Indonesia

Hey everyone! I’m going to apologise in advance; this is a LONG blog post and most of it is about surfing! Surfing is what we’ve spent most of our time doing here so I didn’t want to gloss over it. Anyway it’s been EPIC! I literally can’t sing Indonesia’s praises enough. Thinking about a holiday? GO TO INDO!!!

KUTA, BALI

Despite Kuta’s reputation as a party town, Rich and I both enjoyed our stay there as our first stop in Bali. Yes it’s touristy and yes vendors will try and coax you into their stalls as you walk up and down the street but overall the Indonesian people seem very friendly. When I compare our experience to that of being abused and intimidated by locals in Morocco, Bali is a dream! The only real annoyances are the taxis. Empty taxis drive around the streets and if they see you walking, they will honk their horns at you repeatedly and slow down to crawl past you, just in case you change your mind and decide to get in. This is particularly frustrating when you’re trying to cross the road as they’ll stop right in front of you so you can’t get past! It’s also pretty common to be offered drugs repeatedly, even in the middle of the day. You’ll be walking along and this weird creepy voice will be like “Valiuuuuum? Ritalinnnn? Mushroooooom?!”. All part of the charm! The main beach of Kuta is a huge stretch of littered golden sand. Every 10ft or so along the beach is a surfboard hire vendor with a selection of foam and hard boards on offer. Just walking up the beach we must have been asked if we wanted to rent a board on at least 10 separate occasions! The streets are rammed with scooters and higgledy piggledy open fronted shops selling ethnic clothing and other random tourist crap. I liked the vibe though! One evening we went out to a family run Indonesian restaurant and enjoyed delicious if not entirely Indonesian green veggie curries. We also enjoyed local dishes like Nasi or Mie Goreng which are spiced fried rice or noodles served with an egg on top – delicious! What we have come to realise is that Indonesian food is basically deep fried everything. It’s all delicious but I dread to think what my waistline will look like when I leave here! Rich will be fine, of course..

MOJO SURF CAMP, BALI & JAVA

We booked to do an 6 day surf camp trip with Mojo as we’d enjoyed our Australian stay so much. We were picked up from our hotel in Kuta by a jovial Indonesian man in a Mojo baseball cap and were taken on a 30 minute ride in a mini van to Canggu where the Mojo base camp was. After an intro session from a rooftop bar we were told that the waves were too big and that we had to go to another beach to surf. We could actually see the gigantic waves from the roof. They were ridiculous, probably pushing 12ft, maybe even more. We happily agreed to go to a different beach. We ended up back at the main beach in Kuta. The beach is really long but filled with surfers, many of them beginners clutching foam boards they’d hired from the hundreds of vendors lining the beach. It’s also pretty dirty: often plastic bags and cigarette butts floated past me in the surf. If anything it made me even more determined not to wipe out and end up with a face full of polluted water. The waves at Kuta beach were still big, but mainly between four and six feet. I surprised myself by catching an absolute epic wave first time and riding it the whole way down the beach. Rich cut his finger on his fin early on and missed a lot of waves whilst he tried to find some way of sanitising the cut (when the water is that dirty you really don’t want to take any risks!). The complete beginners in the group had a baptism of fire that morning and I witnessed many of them being flung around by the powerful whitewash. One of the more experienced surfers in our group actually had to rescue a distraught German girl after she got hit by a trio of big waves early on. It turns out the waves in Indonesia are pretty full-on!

Our next shock that day was to find that our transport to the Red Island camp on Java (where we’d be spending most of our time on the trip) was in fact a packed minibus as opposed to an airplane. As it turns out, the airport had recently been closed because it was unsafe, so maybe we dodged a bullet there. Unfortunately, the journey to Java took around 7 hours, including a trip in a disgustingly dirty ferry. We watched pirated movies for most of the journey which were so awful that they kept skipping scenes and randomly starting again from the beginning. When we finally arrived at Red Island, Rich and I won the bedroom lottery and were given a double room as the only couple on the trip. We were lucky as the camp was quiet at the time so we’re thankful for that!

