Just back from a 7 week trip to Indonesia, checking out the photos and putting my thoughts into order. When most people think of Bali they imagine a tropical paradise full of honeymooners , well that was my idea, but is that reality? Most people you meet in Indonesia are friendly and seem to be enjoying themselves. However there is also an element of tourist abuse going on. Having arrived at Denpassar airport I asked the airport information service where and when the next bus was going to Ubud, he looked me in the eye and told me the next bus was at 5 o'clock 5 hours from now and I would be better off taking one of the taxis that were vying for my business, this was a lie, the buses go every 20 minutes or so. I asked him where the bus stop was and got a rather vague answer, I set off on my way and eventually found the bus stop and caught a bus, which costs a fraction of the price a taxi would charge. This was endemic in Bali where it seems most people will push tourists into paying the highest price possible. At the market when you want to buy something you have to negotiate hard! So now knowing that people will lie to you, will try to charge you much more what you going to do? Get used to it and just enjoy all the other nice things!!
Ubud and surrounding villages
Ubud is a large town close to the airport but inland from the tourist beaches, here you can buy every kind of hand craft item you can imagine. There is a large ex-pat community and plenty of tourists. I was really impressed by the local temples and their colours and flags and the number of people who visited them for festival days, sometimes taking over the streets with long processions that turned the roads into car parks. Every day somebody would come around leaving little gifts for the gods, sometimes with candies other times small donations of money.
I was expecting large volcanoes and eruptions but I only found old non active volcanoes that none the less still held some charm and sense of size of when they were active, later in Java around Yogyakarta people told us of the nuisance of volcanic ash from regular eruptions and the dangers of earthquakes, much of the buildings on our train journey across Java evidenced such activity with caved ceilings common view.
Cock Fighting
On one of the days we stopped at a small village which seemed to be busy with motorbikes and plenty of flags, we had turned up just in time to witness cock fighting! The previous days we had met men stroking their cocks in public, yes we were surprised too, it turns out that cocks get a neck massage and good rub from their owners on a daily basis, yes I know what your thinking! The cocks in this village seemed pretty aggressive and the punters were out in force putting down small sums of money on the outcome of the fight. Blood sports are of course frowned on in many parts of the world but here cock fighting is very much part of the culture although not on the tourist activity list!!
Motorbikes and Police fines
Renting a small motorbike gives you a lot more freedom it also comes with certain inherent risks and the possibility you will need to bribe Policemen. Indonesia is full of bikes like most of South East Asia you can see whole families on a small bike and some look ridiculously overloaded with various goods. At traffic lights its not uncommon to have 100 plus bikes jostling for position and ready to go as soon as that green light comes. This can be a little uncomfortable if your not used to it and the air is pretty polluted at such times. In Indonesia its a legal requirement to have an international driving
permit, most tourists do not! The Police like stopping tourists on bikes who they will then ask for the driving license and if you do not have the correct paperwork they come back with a smile talk of a form a court appearance and a big fine! Of course now is the time for the tourist to say is there any way this can be resolved here and now, the Policeman will of course say yes and ask you for a few hundred thousand Rupea $10-20, thats the normal situation, now if you don't have any money in your wallet I found they just tell you to not do it again and go with a warning, keeping your money in another pocket rather than your wallet is a neat trick to avoid police fines and pickpockets getting your money!
Be careful on motorbikes, I have seen too many tourists with injuries sustained from accidents that normally involve front brakes and corners, we were supremely lucky when a guy hit me from behind whilst I was turning right, he bounced off my right arm and ended up on the floor we stayed upright and uninjured, a few firm words were exchanged afterwards with out getting upset but just stating the facts and the guy drove off a few scratches to his bike and foot but no big problem and without the need for Police involvement!
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| Village Temple with flags |
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| Donations for the festival |
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| View of one of Balis calderas |
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| My two lovelies |
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| Cock Fighting |
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| Traditional Dress in order to enter a temple for a blessing |
Amed and Lovina
After ten days of Ubud and surrounding areas we left for the beach, we specifically a place where we could snorkel and see plenty of fish. Jemuluk Beach in Amed. My first impression was a little like whats all the fuss about, just another village by the sea, but once I got in put a mask on, wow, the corals were so vibrant, so many fish, different species, just like a very expensive aquarium, and with the thrill that you may see a turtle or two... I was hooked, we met some local dive instructors from Euro Dive and soon I was on my first adventure dive, diving off the coast onto a wreck called the USS Liberty, this was my second ever dive using tanks but I absolutely loved it,so much so, I decided to do the PADI open water course and become certified. Thanks Julia and Lorenz, had an amazing experience.
