Bali

Our time in Bali was going to be short so we decided our first destination would be the capital Kuta, we would use this as our base and then have the occasional day trip, although it didn’t work out exactly like that.  After the high paced travelling we had done in Indonesia and the amount of time travelling on buses I was looking forward to a bit of a relaxing time. 

We arrived fairly late at night and with our typical travelling style we didn’t have any accommodation booked.  We got a taxi from the bus station to the main guest house area.  I left Nev with the bags while I tried to find some affordable accommodation.  After wandering around for an hour and finding out most of the cheap guest houses were fully booked, I eventually found somewhere but unfortunately there were only double rooms left.  This meant I was to yet again share a bed with another man.  We were pretty shattered so we decided to stay for one night then find somewhere the next day. 

We planned to get an early night but were rudely disturbed by somebody making a total racket by revving their motorbike outside of the reception of our hotel.  I went outside to have a look, an extremely irate Indonesia was trying to run over a guy from our Hotel.  It was quite comical really, he would rev his motorbike up and at low speed try and hit the other guy who was using plastic chairs to shield himself.  This went on for quite some time with lots of shouting and threatening gestures, but it was really handbag fighting with neither one of the guys intent on exchanging blows.  Myself and Nev were getting rather annoyed by the racket and went downstairs to try and split them up but to no avail.  Eventually we went upstairs again and waited for the motorbike dude to get in my direct line of sight so I could pour a bottle of water over him.  I got him, but he took little notice.  In our room we had a massive bucket which I proceeded to fill with water, he’d certainly notice his second soaking.  But by the time I had my weapon ready he’d left and the fight was over, I was rather disappointed really, but at least it meant we could finally go to sleep.

The next couple of days in Kuta we took it easy.  Kuta isn’t a very nice town, it’s really hectic with lots of narrow streets with motorbikes whizzing up and down them.  It’s also full of pissed up Australians, it’s like their Ibiza I suppose.  One thing I thought was quite strange and pretty irresponsible was that almost every bar had magic mushrooms on the menu.  I don’t think it’s right selling mind bending hallucinogens to pissed up tourists who don’t really know what they’re letting themselves in for.  

Kuta is all about the beach, it has a fabulous white sand beach, and to my surprise it wasn’t too crowded.  On our second day we found a much nicer hotel right near the beach.  I took full advantage of our locale and went for a jog and swam in the sea every day we were there.  Myself and Nev also had a nice relaxing afternoon having a few beers lying on recliners and going for the occasional dip.  The food in Kuta is also rather good, and we enjoyed the extra choice that was available.  We didn’t have any big nights out though, we were still in old man mode really and the nightlife wasn’t our cup of tea. 

We decided that we would hire some motorbikes and go for a day trip to a town called Amed.  It sounded like the complete polar opposite of Kuta, a remote village with hardly any traffic and having spent three days in frantic Kuta it sounded like paradise.  Amed is also a great diving and snorkelling spot with many coral reefs and a ship wreck just off the shoreline.  It should normally take about 3 ½ hours to get there and was maybe a bit ambitious for a day trip.  There were also lots of sights to see en route, so we decided to have an early start and set off at around 6am.

Nev had never been on a motor bike before and I’d only ridden one once about 7 years ago.  Nev wasn’t really looking forward to the prospect as the traffic in Kuta is pretty horrendous at the best of times.  Our trip didn’t start off well, it took us about an hour to get out of Kuta and by that time the rush hour traffic was in full swing.  To make matters worse Nev got stopped by the police.  I managed to get through a traffic light just before it turned red while Nev just missed out.  He was in the wrong lane, the lane turning left when he was meant to be going straight on, and when he passed the junction a policeman waved him down.  He was informed of his mistake and asked to show his driving licence.  He was told that the UK driving licence wasn’t valid in Indonesia and he was about to be hit with a double fine, for being in the wrong lane and for not having an appropriate licence.  Fortunately the policeman let him off on the driving licence count but he still had to pay a fine/bribe for his incorrect position at the traffic lights.  He wasn’t enjoying the motorbike experience and this made matters worse.  To cap it all off he’d gone deaf in one ear, so he was having a pretty bad time of it.

We made our first stop off at a Hindu temple.  Bali is 95% Hindu and there seemed to be some festival going on.  When we arrived there were lots of people gathered at the temple singing and chanting.  It was a pretty cool sight but we had to move on as we were still miles away from Amed.  The traffic steadily got worse as the day wore on and Nev’s expression on his face steadily changed from unhappiness to misery.  He wasn’t enjoying the motorbike experience one bit, but we’d passed the point of no return, so unfortunately for him he had to grin and bear it.

We had another stop off at another temple built next to a cave which was full of bats.  It was quite a sight, and afterwards we had some lunch.

The road on the way to Amed started to become a lot more interesting.  The roads became windy mountain paths, with views of impressive rice terraces.  There were a lot of trucks kicking around and overtaking became more challenging.  Whilst I was thoroughly enjoying the rollercoaster ride of the mountainous roads, Nev hated it.  I had to stop frequently for him to catch up and I noticed that his facial expression had progressed to a look of sheer terror. 

Me on my Moped

Bali Rice Terraces

We eventually arrived in Amed six and a half hours after we set off and we both agreed that it was best that we stayed the night.  We managed to find a great hotel next to the beach with the shipwreck.  We had lunch and then hired some snorkels.  The snorkelling was magic, there were loads of beautiful reefs and vibrantly bright fish.  We explored the shipwreck which was around 100m offshore.  It had been there since the 60s and had now become an ecosystem, covered with coral and shellfish.  I explored the nooks and crannies of the boat every now and again scaring some tropical fish out of there hidey holes.   It was the first time I’d seen an underwater shipwreck and I loved it.  Nev had chilled out too, he was slightly apprehensive before taking part in the snorkelling as he’d never done it before.   As soon as he put his head in the water and saw the underwater display of spectacular fish and coral, for the first time that day he started to enjoy himself.

The Beach View from our Hotel

After the snorkelling I went for a ride on my motorbike around Amed while Nev chilled at the hotel.  The roads were great, little to no traffic and perfect for motorbikes.  Windy and hilly with great scenery to take in along the way, dramatic cliffs with a tropical turquoise sea back drop.  I passed through a couple of small towns and the kids were finishing school, I had a few close shaves on my motorbike when trying to reply to the numerous hellos, waving enthusiastically while driving one handed.  It was starting to get dark so I decided to head back to the Hotel.

It was a very relaxing evening, we had a couple of beers and a tasty dinner.  We decided to get up really early the next day to try and avoid as much of the rush hour traffic as possible.  We were really shattered and ended up going to bed at 8pm.  We slept right through and were awoken by some strange cries in the distance.  I opened our door and saw about thirty fishing boats with long sails being pushed out to sea.  The strange cries were the fisherman coordinating the launching of their boats.  The sun was rising and it was a beautiful sight. 

We set off around 5:30am, there was no other traffic for the first hour or so and I had a whale of a time zipping around the open roads.  Nev managed to pick up the pace this time and we managed to get back to Kuta by around 9am.  We had a wee rest, had lunch then headed to the Airport for our flight to K.L.