The next day we literally woke up in paradise. From our second floor room in a building that appeared to be made out of wicker, we could see all the way to the beach and the gorgeous Red Island sitting just beyond. We were out on the surf by 8am and had our first lesson. Rich was quickly whisked off to the back with the more experienced surfers. I had awful luck with my waves that morning and struggled with the pressure of the many instructors trying to push me on to waves when I wanted to paddle on my own. I ended up pretty grumpy but at the end of the session we had banana pancakes for breakfast and I remembered we were in paradise so I cheered up a bit! We spent our time at the surf camp with 8 other people from a mix of countries. All of them were super friendly. Weirdly, the wifi was fantastic. It only dropped out when the entire camps’ power went out, which averaged out to a couple of times a day! All part of island life! Our second day had unreasonably high waves and currents so we we spent the morning hiking up the local tsunami escape route and looking at the view. The afternoon was spent lazing in the sun and soaking in the questionable pool. I say questionable because I doubt a chlorinated pool would be able to harbour such diversity of life that I found swimming past me the few times I took a dip! We stayed at Red Island for 4 nights in total. The beer was cheap, the company was great and the surf was fantastic. We had a huge cockroach couple living in our room, no hot water and the lock on our door broke after 2 nights, but we loved it! Western tourists are rare in this part of Java, so we occasionally had to take photos with Indonesian people who approached us on the beach which was a little awkward! There was also a semi-wild dog who lived on the camp. We fed him chicken scraps at night and he always joined us when we went for a surf. He’d spend the time chasing crabs along the beach. One evening he even took a stroll with us to watch the sunset.

THE IJEN VOLCANO, JAVA

On the last evening, Rich and I joined a few others on a trip to the Ijen volcano. We set off at 11pm and were driven a hair raising two hours in pitch blackness to the volcano. We got out of the car and it was FREEZING! Having gotten used to the intense heat and humidity, we found ourselves suddenly thousands of feet above sea level in the middle of the night in SHORTS. It was rather chilly. We met our guide and then began the hike up the mountain. It was ridiculously steep and our local guide apparently had legs made of steel. He marched us along at an unbelievable pace and only stopped to rest when it became clear that we were close to passing out. After an hour or so, fumes started filling the air and we had to wear gas masks. Thankfully, one of our party had disinfectant which we used to clean them first. Power walking uphill in thin air with a gas mask on is no easy feat. We were so frigging relieved when we finally made the crater’s edge….

and then we saw the sign!

We looked at each other disbelievingly as our guide marched us straight past the sign and into the crater. The walk down was pretty treacherous, particularly as only a few of us thought to bring torches. Once at the bottom we were treated to a view of the amazing blue fire that the mountain is famous for. This blue fire can only be seen at night, which is why we were up there at such an ungodly hour! Throughout the trek we were passed by miners hauling up huge baskets of sulphur which they take from the crater. Most of the locals wore no gas masks at all and many of them smoked constantly too to ensure that their lungs were entirely filled with toxic fumes. We made the descent at sunrise and then immediately embarked on the 6 hour minibus ride back to Bali.

Overall we really enjoyed our trip with Mojo, although it was distinctly less well organised than the one in Australia. The best part was the people we were with. Our group was just the right size and we felt like a little surfing family!

UBUD, BALI

1 hour 30 minutes north of Kuta is Ubud, a small town nestled in amongst beautiful vivid green rice fields. Ubud is the place to go to see a bit more of the Balinese culture. It is still pretty touristy and has quite a ‘yoga and green juice’ culture going on. It’s not unusual to be passed in the street by a hairy hippie riding a scooter in the lotus position. A short walk off the streets of Ubud’s centre and you are suddenly in the middle of really beautiful rice paddies. You almost forget that the sun is so strong it makes you feel as though you are about to combust! Ubud has a lot of amazing places to eat, from very westernised and trendy bars and bakery/cafes to more authentic Balinese warungs. We have eaten some of the best meals we’ve had in Bali here and about drank our weight in juices and lassies!