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| Me Diving on a small wreck Padang Bai |
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| Sea Horse we saw, also a massive Eagle Ray, very majestic! |
Whilst we were in the north of the island of Bali, we decided that we had to extend our visas which were only valid for a one month stay. This meant a trip to the immigration office, well in fact it means three trips five days and 35 us dollars, rather bureaucratic, but no way around it other than paying somebody else to do it for you. Lovina is a small resort close to the old capital of Bali Singaraja, most famous for its daily dolphin trips and small Buddhist temple. We avoided the costly dolphin trip touted by our guest house but succumbed to the offer of a local fisherman on the day of Lilies birthday. Dolphin harassment is what comes to mind, 50 boats chasing small pods of dolphins around the ocean, when one spots the pod all the other boats change direction and start chasing the dolphins, which then dissapear and emerge somewhere else, starting the process again.... Not the best trip I ever did in my life or would reccomend.
One year ago we were in India celebrating Lilis 2nd birthday this year In Indonesia, next year who knows, its been a fun time and we have learnt so much, experienced many things met some great people and slept in places you may not want to!! Hey thats the travellers lifestyle, so many people ask us what its like to travel with a young child, well Lili, its been great, people love you and you love them back, yes you have plenty of moments where your upset and screaming but you soon bounce back with a smile and a laugh.. happy third birthday baby, I love you!
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| Happy Birthday Lili |
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| Dolphin Trip |
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| Sunset behind local fishing boats |
Just before leaving Bali to go to the Lombock and then Gili Meno we stopped at Padang Bai after being invited for a full moon eclipse party, literally a full moon which had a total eclipse, it got dark, then it got light again after the eclipse had past and the full moon resumed normal service. The party itself was on a deserted beach and involved local tribes as well as tourists, no alcohol except the local moonshine! The local tribe also did a tribal dance and song which added an authentic tribal feeling to the whole evening as well as the brilliant total full moon eclipse!!
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| The moon appearing again after the eclipse. |
We took the slow ferry to Lombock and then shared a taxi to the next ferry to catch the local boats to the islands, sounds simple but you run the gauntlet of men trying to sell you expensive fast boat tickets and high priced taxis all the way, even the on the ferry we had to pay extra for a foam mattress to have something to lie down on.
We finally reached Gili Meno a day after we had left! I got in the water after reaching our place of sleep and after a short swim I saw a turtle!! Such graceful creatures and amazing to swim with them.`
Java
If Bali was a little spoilt at its social fabric level due to tourism then Java did not suffer such issues. The ferry from Bali to Java gave us an opportunity to meet a great man and his family. Fendy was eating at the same road side food vendor as ourselves, we started chatting and got along very well, he told us about the train that we should take to cross Java and when it would leave, we checked and the train would leave in two days time, Fendy invited us to be guests at his home as he was a member of couch surfing, he even had a three year old boy just like Lili. Fendy also runs a turtle sanctuary, taking eggs, incubating them then releasing them into wild after hatching, he is part of a generation of Indonesians who want to protect the amazing biodiversity they have so that their children can enjoy it... go Fendy.
We travelled from Banyuwangi to Jogyakarta on the train, it took us 14 hours so that was plenty of time for Lili to charm the carriage of passengers and make new friends.
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| Fendy does his trademark jump and pose, I'm not as flexible. |
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| Lili and Rafa |
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| Lilis mates on the train
Yogyakarta is an old city with world famous temples, Klaten a city just 20 minutes away is not known by tourists! We spent 1 week there teaching English to school kids and meeting local people and doing stuff that local people do, like go to a wedding on a Saturday morning with 2000 guests, what 2000!! That apparently is a medium sized one in Java! The ceromony happened at the same time as singers were singing and food was being served, as soon as desert was eaten everyone left!! Then we had pictures with the bride and groom! Damn im tall! especially in Asia. We met some lovely people in Java and people trying to make a difference to their community like Rani and Heni and the rest of their team
    
So our trip to Indonesia was coming to an end, I had one last opportunity to go diving, so did at Padang Bai, the first dive we saw an amazing Eagle Ray a huge fish above us, my air ran low, really fast compared to my previous dives, much quicker than the other divers, on he second dive my air ran out completely whilst at the bottom so I had to quickly inform my guide and take his secondary air supply, on the way up he saw a reef shark above us and a seahorse so pretty nice things to see, but I learnt to check my air supply more often, running out when you are 25 metres under the sea was not a cool thing to do!!
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