Easy like Sunday morning

Sunday. Day of rest. We are both up with the larks (well, sparrows actually round here) and raring to go...  to go shopping. Usually a fiasco as we go armed with a list of staples and come back with a weird selection of alien vegetables, probably toxic fruit and a bag of fish gristle.

No need to worry mum, Amanda always manages to turn it into a nice cottage pie, Spaghetti Bolognaise or apple crumble.

While I was away last week Amanda was steadily breaking in the bike - think I'll start calling her Rossi or Agostini (for those of you who remember). Hovever, the thought of the by-pass turns her into a quivering wreck so I drive her to the mecca we call Makro. 

Can only get fish gristle in 25kg sacks so leave with just a tin-opener and a wooden spoon (oh, and a membership card).

After lunch we nip out to our local for an iced tea and discover the recently-opened hair salon next door. Amanda goes in for a quote and comes out 20 mins later looking like this! (for less than the price of the tea)

Mmmm

So even if you haven't missed us I certainly missed my husband (ooh that's still strange). He swanned off to Komodo for a week (likely to see those big M.... fish - without me) while I discover the true delights of food shopping at Hardy's. There still seems to be absolutely no logic in how they've laid the shop out so it takes about an hour to find the half a dozen "basics" to live on - looking forward to a tasty, fresh stir fry with a pile of fluffy rice.

Basic number one is of course rice. How complicated could that be? Not surprisingly an entire aisle is dedicated to this staple. Which one do I get? The cheapest one in the smallest packet obviously. Beras ketan putih. Go on, look it up, Google translator does Bahasa....

...at least the stir fry was tasty.

Made friends with a bunch of French diving folk so I have managed to get some plongeing in while Adrian was away. Can now name most of the equipment and a few fish en Francais. (good job too as my CV says I can speak French).

Fab time back in Tulamben: ribbon eels, baracuda, jackfish, nudis a gogo. And then to Nusa Penida. OMG. We have been diving for 15 years. Chased all over the world, I check where we go, what time of year to be right to see them. And have we? Must be jinxed. But now here we are. A mere stonesthrow from my back yard I can sit in the swell for an hour at 10m of slightly chilly sea while 1/2 dozen or more of these magnificent creatures enjoy the services of the cleaner wrasse. I've seen them, MANTA!!! Then a second dive in search of the other M. Not disappointed. 2 mola-mola come up from the depths but are too soon frightened off by some other inconsiderate divers - b****y amateur photographers.

Small pangs of guilt now enter my head. What if Adrian's little trip hasn't been as productive...

The 'M' word

Hello loyal followers. Did you miss us?

I've been away at sea to visit Komodo (there really are dragons there). The downside is that I was out of range of the mobile network and hence no internet. The other downside was that this is the longest time that Amanda and I have been apart for 31 years (honestly - we behaved like a couple of pining teenagers). The upsides are numerous and include my first Manta experience.

On the voyage I met some lovely people including a chap from Manchester called Terry Swinhope who swears he knows Clare & Keith from Twinings [confirmation required]. He and his lovely wife? Tracy would sneak me a stiff G&T to console myself in my lonely cabin.

Back in Sanur Amanda consoles herself by talking to French people.

Normal service now resumed - Rum in one hand, laptop in the other - I'll probably make more sense next time.

2 Wheeler Dealer

Have wheels! in the form of a 2003 Honda Karisma. Swing by accessory shop on test ride to pick up $11 helmets and $2.50 rear view mirrors. She's a beaut (we haven't named it yet - suggestions on a postcard please).

The Honeymoon is over

No spaces for us to dive, so we hire a moto with full tank of fuel for about £6 for to explore Lembongan.   Driving the thing comes back very quickly to Adrian, (mis-spent youth), Amanda is still rubbish at it.but a great pillion.  We spend a happy few hours riding past mangroves, up & down very steep hills, and a lot of paths that seem to go nowhere with stunning views. Pretty much covered the lot.  So we get back to base on our quiet road and Amanda heads off again on her own to practice, leaving Adrian looking anxiously as she speeds into the distance...