Bali Monkey Forest, Ubud

Ubud is famous for the Bali Monkey Forest, where you pay a small fee to wander in the midst of thousands of wild monkeys. We were a little nervous about visiting at first, as plenty of travel bloggers have written detailed accounts of how they were attacked by the monkeys, or had their belongings stolen etc. We decided to risk it anyway, and after securing all of our possessions and deciding against buying the bananas that were offered to us, we stepped through the gates. I’m not going to lie, the monkeys were plentiful and their teeth were pointy! The majority were pretty relaxed and the only times we saw them being aggressive was when tourists were feeding them or when children were screaming and running around. I found it quite funny how none of the children we saw seemed to actually like the monkeys at all. Most were crying and screaming and looked actually terrified. It was hilarious! Anyway, it was an enjoyable visit!

Eco Cycling Tour, Ubud

One of our days in Ubud we spent by going on a downhill Eco cycling tour of the surrounding area. It began with breakfast in a hotel with an impressive view of a huge lake. We then stopped at a coffee plantation where we were given a whirlwind tour and tried the local coffee, including the lewak coffee that’s been eaten by an Asian palm civet (aka Toddy Cat) and then pooped out. It tasted like any other coffee to be honest. The Balinese don’t bother with filters, so coffee here is quite..well..gravelly..!

After the coffee tasting we climbed aboard our bikes and set off at an impressive pace. I’ve not cycled in ages and all I could think of was how much it would hurt if I flew off going at such a speed downhill. It was also kind of fun though! We stopped at a random foresty bit after a while. Our guide told us he was going to show us how to play with spiders. He then scurried off into the bush and came back cupping his hands. When he opened them I actually physically jumped behind Rich in horror. The thing in his hand was frigging enormous. Like it didn’t even fit in his hand. It was pure black, not hairy. It looked like it had crawled out of someone’s worst nightmare. He very sweetly offered us the opportunity to let it crawl all over us. We politely declined. In fact the only person who held it was the only Australian in the group. Typical.

Next, we stopped at a traditional Balinese family compound. Balinese families all live together and their compounds are arranged as per the Balinese version of Feng Shui, with each generation/ gender in certain locations. They also have their own ceremonial areas and temples inside. Our final stop was to see a huge holy Banyan tree next to a temple. The tree produces these big dangling roots that the locals trim to keep off the floor. Apparently if the roots reach the floor new trees grow from them and the original tree dies. We were given a delicious lunch at the end of the trip before being dropped back in Ubud. It was a brilliant day.

On our final morning in Ubud I forced Rich to take a vinyasa yoga class at the Yoga Barn. It was led by a tough little Balinese lady who really put us through our paces. I think Rich might even have actually enjoyed it a little bit! It was a really lovely space to practice in and the food in the vegan cafe was pretty nommy too.

NUSA LEMBONGAN

We flipping loved Nusa Lembongan, our next stop after Ubud. It’s a small island just south east of Bali which takes around 30 mins to get to by fast boat. It’s less westernised than places like Kuta and Ubud and you really feel as though you are in the midst of island life. We stayed in a small friendly hotel there for six days. It was great because the pool was chlorinated (a somewhat rare occurrence in cheaper Balinese accommodation) and the price included a decent breakfast too. We arranged for a local surfing company called NewBros to take us out to the reef break on their boat and give us some intermediate surf lessons. We were somewhat nervous at first, as neither of us had surfed a reef before and this particular surf spot had the rather charming name of ‘Lacerations’ which didn’t exactly fill us with confidence.

