Down Time in Bali
Not much to report. Since Niko left, I have taken time off surfing because my back and shoulders are tweaked from surfing everyday. I have been working with some local talent on a couple stock photo shoots and researching climbing logistics for climbing in the Himalaya this summer or fall.
Image: Model at Uluwatu.
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Getting into Bigger Waves
Half a second earlier I ditched my surfboard for the first time on the this trip. The couple seconds I had before the inevitable impact passed in slow motion. Each breast stroke pulled me deeper towards the dark bottom as I tried to put as much water as possible between “it” and myself.
I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The massive ball of water that was now forming into a towering vertical face above me had started it’s journey hundreds of miles off shore and traveled in just the right direction. The wave was too big to duck dive and I had nowhere to go but down. Eight feet under water, I had almost reached the bottom. My eyes open wide, I could see detail in the jagged reef. With ever inch of water I put between me and the falling mountain I felt safer. I am guessing the wave’s lip peaked at 16 feet above the 8 feet of water I was under before dumping all of its energy on my exact location. Just before touching the bottom I had the thought,”this is not so bad – I must be safe now.” And then the ocean unleashed it’s raw power and it felt like a giant had reached down and grabbed me by both legs ripping me backwards. I spun through the water with such velocity that I could feel the skin on my face distorting from the G force. Then everything turned white and all I could do was wait. The hold down was a touch longer than I was comfortable with but I had kept my lungs full of air and I rose slowly to the surface.
Niko and I surfed some of the heaviest waves I have been in at Lakey Peak. We were lucky to get three days of solid swell. We stayed at the Aman Gati Hotel and are currently back in Bali. Niko is on a flight home to Canada today and it looks like I am going to extend my visa and stay a bit longer in Indo. Sumbawa has a great set up; the wave is right in front of the hotel so you don’t need any transport. Just surf, eat and sleep.
Image: Checking the surf at Lakey Peak.
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Bali, Lombok and Sumbawa
I have been slow to update my blog because with Niko in town it has been a non stop wave hunting blitz. In the past couple weeks we have traveled on planes, taxis, ferries, canoes, rental cars and scooters in search of waves.
After spending 5 days in Bali we caught a short flight to the neighboring island of Lombok and we stayed in the luxurious Novotel Hotel. Leaving the gated resort was like walking into Bali 20 years ago; shepherds herded water buffalo through the small village of Kuta Lombok as we passed on our scooters. In the village we found two really amazing restaurants named Warung Bule (Bule means white tourist) and Ashistan. Warung Bule is run by a local chef who has worked at top resorts around the country and Ashistan is a hindu vegetarian place on the top of a hill with a view of the entire southern Lombok coastline.
Each morning we hired a fisherman to transport us along the coast to surf Gerupuk Bay and Air Guling. The waves in Gerupuk were slow and friendly but Air Guling offered a tricky drop to a barrel in shallow water. The coastline of southern Lombok is made up by deep bays, sandy beaches and dramatic steep hills. Surfing Outsiders (one of the waves in Gerupuk Bay), which sits directly below a sheer 200ft cliff, was an experience.
We missed the chance to catch a direct flight from Lombok to Sumbawa so we hired a taxi. A two hour ferry ride and a 10 hour taxi drive only cost us $250. We arrived at the Aman Gati hotel, that has the famous Lakey Peak on it’s doorstep, just before midnight. Niko and I were exhausted from the bumpy curvy roads and our first day in the water was a bit of a wake up call. We had arrived in sync with a good size swell and Lakey’s was pumping 6 foot!
Image: Niko on dawn patrol in Gerupuk Bay.
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Tube Time
I picked up Niko at the airport around 3pm in a rental jeep on the day of New Years Eve. The city was scheduled to be closed to cars and we sneaked into the city and arrived at our downtown hotel just before the police started enforcing the closure.
They don’t advertise it but I am pretty sure they close the streets as a preventive against a terrorist attack. At the same time the US posted a serious warning advising travelers that Kuta was at high risk for an attack on New Years. We stayed out of the big night clubs and hung out on the beach with thousands of locals setting off fireworks.
The last few days have been rich with quality surf. Our surf search started everyday at 5am. The morning after New Years Niko and I hired a boat that took us out to Nusa Dua. Nice waves but a heavy rip made it difficult to stay at the peak. The following days we spent most of our time at Serongan and Keramas and yesterday we scored some serious tube time!