Some 1/2 hour later she returns on the back of someone elses bike.  Adrian still looks anxious.  It's OK,  Yeoman kindly brought her back for the money to buy fuel.  Yep, remember if you are going off on your own, check the tank, take some money & a telephone, doh.  I may be rubbish at driving the thing but I can push them for miles!!

Passage back from Lembongan to the mainland a little late but uneventful until we landed in Sanur - to the grand finale of the village festival, having cleverly missed the entire 4 day event.  People, kayaks, jukungs, kites, everywhere on the beach, in the sea & every restaurant in town had some kind of live entertainment.  We opted to go back to the MataHari on the beach for dinner as remembered the wi-fi connection was good and the food reasonable. (These are our main criteria for selcting any eatery at the moment until we get in to our own condo with wi-fi on tap.) Except for today as special eat as much as you can buffet with entertainment thrown in all for 4 x the price.  Oh dear, we get up to leave.  But fear of losing our custom the manager allows us to go a la carte (very reasonable).  We have ringside seat for the very loud 9 piece gamelan orchestra accompanying the very cute traditional balinese dancers.  They were enchanting so caught up on the emails in between sets. Adrian can't resist spotting Clare on-line gives her real time skype view.

The Staff at the Puri Kelapa seemed happy to see us back again (for the third time) as we settle in to yet another room.

So this is reality now,  the Symbiosis itinery has ended, up to us. We hit the street to visit another batch of centres on the list and see what the shops have to offer if you actually want to live here.  Hardy's is THE supermarket. This is supermarket the Balinese way.  A kind of department store with very few of the departments you'd expect to find.  Yes it has food & clothes.  And stationery and some homewares and endless aisles of decorative artefacts.  All thrown together in a most haphazard way.  But no linen or crockery or cutlery or anything particulary useful. Although Amanda manages to leave with a new pair of shoes  - how did that happen?  (they're only flip-flop type things in the sale)

Time to change rooms again...  Our new home for the next 3 days is opposite a nice coffee shop (with wi-fi of course).  Over elevenses, make friends with Leo, who runs the place.  He's a dive instructor with large SSI centre and he gives us loads of helpful gen and says to come back later as there'll be free whisky, mmmmmmmmmm

Before that we have to go to town, as in Denpasar, as Amanda's phone SIM is dead, defunct completely kaput. Poo. You have to go to Telkomsel HQ if you want to keep the number.  Which as we've given it to everyone is important.  Arrive, take a number for the queue - 306.  Take a seat.  "Now serving number 241" OMG.  It's 2:30, they shut in 2 hrs...  Whatever you do at this point don't give up and definitely don't fall asleep.  You have a very short window of opportunity to notice your number being called before they move on to the next - several people must have done as there seemed to be an emergency queue of red faced bods either embarassed or angry,  hard to tell.   4 o'clock our turn.  Hooray.  Determined to make good use of the Customer services. New sim, register both to us for security, pump for info on using GPRS & small Bahasa lesson to boot.

Back to the coffee shop.  The party is to mark the passing of 3 new SSI instructors.  We are joined by the examiner and ex PADI rep for the area.  As we polish off I don't know how many bottles of Jack & Jim we note that Koreans really aren't very seasoned drinkers - most amusing.  And so to bed...

Mola-Mola

Nusa Lembongan: Manhandle luggage across sand & water onto taxi. The rest of the passengers & crew do the same. Oh dear, 50% of the super high speed shuttle power is broken. The Ozzie girls break out the vodka & hand round peanuts. A new hamster is brought on board but obviously ate the wrong kind of rice. More hamsters are called for. Meanwhile everybody off for free beer while we wait for the crew to work their magic on the ouboard. Plugs replaced but still sounds rough (Ady thinks leads 2 & 6 are swapped but daren't say anything).

Eventually leave only 1hr or so late & it's only a 30 minute ride so the sun's not down yet. As everyone disperses we are left on the beach alone hoping the pick-up will arrive soon. It does in a manner of speaking. It's a moto. Amanda goes first, pillioned with the big bag and a backpak. Then back to collect Adrian who arrives with his arms 6" longer as he had to carry a dive gear bag in each hand while the last case is tucked between him & the driver. Welcome to scootering in Bali. Ride to hotel did flag up 3 internet cafes though. Room lovely so dump everything and head for the dive centre. John & Sue give us a warm welcome and Sue gives us the gen about living here. It's still early so we go in search of the internet. Sounds like Nikki has managed to transfer the rent money much to our relief.

