about 5'7" and slim which matched about 99% of the crowd) but when we found each other, he very quickly and
efficiently directed us through the mob and to his car.
It's a three hour trip to Amed and he asked if we were hungry and wanted to stop for lunch first. And so we were introduced to our first Soto Ayum at a road side restaurant with four tables. This is a fresh broth with pieces of chicken and tofu, vegetables, lemongrass, basil, noodles, and sprouts, served with a side of rice, sliced lime, thick soya sauce and chili sauce. It is delicious and the perfect thing to eat after a long night of traveling.
On the way to Amed we grilled Salit with questions about the food, the ecology and life on Bali. We had been surprised in Sri Lanka to learn that the price of electricity and gas was the same or higher than in Canada and were curious about the economy in Bali. Everything is much cheaper here (food, gas, accommodation) yet Balinese seem to enjoy a much higher standard of living than Sri Lankans. Salit laughed when he heard Sri Lankans called three wheelers tuk tuks, right away asking if it was because of the sound they make. They are called bentors in Indonesia
but he said they haven't been used on Bali since the mid-90's. There also seems to be a lot less litter and fewer stray dogs. The dogs seem generally healthier and aren't bald from mange, a common site in Sri Lanka, but once again, this observation is based on our 3 hour trip from the airport to Amed. There are a far wider range of goods displayed in the road side stores and many more ATMs; there is definitely a lot of money flowing in Bali. In Bali the majority of people are Hindu, with a smaller amount of Muslim, and then a smattering of other religions including Buddhism and Christianity. About 10% of the population are foreign ex-pats.
After passing many beach towns we turned away from the coast to cross the island; the landscape changed to jungle and rice paddies and fields of corn and pumpkin. Cows that were absolutely everywhere in Sri Lanka were nowhere to be seen here. They were replaced by chickens and roosters that roamed freely; thinner and more colourful than their North American counterparts, they seem tougher and much more sure of themselves. We also saw a lot of roosters penned up
in hand woven cages, an ominous sight that made both of us think of Puerto Rico and the cockfighting that went on there.
Traffic is much more orderly here than in Sri Lanka, both on the highway and on the smaller, and the roads are better maintained. Infrastructure seems to be generally much more advanced. After a couple of hours in the air conditioned car Matt and I were both dozing off. Salit told us that we were almost there when we passed through terraced hills and onto the north coast. Mount Agung, an active volcano popped into view. Finally, we had arrived at what would be our new home until at least the end of February.
When we first left Vancouver, Indonesia was not on the list of countries we'd planned to visit and so we know little about it, the customs and the people. But now that we're here we've begun to research this island nation and have already put the Gilis and Borneo on our list of places to see.
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Denis Beaudry
non-member comment
Woohoo!
Wow! You guys are hardcore globetrotters, jumping from one spot to another in a pinch. Thanks for your latest post. If I could've closed my eyes while reading, I'm sure I would've felt just like if I was there. Very interesting! As nothing can stop you guys, I'm looking forward to hear about your swim across the Java Sea on a peaceful afternoon. You could have a drink in Malaysia and swim back to Bali with wonderful sunset in the background. This would make a great story. Anyway, if ever you end up in Malaysia, don't forget to say thanks for me to your friend (about the freediving suit). Take care and have fun! Denis