Niko and I am currently in the Kuta airport about to board a flight for Lombok. There is a swell headed this way and we hope to score some uncrowded waves.
Image: Surfer in a barrel at Keramas.
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Niko Accepted and Gas Scam
The past week has been hectic. Niko was supposed to arrive on the 26th but got denied entrance into the country because his passport expires in 5 months and they only let you in with a minimal 6 months. I was shut down at the Vancouver International airport once before and I really don’t like that place. It ranks up there with Heathrow in London as one of the worst airports in the world for customer service. Anyway, Niko managed to get a temporary extension and should be arriving today at 3pm. Kuta is crazy on a normal day but on New Years this place is out of control so I hope Niko is ready for some culture shock!
Painted lines on Indonesian highways only serve as a suggestion. Frequently a two lane road works as a three or four lane road with motorbikes squeezing in between. Additionally, sidewalks are fair game for motorbikes and today I even saw a car use the sidewalk.
At the gas station, pumps are split up for cars and motorbikes and line ups get quite long. In the motorbike line, for efficiency, everyone flips up their seats, unscrews their gas gap and pushes along. After 15 minutes it was my turn. My bike ready, I pushed it into position, gave the man a 100,000 rupee bill (10 dollars) and he began pumping. After filling he gave me back change but he gave me just 30,000 rupees and I know it costs 20,000 rupees to fill the bike. I pointed at the number on the pump that read 20,000 and he said “ya ya ok you go go”. He tried to usher me along but I stayed put making a scene in front of the ever growing line. I said, “I gave you 100,000, this no good!” The man replied, “no no you pay 50,000!” I continued to stay where I was because I knew that the only bills I had in my wallet were 100,000s.
The people in the line up were becoming impatient which actually worked in my favor. I’m sure it appeared like this guy had scammed the tourist and as more people started to take notice he was sweating bullets. Still, the man acted infuriated but I responded by raising my voice as well. We continued; “I gave you 100,000!”, I said. “no no 50,000!”, said the man.
In my mind I was saying it’s only 5 bucks but just when I was ready to give up, the man’s guilty conscience kicked in and I watched him fondle a 50,000 bill. The gig was up and I didn’t ask any questions as he handed over the cash. To finish the show I drove off shaking my head.
Image: Freshly squeezed mango juice!
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Black Outs in Kuta
Oddly enough, in a country that dishes up the death penalty for possession of Marijuana you can find legal magic mushroom bars speckled through out the city. Just pull up a bar stool, pick normal or strong and your desired drink flavor, and they will grind up the caps into a tasty shake (so I’ve been told).
In Kuta, they don’t have enough electricity for the demands of the city. Their solution; each night certain blocks get powered down for 45 minutes to three hours. This is sketchy because if the restaurants are refrigerating chicken and the power goes out for 3 hours and it is 30 degrees out…well, I am pretty sure they aren’t throwing out food after each power outage.
The black outs are sketchy in other ways. Last night I was walking down the street in the dark with a Norwegian surfer named Laak. All of a sudden he just disappeared. As he described it, “the ground just fell away from him”. He had walked over a hole and dropped into raw sewage up to his waste! He was really lucky because he didn’t cut his legs on the edge of the hole but he did ruin a new pair of shoes.
Image: Checking the surf.
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Christmas in Kuta
Outside the mall in downtown Kuta a life size robotic Santa Claus dances and sings classic christmas songs. Somehow after all these years I still have a warm spot for the jolly old fellow. I took a second to listen to a few versus of Jingle Bells before continuing on my way.
On my way to the surf I had to dodge flying vomit. A tourist stuck his head out of a bus and let his breakfast fly just as I passed. I continued and arrived at a wave named Serongin. Wind and swell direction were lined up perfectly producing a wave of immense quality! Serongin was head and a half high with 100m glassy aqua walls. Halfway into the session I raced a real gem too far and all of a sudden I was looking down at dry reef! I tried to eject but was too late and bounced my back off the reef! In that moment so many things go through your head as you try to assess the severity of what is happening. My first thought was this is going to suck if I am hurt and can’t surf with Niko when he shows up in two days.
With my back numb I paddled back to the line up. There are surfers from all over the world here so the first question I asked was, “do you speak English?” In a thick Russian ascent the guy replied, “yes.” I turned around and asked if my back looked bad. He paused for a second and replied, “no, not so deep.” I was really lucky – only minor flesh wounds. I was shaken up but the waves were so good I stayed and surfed for another hour with a bloody rashy.