Diving: Tide's out so have to wait until 11:00 to leave. 12 divers - various levels - 3 groups of 4, make friends with our group and some others. Dives are a bit tame so no photos (think they want to check us out). Come back to write up logbooks over a beer with our new friends. Keep chatting until dinner time. Sweedish couple are lovely and the Kiwis keep us amused with their stories. And so to bed.

Air con is a bit pathetic and we fall asleep with it on. At 3am it kicks in and we snap the icicles to turn it off.

Next day and it's a late start again but we're on the speedboat today. Just 4 of us and a guide. 15 mins to get out of the atoll and 5mins to the site. Current is stiff and takes a lot of effort to get to a sheltered spot. Worth every second though as we have a great dive. See many Marbled and Eagle Rays, Schooling Tuna, a Snake, a Turtle and to top it off our first Sunfish (Mola-Mola) which is immense (look it up).

Busy Day

Breakfast with the nice Dutch family who are cycling round Bali, we first saw them at the opposite end of the island. Lots to do today so pack bags & go out. We must 1: secure a room for later. 2: see if estate agent has found us accomodation. 3: Milk ATM again. All by 13:00 when the boat leaves. 

Start with ATM - easy bit. Then the estate agent who has nothing then look at a few hovels but find nothing until the Swastika (no, nothing to do with the 3rd Reich, it's the symbol for the 9 gods) which is nice. It's now about 10:30 so we stop at free wi-fi bar and have tea - at 11:00 the phone rings and it's the estate agent. He says "you come double quick". We (reluctantly) close our internet connection and go. He takes us by car (10 mins to enter traffic jam, 3 mins to destination) to the most delightful little complex of 6 new bedsits. It's now 11:45, remember we have to have checked out of our room and left by 13:00. At 12:00 we're still negotiating the price & availability, at 12:15 we shake hands and at 12:30 we leave with a house for 2 months.

Agent drives us back to the hotel just in time to leave for the boat, or so we think...

Ubud to Sanur.

Pack up the now dry gear and check the car over. Nothing visible, coolant level ok, tyres ok - well 3 are as bald as a coot - but it was like that when we got it (honest). Asked for a bucket & cloth to clean windows, chap duly arrives and washes car for us - sweet. Negotiate Ubud IDR three times before managing to leave (like some ancient spell, thrice widdershins ye shall go else meet the wrath of the parking attendant). Get hit from behind by overenthusiastic moped - no damage. 

Arrive Sanur (avoiding their parking attendant) and, while we still have the car, swing by the Korean's dive centre on the by-pass. He is very friendly and talkative and says he has excellent facilities (he does) but no customers. In a bid to kick-start the business and attract custom, yesterday he hired a Canadian instructor. Damn & blast. Check back in to Puri Kelapa and straight out to find the internet and secure a place on tomorrow's shuttle boat to Lembongan Island. Gave car back.

Freshen up by candlelight as whole town's power has failed, and out to dinner still hopeful that we can get wi-fi. Only one restaurant on the beach has its own generator and is functioning normally - even wi-fi (pronounced we-fe) is available. 

Blahbutah

We need to head inland for the next leg of our journey. Only now it’s getting dark which makes navigation even harder. You can’t see the few road signs there are (mostly behind trees), we can’t read the tiny writing on the map as we can’t find our glasses and we both want a beer! 

After several hours of U-turning we find the village Blahblahblah or something. Check the envelope. B****ks. We’re not meant to be here but the village we passed ½ hr ago. Find glasses, re-read map. See the turning. There’s a tap on the window. A sweet chap on a moto with his wife point us in the right direction. 2km late he’s back at the traffic lights. We’re in the wrong lane – turn right he gestures, not far. So slowly we go peering in the dark (it’s very dark) for some indication of the Gubah Villas. Nothing. Then our chap’s back again. It’s here!! It is?? Ah, that’ll be the sign you can only see if you come from the other direction as yet another U-turn is executed. (One thing I can say about our little car – it turns on a sixpence). We are nearly there.