A note on surf terms…

If you aren’t familiar with surfing terms, a reef break is when a wave forms when it hits a reef underwater. They have benefits over beach breaks (where waves are formed as the water becomes shallower towards the beach) as the wave is always consistently in the same place and you can paddle around it after you’ve surfed the wave. After you surf a beach break, you have to fight out to the back by throwing yourself through the breaking waves, so it’s much harder. The downside of a reef break is the razor sharp reef below you. You have to be really careful when falling off your board to prevent cutting yourself on the coral, and it’s sensible to wear protective boots for your feet to help prevent injuries.

Anyway, you can see how we may have been a little anxious about our first time on the reef! Luckily the local surf instructors were amazing and put us right at ease. These guys had literally been surfing this break since they were kids. They knew exactly what each wave on the horizon was going to turn out like and made sure we were safe. When the huge set waves came in from the back they’d make sure we were out of the way and would absolutely tear it up on the waves. It was awesome! The break we were surfing had a proper party atmosphere too. There were boats and pontoons filled with people, areas cordoned off for snorkelers, and even a huge platform with a massive slide on it that would occasionally shoot out a crazy person into the ocean! The water was absolutely crystal clear too which made it feel like absolute paradise! I caught the best waves I’ve ever had here and both Rich and I surfed every session on hard boards which meant we had so much more manoeuvrability on the waves. It was frigging fantastic! After surfing each day we’d spend the afternoon lazing by the pool or drawing (me) or learning astrophysics (not me). Pure bliss! We also found a little restaurant called Kawan’s Coffee which did a massive plate of Nasi Goreng for around 80p so that was pretty good too. Another favourite eatery just round the corner had a projector and screen and played a pirated movie every night at 7:20pm. Over the course of our stay we watched the new Point Break movie and Into the Wild. The power went out a few times a day on the island and where most establishments had a backup generator, our hotel did not. Luckily they use gas for cooking so you can still eat! Another funny thing about the island is that the walkway at the edge of the beach is in a pretty poor state of repair. If you get distracted by the stunning sunsets there is a strong possibility that you will end up in the sea. One evening we ate at a beach side restaurant and witnessed an Australian tourist literally falling through the pavement! He was ok, but it did make us walk with a bit more care afterwards! We were really sad to leave Nusa Lembongan and we’ve promised ourselves we will make sure to go back there one day.

SEMINYAK, BALI

We only briefly visited Seminyak after Nusa Lembongan. We found it to be like an upmarket version of Kuta so again it was very busy and westernised and quite expensive. When we found that we couldn’t surf there due to the big messy waves we soon made plans to go elsewhere.

ULUWATU, BALI

Uluwatu is a famous surf spot that’s located on the little dangly peninsular of land at the bottom of Bali. The whole area differs very much from the likes of Kuta and Seminyak as it’s really spread out. Despite Rich’s many vocalised reservations, to my delight we were forced to rent a scooter to get around. Hiring a scooter in Bali is pretty usual practice for a lot of tourists. You can usually get one for about 60,000rp (£3) a day with helmets included. If you need fuel, you stop at one of the random roadside shacks that have rows of petrol-filled vodka bottles out front for 50p a go. We’d chosen quite cheap accommodation in Uluwatu to save money for surf lessons, however we didn’t get off to a great start. Aside from the slight smell of faeces and the rather uninspiring view of a concrete slab from the balcony, our room was actually alright. We had the biggest problem with getting some surf lessons. We’d tried contacting a surf school called ‘Impossibles’ by email before our arrival, however they never replied to my request for a pickup. This meant that on the first day we walked for 40 minutes in the blazing heat to try and find the school ourselves. As it turns out, they were both impossible to contact AND to find. When they replied a full day late asking where our hotel was we lost our rag and started looking for alternatives (and also hired the scooter!).