A few things work different here in Indonesia. A couple days ago I was pulled over by a policeman who said that I didn’t have the correct license for driving the scooter. This is a common scam and they just want a bribe so I paid the man 30,000 rupees (3 bucks) and was on my way. Today the same cop tried it again but I didn’t want the hassle so I just kept driving. He shouted, “pull over”, but I just looked at him and shook my head. After driving beside me for just a few hundred meters he gave up. In Canada it is a little harder to ignore the demands of the police.
Time for more benzidine on the back…ouch!
Image: Hindu statue downtown Kuta.
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Swollen Nose
Yesterday a freak set came through and I tried to duck dive it. The lip hit me with such force that it smashed my face against my board and I bonked my nose. I am 99 percent certain my nose is not broken but it reminds me of a story of a good friend of mine. Joni Wierer is one of the most unassuming surfers I know but he always manages to get himself into knarly situations. I originally met Joni in Fiji and two years ago I spent a month surfing with him in the Mentawai islands. On a really big day at telescopes the same sorta thing happened to Joni; his board smacked him in the face and his nose swelled up. We assumed it would be fine but after 2 weeks the bump on his nose had not dissipated. I needed to get on a flight back to Canada but Joni had another few months in Indonesia so he decided to see a doctor in Jakarta. Sure enough it was busted, so in the capital city of Indonesia, Joni got plastic surgery to fix it. Just recently, while on another surf trip through Asia, Joni started having problems breathing through his nose. Turns out they didn’t do a good job in Jakarta and something inside his nose collapsed.
Not interested in going back the Germany (his home) Joni decided to go to Bangkok to get his nose job redone. Face black and blue and swollen, wrapped in a bandage looking like a mommy, Joni was held up in a cheap hotel in the slums of Bangkok to heal. With time to burn before he could get back in the water, Joni decided to do a 10 day mountain retreat and meditate with monks. From what I hear Thailand has some of the best hospitals in Asia.
Image: Downtown Kuta.
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Keremas
Sitting on my surfboard half submerged my skin can not distinguish the difference between the air and water temperature. They both register 29 degrees Celsius most days. At night the air temperature drops to a bone chilling 26 degrees – still too warm to wear anything but shorts and singlet (tanktop) and drinking a coffee will cause you to sweat. I have opted for a room with a fan (no AC) with hopes this will force me to better acclimatize. My first few days were riddled with headaches and fatigue but now I seem to be on top of things with the exception of overly sore shoulder and back muscles from paddling. Lucky you can get an hour massage for 5 bucks!
The island of Bali is no more than 100 km across at its widest point and I have explored just a fraction of the southern tip. Poor quality windy roads and dense population make for long travel times. I find I am spending 2-6 hours a day on my scooter traveling to surf spots, looking for images and exploring in general. You don’t have to work hard to get off the beaten path and find secluded beaches or small villages where nobody speaks english.
Today I surfed a wave named Keremas. The anti is so easily raised when surfing in Indonesia. I sat on the shoulder for 30 minutes watching gaping barrels explode on the reef before I built up enough courage to paddle for a wave.
Image: Tanah Lot Temple
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The Set Up
I pass pedal bikes stacked with goods. I dodge a plucked chicken squashed on the road. A bus beeps it’s horn as it passes me almost brushing my arm. This is an Indonesian highway and each morning I use it to access various surf spots. My scooter propels me at 70 km/h and I carry a surfboard sitting in a rack beside me. My day starts at 5 am which gets me in the water by sun up. There is a 2-3 hour window of glassy surf in the morning before the trade winds pick up. In the morning the roads are safer and the sun is less intense. Everything makes this the most important time of the day for me. Today I surfed a reef named Nusa Dua. Nusa Dua is a swell magnet producing sizable waves even when everywhere else is flat. It’s the first time I have surfed “real” waves in a while. I was lucky because right after paddling out I was in position for a wave that ran a long distance setting the tone for a good session. The wave breaks on the outer reef so if you don’t hire a boat it is a 20 minute paddle. Next time I might pay for the boat ride because on the way back my arms were tired. Returning to my hotel I put on mellow music and took a euphoric siesta.
Image: Uluwatu Temple.
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