BG3 Travel blog: October 2006

Sunday, October 1, 2006

Indonesia - August and September 2006

While I was waiting for the results for the Bar exam, I took off to Indonesia for about 6 weeks. I started in Bali, went on a boat trip off Sumatra, returned to Bali, then met my parents for a week in Sumba. It was the best trip of my life! I caught several of the best waves of my life and saw some unforgettable sights.

Go on to Part I - Getting There

Part I - Getting there

I took the Bar exam at the end of July and left for Indonesia a week later since I wouldn't get my results for 3+ months anyway. I had never been there before so I decided I would go to Bali first because it's the easiest place for a clueless tourist like me to start out. It was a fairly known quantity - I knew basically where the famous surf spots were, I knew there would be surf that time of year, and I knew it would be crowded.

My parents drove me up to LAX and, luckily, we were way too early so we stopped at In-N-Out on the way up. I had gone to Juanita's the day before, so I had a good solid fix of my favorite foods before I left. I still got to the check-in counter 30 minutes before it opened, but that was OK because it saved having to carry my surfboards around in a check-in line. The second person to get in line behind me was professional surfer Clay Marzo, who was only 17 or so. He was going to the surf video production mecca the Mentawai Islands, so we were on the same flight to Singapore. After I checked in I just went up to the waiting area and watched my last American sunset for a while. I liked the idea of not seeing the sun again until I was on the opposite side of the world - corny huh?

The flight to Singapore was maybe 12 hours or so, I forget. It was actually not bad at all, I watched several movies and the food was pretty good. It was strange - we took off in the dark and flew west "chasing the dark" all the way around the world, so that we landed in the dark. It was still an hour before dawn even though to me it had been dark for something like 15 hours straight. My theory on avoiding jet lag is to stay awake until it is time to go to sleep in your new time zone. So I bought some coffee, then I bought some more coffee, then I settled in for my (sigh) 11 hour layover in Singapore.

The Singapore airport is like no other airport I've seen. It is HUGE. It has a movie theater, dozens of restaurants, dozens of tv lounges, free internet access, free XBOX360 access, many upscale duty-free stores. I decided to forgo all of that and do the free tour of the city. Like everything in Singapore, these tours are ridiculously well-organized. We left for the tour and arrived back at the airport exactly on time, even though they had to deal with a group of 1oo people going through customs. Here's some photos I took during the tour:

A small part of the skyline as seen from the Singapore River.

There are interesting buildings everywhere you look.

There are dozens of little restaurants right on the river, with every kind of food you can think of.

The building on the left is a recently built opera house.

A closeup of the opera house.

After the tour I wandered around the airport, had a couple meals, then got on my plane to Bali.

Go on to Part II - Arrival in Bali

Part II - Arrival in Bali

My flight from Singapore arrived in Bali at around 10PM, and by the time I made it through customs it was at least 10:30. Luckily the owner of the homestay where I was staying told me he would pick me up, so I wouldn't have to deal with finding my way around with all my baggage. When the automatic doors opened and I left the terminal, all I saw were dozens of Balinese men waving signs and yelling "transport transport!" "taxi taxi!" I'm sure I looked like the stereotypical tourist - slack-jawed, eyes wide open, looking totally lost.

I eventually found the guy who was picking me up, and we got in his car to drive the 30 minutes or so out to his place on the cliffs of the Bukit Peninsula. I would say the culture shock began the very second we left the airport and pulled onto the main road. We just pulled right out even though there were probably 6 motorcycles coming right for us - might makes right on Indonesian roads. Adding to the confusion is the driving on the opposite side of the road thing. About 90% of the traffic on the road is motorcycles, and there really are no rules other than "don't make contact with anyone," and even that one isn't absolute. Anyway, we arrived safely at the homestay and, exhausted as I was, I was grateful to have a nice bed to crash on.

My room was right over a classic surf spot, Bingin, and that first night I could hear the occasional wave breaking but I couldn't tell from the sound how big the surf was. When I woke up I saw that the surf was small but definitely ridable. Here's a shot of Bingin from that first morning:

Bingin at 20 minutes after first light. This is a pretty small day and the tide is higher than optimum.

That first morning I just watched the wave for 30 minutes or so, and then the tide got so high that the wave hardly even broke anymore. (That was an interesting thing about the surf in Indonesia - the tidal swings are quite small in absolute terms, but they have a HUGE effect on the wave quality. Bingin, for example, is dangerously shallow on a lunar low tide, hopelessly mushy on a lunar high tide, and flawless perfection at mid tides.) I just took my time and got my boards ready and watched the show. Then I went up and had the first of dozens of INCREDIBLE meals. The morning cook, a cute Balinese girl named Koman, made the best banana pancakes I've ever had. I dream of these pancakes. They were about an inch thick and the size of a dinner plate, so one was a meal. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... banana pancakes.....(drool...).

Where was I. Oh yeah, surfing. While the tide was still too high for Bingin, I just couldn't wait any longer so I ran down the cliff trail to surf the next spot up the coast, Impossibles. I was so excited to surf that I didn't pay attention as I went down the trail. I didn't notice that several trails converged on the way down, so that on the way up there were several forks. Also, the beach access trail wanders in and out of stores and through the front yard of little bungalows. Very different from a beach access trail in the US! Anyway, I paddled out at Impossibles for my first session in Indonesia:

Impossibles on a good day - my first morning it was nothing like this.

The surf was small, mushy, and closed out. The water was COLDER than it was in Leucadia when I left (76 in Leucadia - warmest summer ever - 73 in Bali), but I caught enough fun little waves for it to be a memorable first session. Impossibles was my "go to" spot while I was staying in the Bingin area. It handled a pretty huge crowd due to how sectiony the wave is, and although not a world class wave it occasionally serves up a gem.