Hard left hand down – kerplunk!**!?? Well who leaves an open manhole like that!! Adrian and our friendly chap lift the car out of the hole and we check there’s not too much damage. And we meander down very narrow lanes for another mile until the road stops. And there is a smiling face waving a torch. We are expected.

Very tired, we just eat & hop into our very tall bed, ready to see just where we have landed in the morning…

Oh we are in the Island of the Gods. Our secluded villa resort is tucked, tumbling down a hill in the tropical forest just outside Gianyar town. The Herons go out for the day at 6am (sunrise) and come home to roost at 6pm (sunset) It’s magical. We have a lazy start then go for a stroll round the rice terraces, following the river. Loop back round on the main road for a bit. Past the usual meddly of shops that sell everything, brick and tile makers and a Music Studio?!

Back to the fields, find a proper path which leads into steps going down and down, past the waterfalls until wow! There is a temple built into the rocks. Amazing.

Then back up all those steps we’d come down (huff, puff) ready for a cool beer back at base. Don’t want to spoil our appetite as afternoon tea is on the cards (with pancakes, mmmmmmmm)
 
The afternoon just seems to disappear and the helpful staff take our order for dinner, to be served on our own veranda later. Sundown, power out, everywhere. Ooops. But dinner still arrives (hot) and beer (cold) and we amuse ourselves making shadow animals (still can’t do deformed rabbit) by the light of our candle.

Amed & Dangerous

Amed’s not far, just 10km or an hour; if you are planning to come although the roads are pretty good, they are very twisty turny, don’t expect to hurry anywhere. We find Jukung divers (as recommended by Chris Brown) and make plans for our dives tomorrow. It’s all rather businesslike with the somewhat humourless Dutch but OK. Find a room for the night at the second place of asking and settle into yet another massive hut on a beach. Risk a cocktail (it IS my birthday) The list reads perfectly normal: Bloody Mary, Screwdriver, Caipirinha, Pina Colada etc. except for whatever alcohol it’s meant to be, substitute Arak – slightly weird aftertaste but we survive.

After our dives we check out the other PADI centres. There are lots of dive operations here but PADI isn’t strong. Eurodivers is run by a tall blond Hungarian and they cater mostly for the French. She took our card but not very welcoming. At the Puri Wirata they are much more convivial. The young Belgian manager tells about his resort and we book to dive the reef in front, tomorrow. Well, we can have nitrox.  

Overnight at the Pondok Vienna a couple of km further on at Lipah beach – another bargain for 450 Rupiah including breakfast & dinner.  

What we hadn’t bargained on was the owner’s brother. He spent the entire evening saying his dream is the same as ours and he knows lots of people (mostly his family) who all have restaurants villas and dive centres. He provides them all with business advice. We can stay in his house in Amalpura, use his car, he can sort out the visas and all we have to do is get the website up to market our resort. All sounds rather crazy but we won’t dismiss it completely. Exchange contact details and will be in touch when the holiday is over. After all we are homeless.  

Morning dives fantastic but no time to dry the gear as we have lots to do before nightfall. Not least driving into Amalpura on festival day (it’s always a festival day of one sort or another here) to find the only ATM for miles which takes VISA cards.  
Then swing by the Lotus Bungalows in Candidasa as the attached dive company (Gangga) had been really positive about our prospects when we wrote at the beginning of the year. However, not this one. The chap I need to see is on one of the Gilis off Lombok. Oh well, next time. Just wish we could find the internet to see if he replied to my last email.

Oh yes forgot to say – the internet is very sparse round here, as if you hadn’t noticed by our silence for the last few days.

Pan Bali Highway

We said our farewells to Pemuteran for the long drive on the north Coast to Tulamben. Not before we’d stopped for coffee and T-shirt buying at Reef Seen and left our CVs with Chris Brown with the glimmer of work in November.

The coast road isn’t too bad although chocker with motos & very slow lorries. Sorry to Mike Franey but you just have to go for it or you’d be there all day. This is worse than crossing the road in Phnom Penh! We manage to negotiate our way though Seririt & Singaraja and still heading in the right direction we think. The sea is on the left and mount Karangasem (active volcano) is on the right, that’s the main thing; signage is a bit haphazard. The only way we’ve found to tell where you are is to read the addresses on the shop fronts and even that’s a bit hit and miss.  