We eventually managed to book 3 days worth of surfing with Padang Padang Surf Camp and it was the best decision ever! Our first lesson was booked in for 5:45am. The whole night it had been pouring it down and we woke up at 5am to pitch black skies and lightening. We put our helmets on and dragged ourselves out to the scooter. Just as Rich managed to get it started, we pulled into the road and a really angry looking dog appeared out of nowhere and started chasing us. “GO GO GO!!!!” I was yelling and we went tearing off with this dog following and lightening bolts blazing across the sky. It was so early and it was all so ridiculous that we were just screeching with laughter the whole way! We arrived at the camp and were offered bananas and coffee to keep us going. We chose some 7ft 6in hard boards and were driven with a group of camp residents to the local Padang Padang beach. It was still dark when we got there and I was pretty apprehensive about going in but after a quick warm up it began to lighten and we could see a beautiful clean wave breaking on the reef out to sea. Needing no more invitation we paddled out and got to see the most amazing sunrise that perfectly silhouetted the huge volcano Mount Bratan in the distance. Although small, the waves were really fun that morning and we had the lineup entirely to ourselves. Our Indonesian instructors were fantastic, happy people who were really helpful. I struggled to catch the waves on my hard board so they pushed me onto most of them which meant I got loads and was less exhausted after paddling back out. Rich aced his as usual. After the session we went back to camp for a massive and delicious breakfast. I had my usual banana pancakes (Bali is pancake mecca as it turns out) and a giant mug of coffee. After brekkie we headed out again for a second surf, which although busier and hotter, was still amazing.

On the second day, Rich was bumped up to the intermediate group. His strong paddling abilities meant he could be trusted to go up against the powerful currents at Uluwatu. I was so jealous that he got to surf one of the most famous spots in the world that I went into my session at Padang Padang with a fierce determination that I would paddle for all of my own waves. I don’t know whether it was pure grit or the fact that my board got switched to a shorter, fatter hardboard, but I got every single wave myself from then on! My new board was also more pointed than the previous one which meant that I could turn so much faster too. Without a doubt, that mornings’ dawn surf was the best I’ve ever had. Meanwhile, Rich was absolutely shredding it at Uluwatu. I know this because they did a photo analysis session after the first surf and I saw the evidence myself! I’m actually glad I wasn’t taken to Uluwatu though. The waves are super fast and powerful there despite it being a low swell when Rich went. The paddle out to Uluwatu is from a cave which has a really strong current going across it. This means that if you aren’t strong enough coming in you’ll get swept straight across the cave mouth and will have to go all the way out back and around again. No thanks!We did 3 days of surfing in total at Padang Padang Surf Camp and although we completely blew our budget we progressed so much in such a short time that we have no regrets! The surf camp itself was gorgeous. It was an oasis of hammocks and delicious food with friendly and knowledgable surf instructors and was run by a terrifyingly organised and authoritative Indonesian woman who made damn sure everything was running to schedule. We liked it so much we will probably be coming back to stay at the camp, budget allowing.

Despite a rocky start, our stay at Uluwatu was frigging amazing. I loved razzing round on the scooter behind Rich, passing all the surfers with their boards attached to theirs. We both made so much surfing progress. I’m proud to be officially rocking a 7ft hardboard with a proper nose and Rich is now on a 6ft 8in board because he is a paddling MACHINE. After three days of intense surfing I’ve pulled a muscle in my shoulder, I’ve got bruises on both hips, a cut on my foot from hitting the reef, a cut on my head from hitting my fin, a cut and bruise on my elbow from bailing when someone dropped in on me and multiple other unidentified injuries. Rich fared a little better, but not by much.

Do we regret it? Not for a second!

INDONESIA

Our time here in Indonesia has without a doubt been my favourite part of the trip so far (Rich is undecided between New Zealand and Bali). I absolutely love it here. The people, the surf, the weather, the food, the views, everything! If we didn’t only have 1 month visas we probably wouldn’t be leaving yet. As it is, we are probably coming back to Indo. We just haven’t finished with you yet!

Jess & Rich x