getting close to the end

After experiencing the natural wonders of climbing up the active batur volcano and making my way to the vibrant time of Ubud I thought it was about time to see the sea again on this island that is notorious for them!

I once again packed up my bag and made my way to the main road to catch myself a public bemo. easily enough I was soon in a small cramped car with about 7 people sitting cheek to cheek. It's always awsome when a chat starts, and this time was no different. One of the ladies in the Bemo spoke excellent english so we had a good chat about her, me, life and the country. This made the trip fly by and I was soon standing alonside the main road again waiting for the next ride to take me to my ultimate destination of Padangbai.

My bag at the road side

Me waiting for a Bemo

The second ride was excellent, it was as local as you could possibly get, so local that it actually made me laugh out loud! This is what travelling is all about. It was a propper rustic car, packed full of people and their cargo. So full that i had to move like an acrobat to actually get into the thing. Then once seated the driver continued to pick up people, which among other things included people bearing chickens in bags and.... Durian (aka the stinkfruit!) The car was now not only cramped and hot but also stank like well... stinkfruit (The potent ceation doesnt bear that name for nothing) But this is what its all about, and there was litte I could do about it...

Padangbai is a town basically for transit to the neighbouring Lombok and Nusa Penida islands. My intitial plan was to make my way to Nusa Penida frst thing in the morning. However after chatting to some people and thinking about my timing I decided to make the dive that i wanted off Nusa Penida in Padangbai and then cruise down to Sanur.

Padangbai strip

Spent the afternoon wandering around the small quaint village looking for a good dive shop and good dive deal. I found one, I would dive with Caral, a Local dive master, one on one and we could go for as long as I had air. Sounded awesome. I was set on seeing some more turtles, so that was the plan. The first dive was at 9:00 the following morning. I got to see exactly what I hoped for. Among some excellent coral scenery and some great eels, stingrays and immense amount of fish I got to see a masisve turtle just chilling on the sand. Excellent! The second dive we chased a school of white tip reef sharks. Diving around here was excellent! Back in Padangbai I had a great seafood lunch and then made my way over to the seemingly retirement beach resort town of Sanur.

Caral the dive master

the dive boat

Also the place where I would possibly meet up with Waki... She had rounded up her trip in India and was now ending her trip on bali. Both on the same island we just had to meet up! Sounds really easy, but its... not. I got to Sanur and found out that it is way bigger than I anticipated! This was a big shocker as I had used the lonely planet to make a meeting spot hotel place... It is massive, well when on foot. So I (and later found out that Waki did too) spent a good hour or two wandering the streets with a massive bag weighing us down. But after some searching we ended up finding each other. She even tried to be mad at me for making her run around... but that was short lived!

Having a Ramayanna Cigar with the restaurant chief

We had 2 awesome days chilling on the insanely quiet beaches of Sanur. These beaches are quiet A) due to the relatively large beach space and small amount of people, and B) as the people that are there are all above 65 so they are generally not party crazy or surfers. It was chilled, but after two days of chilling in the sun and eating well and my Bali clock running out. It was time to try out another town. We were now on our way in yet another Bemo to Kuta... The Australian party capital of the Indo island. But before we made our way over there we changed our mind... It was decided that we should see the capital of the island and then spend the last night, in Kuta.

Chicken sale

Family on a bike

So we made a minor change in direction and were now on our way to the capital of the island. I love arriving in a place and being the only visible tourist! SUre we werent the only tourists, as we saw some later on. But it took some effort to spot them, unlike all tourist destinations. We wandered the local markets, streets and had some excellent Bali quisine! How it works in a wartel is amazing. A way of dishing food that would set a health inspector on a hunger strike. All the foods are meticulously displayed in little bowls behind the shop window and covered with a small mosquito net curtain. You then sit down at a table and get a selection of all the delicasies laid out on the table. You then help yourself with the dishes. Once you are done with the meal, a waityer with a big piece of paper checks what you have eaten, adds it up and takes the left overs back to the respective bowls in the window display allowing them to be consumed by the next guests. Why waste!??

After checking the busy metropolis of Denpassar for the morning we caught a Bemo to a place that is the exact opposite. A whole town simila to Bangkok Khao San Road! Amazing, a town of only tourists, bars, cafes, surf boars, hotels, clubs and an awesome beach with a far out and long break. Here all we really did is what everyone does, chill on the awesome beach, watch the waves and once the sunset is over head to a good looking bar and start the night off.

Kuta Main Beach

Ronald McDonald in Kuta

Waki

Surfing in Kuta

Kuta Beach view

Bali has been one of my favourite spots, together with Vietnam. I will def be back there again and check out the other islands too! Fo Sho. Waki it was excellent to see you again :)

So in closing... After Bali I made my way back to the metropolis of Bangkok, where I spent a few days chilling, exploring and off course shopping. The trip has been one epic ride. I have no regrets and would do it all over again. Now it's time to take on a career!

Iaki, it was awesome travelling with you, thank you for everything! Im gonna see you in Europe some time soon, maybe for a diving trip somewhere... perhaps even off the shores of your native nation... somewhere over there in the east of Europe...

Cool

getting close to the end

Kuta, Indonesia