| Indonesia
For more information on Indonesia double click on this map that was provided by www.indonesia-tourism.com |
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Bali, The Good Life
By this time we were sick of the traveling life so we rented an old massage salon that was next door to Greg and Lea’s apartment, the Canadian couple we met in Fiji, for the month. The massage parlor resembled a castle. It was very large, had many bathrooms and showers, had a big back yard, a kitchen and came complete with two puppies. We spent our days waking up early and looking for surf. Even though we all rented motor bikes, getting around was difficult due to road conditions and traffic. This coupled with the quickly changing ocean conditions made finding the best surf a painstaking process and we quickly settled in on a nearby beach break.
Our days flew by. We were careless with our money and bought more than we could carry. My best purchase was a three-piece suit with an undershirt for US. I have worn it many times since and can confidently brag that it looks good. I also bought a large board bag.
Soon our month was up and it was time for me to make a decision. My original plan had been to come back to Sydney with Jason, Shaun and Kevin and from there, go to New Zeland and home via Fiji but plans change. My cousin Barack who lives in Israel was getting married and I was naturally invited to the wedding. This created a dilemma. I could fly back to Santa Monica. Stay for a few days and fly to Israel, or I could continue west and make my way to Israel via Thailand. I think my real motivation was that I did not want to leave Indo so soon. I did not feel that my surfing had developed to the point I had wanted and I knew that another month would promise to be worth while. So I forfeited my return ticket to Sydney and bought a one year open return ticket to Thailand that left in another month, just before my visa expired. (two months is the maximum amount of time allotted on a regular visa)
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East of Bali
Falco, our landlord, offered to let me stay with him for the second month free of charge. I appreciated this but felt that I had to leave Bali and explore the other Islands. I saw my long time traveling friends off at the airport and caught the last ferry off Bali before Nippy, Balinease New Year. (April fools day) I crossed the imaginary Wallace Line, that seperates Western and Eastern Indonesia by flora and fauna, into West Nusa Tenggara. | |
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I spent the night in Mataram, the capital of Lombock. I was planning on going to Kuta Lombock for some surf but the news was that Kuta Lombock was flat. Some locals told me of a place called Hu’u that they claimed was “the center of Surfing in indo and never went flat.” Hu’u was on the next island over, Sumbawa. So I bought the ticket and left the next night. The fact that I was the only English speaker on the bus made me nervous. The bad press Indo was getting due to race riots was hitting the tourist industry hard and no where was this made more obvious than in Lomboc and Sumbawa. With out incident I arrived at the drop off point for Hu’u at 3:00 in the morning. There was a large bus whose make I did not recognized waiting to take the chance surfer to Hu’u. I, being the only surfer, had little bargaining power and ended up using hand language, my English/ Indo dictionary and a pen and paper to talk them down to 50,000 Rupee, about US. The road to Hu’u was long and windy. I arrived just before dawn and found a cheap room with a view of the break. |
The place was amazing and I stayed for 15 days. This place made my entire time in Bali look like a joke. I surfed every day for six hours. I started praying for the wind to come up so that I could have an excuse not to surf. The wind never came and I think I may have permanently damaged my back muscle from over exertion. I will see. Some local children, 8-10 years old who were really good, told me that I got very lucky. The time I was the there was the best in recent memory. The place is usually plagued by wind.
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When I finally ran out of cash, there were no ATM’s within 12 hours of Hu’u, it was time to say good by. I flew back to Bali and it felt like I was home. Falco was happy to see me as well as the Indonesian family that took care of the house. I stayed with Falco for the few days before my flight to Thai Land and lavished in the comforts of home. I did some last minute shopping and arranged for my boards and related belongings to be stored at Rob’s house, thus marking the temporary end of my surf tour. Rob was a friend of Greg and Lea’s from Canada and the manager of the only five star hotel in the Kuta area that is called the Villas. By far the best place to stay on Bali if you can afford it.
I left Bali content with two months well spent and the knowledge that I would be back.
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These are a few of my favorite photographs from my different travels. Feel free to browse them as you like. If you want one click your right mouse button and choose "Save As" from the menu. |
Image title would go here.
These are a few of my favorite photographs from my different travels. Feel free to browse them as you like. If you want one click your right mouse button and choose "Save As" from the menu. | |
| | Image title would go here.
These are a few of my favorite photographs from my different travels. Feel free to browse them as you like. If you want one click your right mouse button and choose "Save As" from the menu. |
Image title would go here.
These are a few of my favorite photographs from my different travels. Feel free to browse them as you like. If you want one click your right mouse button and choose "Save As" from the menu. | |
| | Image title would go here.
These are a few of my favorite photographs from my different travels. Feel free to browse them as you like. If you want one click your right mouse button and choose "Save As" from the menu. |
Image title would go here.
These are a few of my favorite photographs from my different travels. Feel free to browse them as you like. If you want one click your right mouse button and choose "Save As" from the menu. | |
| | Image title would go here.
These are a few of my favorite photographs from my different travels. Feel free to browse them as you like. If you want one click your right mouse button and choose "Save As" from the menu. |
Image title would go here.
These are a few of my favorite photographs from my different travels. Feel free to browse them as you like. If you want one click your right mouse button and choose "Save As" from the menu. | |