Arrive at the Scuba Seraya in time for lunch and to check in with the diving people. All seems very relaxed and so peaceful after Pemuteran. Small bit to eat before a spot of job prospecting. We’d read about the resort next door (The Emerald) and were hopeful. But how deceptive websites can be. The place is basically going bust and has been since it opened 12 years ago. Such a shame as it should have been a roaring success. Beautiful bungalows scattered in lawns rolling down to the sea. But it’s empty when everything else is full. Maybe because they only cater for the Japanese – who knows. Onward to the Mimpi, having dived with them at Menjangen.

Totally different. They are buzzing and we have another cuppa with the lad that’s running it. Although he says his contract is up for the next couple of months while it‘s windy so he’s off to PNG until it dies down. As the sun’s going down we call it a day and head back to freshen up for early dinner as we’re on for a pre-breakfast dive on the Liberty before he crowds from further afield turn up.

Another new day dawns, the breeze blows away the last of the night’s clouds as we kit up for the 5 minute boat ride to the wreck. The Liberty is a US ship gunship sunk by torpedo in 1943 then pushed further out to sea by the volcano in 1963. It’s quite broken up but the main structures provide a stunning backdrop and home to a wealth of life on and around it. And as promised not too many other divers yet.  

With all this moving around we’ve completely lost track what day it is. Suddenly remember it’s August 8th! Adrian sings Happy Birthday as we fin round the wreck. What more could you want… An underwater serenade by your husband in paradise 

Back for a fine breakfast of tea, toast, eggs & fresh fruit before our second dive on the wall. Lovely.

Quickly get the gear drying as we have to make tracks to our next stop in Amed. Don’t want to be too late as we need to find somewhere to stay. But we are delayed as the staff are surprised we’re leaving before lunch – it’s included (Just how much have we paid to stay here I wonder?) 

McDiving

Not much to report today, we just went diving in Secret Bay, a macro and muck divers paradise - this is some of what we saw

The barren north

Find the road to Serririt on the north coast. Probably the nearest thing to civilisation we're likely to see for a while so Amanda decides would be a good thing to explore town for a towel shop. (Don't ask) As every shop seems to sell everything thought it would be easy but actually there is only one. Use our finest indonesian (two handouks please) which immediately endears us to the ower (a tailor by trade). "Where are you staying tonight" he asks "Nowhere :(" we reply forelornly "Ah, let me call my friend, he has a very nice restaurant & rooms in Pemuteran". We duly chat to his friend , unfortunately drew a blank for tonight but good for the next two.

Make good time and cover the 50K or so to Pemuteran by lunchtime, Introduce ourselves to the Japanese diving operation we're booked with tomorrow (Mimpi) and start looking for a bed. It's high season and everywhere is full unless we want to pay $150 a night (being the cheapest room at the 5* place we're diving with) Surely we can do better. Lost count of the hotels & homestays we asked in a 5K stretch. Give up resigned to spending a fortune we head back to the Mimpi when spy a sign, Good Indonesian Food, Rooms, Aircon, Bakpakker prices. He has a room only 150000 rupiah (about £10). Seems a friendly enough chap, used to run a dive centre, we agree to the room. Eurghhh within a minute we are both scratching. Still, a bed's a bed...

Not wishing to stay any longer than we have to, head back to town to check out the 1/2 dozen dive centres we'd seen en route for some job prospecting. Bit of research on the internet first find a Brit and an Ozzie - start with the Brit. Paul Turley runs Sea Rovers out of the Adi Assri Hotel. Very helpful Geordie gave us plenty of info over a cup of tea. Then onwards to the Ozzie as it's approaching beer o'clock. Chris Brown runs a very conservation aware outfit called Reef Seen Aquatics. He makes us welcome and we sample local brew (Storm) accompanied by oysters as tonight the pearl farmers are doing a promotion. He asks where we are staying. With slightly scrunched up noses we confess. He says sorry but he's full. Then asks are we divers. Of course (smile, grin, eyelash flutter etc) Magically now he has a room, 150000 rupiah and you have to go across the courtyard for the loo. It's clean and fresh. Done deal. All we have to do now is retrieve our luggage from the other place. Adrian sups the local brew while Amanda does the dirty deed.

