bali

would you believe, more pictures than ever!


wowie. bali is truly a magical place. after ditching singapore i arrived late on a weekend night in bali - knowing i couldn't get to the dive location so late i decided to party it up in kuta and see what it was all about. many australians and many balineese girls looking for australians. not a very good scene but met some nice australian couples. the vibe was bad so after dealing with my stolen wallet problem (ick), i bolted for jemeluk beach on the north-east coast to get down to diving business.

i wanted to do a rescue course so i tagged along with some open water divers and helped the instructor roger. the dives were incredible. the water is even warmer in bali than in thailand and it was much clearer and the coral was in amazing shape. the variety of fish was outstanding.

i did a total of eight dives over four days including a night dive and a 39m (130 feet) dive at Gili Selang where i saw 4 (that's right 4!) Great Hammerhead sharks! they were just out there lurking off in the distance for about 10 seconds. even roger was pumped (only the second time he had ever seen them)! so i was obviously very lucky and stoked.

the fishing village i stayed in was real bali. every morning the people would wake early (at about 5:30) because it gets so hot there in the middle of the day. they had these brightly painted teak boats they use for fishing and carting tourists around. they are simple but functional - i even did a dive off of one.

after i passed my rescue test i set off for the very small village of sidemen. it is located at the base of an active volcano mt. agung. i stayed in a retreat-style bungalow. i was definately living it up. the view of the valley with rice-terraced fields and a river was almost too much. even on the third day i was pinching myself.

the day before i left i went to the biggest temple in bali on the side of mt agung. my guide, gusti, had me put on a sarong and headband so i would be properly dressed for the ceremonies that were going on. i was surprised to find thousands of people at the temple praying at this ceremony that occurs once every 5 years. they were bussing people in from all over bali to pray. gusti showed me how to pray with flowers in your hands and to drink the holy water. there was music and food all the while looking out over the beautiful bali landscape. i'll never forget it.

the balineese were really cool. so helpful and smiling all the time (even more so than the thai). all the bali boys i met always asked me if i had been in love. i had no less than 3 conversations wherein they expressed their desire to fall in love with a western woman. they asked me lots of questions about my past loves. apparently, they think bali women are only after status and money. the few bali girls i talked to seemed to confirm this as they always asked 1) where i was from and 2) what my job was. you could imagine their reaction when i told them i didn't have one. ha!

at any rate, bali wowed me. its one of those places that i will definately return to soon.