And so we slept well dreaming of diving...

Not much communication from the divemasters at Mimpi as our gear is taken to the boat (they have't actually asked to see out cert cards yet) and we make for Menjangan Island. Two very relaxed beautiful dives punctuated by a fine nasi campur packed in neat laquer lunchbox. See pygmy sea-horse, ornate ghost pipefish, selection of nudis, scorpionfish, lionfish, great cuttlefish and lots of other fishy stuff in a balmy 27C.

Back to town where we can now stay at the tailors mates place for the next couple of nights. Phew!

Off the map

Before leaving Sanur we stop in town to get local pre-paid SIMs. The shopkeeper kindly installs and registers them for us but wants cash so I nip to the ATM. An ear-splitting alarm goes off then I realise it just wants me to remove my card. SIMmed up we leave the hotel and head down the by-pass looking for the Korean run dive centre we hear needs some marketing savvy - the rumours were spot-on because we couldn't find it!

Ahh the open road - well not quite open, it takes us an hour of near-death experiences before we find the quiet back roads. Before long we stumble upon our guest house for the night.

Probably one of the most bizzare places we've ever stayed, It's a temple; but only used on special occasions, in the mean time the host (an artist) has two rooms he lets. There is no main house but (say) 8 bungalows, the largest 2 of which are dekked-out for visiting royalty (or rock stars as both Mick Jagger and David Bowie stayed here). A plot is set aside for dining, our bedroom (which I'll come to in a mo), another guest bedroom and the rest is used by the family. The poor chap has to maintain the houses and all the gardens on his own, time he'd rather spend painting. This is strictly a homestay experience not an hotel.
Have you ever been to Longleat? And seen the Marquis of Bath's paintings? Now imagine that is reality and you're living in his mind. Quite extraordary. Completely the opposite of the simple, clean, minimalist lines you associate with Indonesian style. Everywhere you look there is a cacophony of decoration. As the small notice by the shower basin says he'll need to light 10 candles for hot water we make do with ambient temp water for a quick freshen before our miniature spatchcocked chicken supper.

By now we have both been dressed in traditional saris ready to head into the village as we've arrived on a special celebration day for the goddess of wisdom. We are ushered in to the ceremony but feel out of place and back out. Our host drives us (in our car) to witness the temple blessings and dance show. Next morning we have breakfast and after are joined by whatsisnames father who has a very british accent and proceeds to explain the importance of the kite in Balinese culture. He is after all The Pioneer of this art. This is interesting but he then probes us about the role of the monarchy in British government; extraordinary. Whatsisface with his daughter and small dog leads us (by car) to his plot of land which he is trying to sell us - very pretty place but too remote for us. Besides not ready to be rice farmers just yet. He guides us back to the right road and we say goodbye.

The roads are a delight, round every bend is a new vista, tiered paddy field, fruit & vegetable plot, Monkey feeding-station or car-swallowing pot-hole. At one village some sort of celebration is taking place with dozens of white-dressed people in the road - impress myself by not mowing any down. We stop at a village crossroads for lunch, find a wizened old lady making packed lunches for the locals and get ushered into a stark room with 3 tables and some chairs. Wait 2 minutes then a plate of stuff appears. Stuff is excellent and we gobble it all up (note no beer). Duly fed & watered we push on to find our next hostellery. The road is getting steeper and soon we hairpin it up to what feels like the top of the world. To the left the rice terraces fall away to the crater lakes below while above a blanket of cloud hides the peaks of the Batu Karu & Mount Lesong & Mount Sangging volcanos. A few more twists and turns and we arrive at Munduk and the Puri Lumbung Cottages for a couple of nights R&R. No phone signal or internet but the drinks menu looks promising...

Next morning we tour the grounds and set off towards town. Don't know if we found it, just a slightly more densely populated bit of the road. Every other house has something drying outside: coffee cherries, cloves and stuff we can't identify. Nip into one where an old woman and her daughter are seperating the cloves from their stalks ready for drying.

Chill in our room for rest of the afternoon (and it does get chilly in the hills at night) and make plans for exploring the north coast tomorrow - and the prospect of diving at last.