Impossibles is a very tricky wave. There are several different peaks and different places to sit, and the right place to take off greatly depends on tide and wave size. To get a long ride, you have to get on your feet and start building up your down the line momentum because the wave gets extremely fast at times. A typical session at Impossibles went like this: takeoff, pump pump pump, wave closes out, kick out - repeat 10 times. But then you get one that connects and you surf as fast as you can for over 30 seconds until it turns into a round closeout tube that often suckers you into pulling in. That 1 in 10 wave is such a rush!

A wide-swinger catching part of the pack inside, with the closeout tube section visible on the wave in front of it. My strategy at Impossibles was to look way up the reef to get a 2 minute head start on a set, then paddle way outside and wide to try catch the wide swingers - they almost never closed out.

Remember how I said the trail up the cliff from the beach is a little confusing? Well after my first session at Impossibles, I had a little trouble finding my way back up. In the picture below you can see the layout: To enter/exit Impossibles you walk (at low tide) or paddle (at high tide) across the reef in the area around the farthest point you can see. All the buildings on the left side of the picture are various losmen (homestays) and warungs (little stores). My losmen was at the very top of the cliff, somewhere behind the trees. Several trails from the beach meander up the cliff, going in and out of all these buildings.

Looking south at the Bingin "colony" (center) and the Impossibles entry/exit area (first point beyond Bingin).

I was able to find the trailhead I used (because it was inside a warung), and I think I chose the correct path at the first few forks, but before too long things weren't looking familiar. At this point in my trip I spoke very little of the language, so when I "asked directions" I basically just pointed in the direction I thought I should go and said the name of my losmen, "Suara Ombak." Each time I asked the person looked blank, then smiled and nodded and said "ya Suara Ombak ya." I had not yet realized that the Balinese are so friendly that they were just agreeing with anything I said, even if they had no idea what I meant. Eventually I made it to the top of the cliff, but I was not at my losmen. There were a couple of Aussie surfers having lunch at the top of the trail.

"Fun seshy, mate?"
"Yeah, it was great. How about you guys?"
"Aww we haven't surfed yet, but I reckon it'll be good later this arvo."
"I bet you're right. Hey do you know where Suara Ombak is?"
"Nah mate never heard of it."

So I wandered toward the road where I got some more wrong directions from a little old Balinese lady, then walked down the road until I saw the turnoff for Suara Ombak. Some constructions workers at Suara Ombak had a good laugh at me coming in from the road (instead of the beach) dripping wet with a surfboard. Oh well, at least I found it! I made a mental note to actually pay attention the next time I walked down the trail.

After I got back, I probably took a nap then surfed again before sunset. I don't really remember, but that's what I did pretty much every day in Bali. Then I settled in for an incredible dinner cooked by the nighttime cook, Kati. She is an incredible cook, and made a huge family style dinner every night, usually one or two fish or meat dishes plus several spicy vegetable and rice dishes. SUCH GOOD FOOD!

After dinner I read a book for a little while, then listened to music as I fell asleep looking out over the Java-Bali straight where dozens of fishing boats lit up the black ocean. Some nights the number of blue and green lights out on the ocean was incredible, and other nights there were only one or two.

That's the story of my first day in Bali, and it's the story of most of my 2 weeks in Bali: surf, eat, nap, surf, Bintang, dinner, sleep, repeat.

My private balcony overlooking Bingin, where I would enjoy my late afternoon Bintang while watching the surf, the sunset, and listening to music.

Go on to Part III - Random Bali photos

Part III - Random Bali photos

First some photos from my losmen and around the Bingin area:

I love this picture. This is the view looking north from my balcony. The far point is Balangan Point. The two-way peak with the left pealing toward Balangan is called Dreamland. I have awesome memories of sitting on my balcony, taking in this view with a Bintang, and watching the birds chill out in the trees as surfers jockeyed for position at the ultra-competitive Bingin. Quite a show!

Here's a couple photos taken on the trail down the cliff to the beach:

This is the very top of the trail as it approaches my losmen. My room is just out of frame on the upper right hand corner.

This photo of a surfer at small, ultra low tide Bingin was taken about halfway down the trail. I love everything about this photo - how the glowing lip line intersects the palapa's roof line, the surfer's body positioning, the wind texture on the water, and the scary ornament in the corner.

One super low tide afternoon I decided to walk down the beach and around Balangan point. All of these next photos are from that walk:

Looking south from Bingin at a couple of surfers checking out the tail end section of Impossibles.

A man fishing off the side of the reef as a little nugget rolls through at a no-name spot.

Reefer madness!

Boats.

From right to left in the far distance, Ulu watu, Padang padang, and Impossibles.

Balangan point at low tide, looking through the overhang in the cliff created by the pounding surf at higher tides.

And here's a couple photos taken from my losmen:

Surf check from my bed.

Da view

Different ocean, different hemisphere, but the same west coast sunset colors as home.

Right after sunset every night dozens of bats would come out to eat the flying insects. I named this one Flappy.

Next post: BALI SURF PICTURES!!! I know I know, FINALLY.

Go on to Part IV - Bali Surf Pictures

Part IV- Bali Surf Photos

This is the typical afternoon crowd at Bingin. The wave is too perfect to handle much of a crowd - it breaks in the same spot every time. I only surfed here a handful of times because it was such a hassle to get a wave. It is a perfect wave though.

Early morning Impossibles looking funky but fun. Note the guy riding the inside wave for a sense of scale.

Typical afternoon Impossibles - hard offshores every afternoon like clockwork.

A set rolling in toward Bingin. Let the jockeying begin!

Above and Below: A nice perspective of afternoon surf looking north from my balcony.

The thrill of victory at Bingin.

The agony of defeat at Bingin. The guy falling almost certainly had a reef encounter.

Late morning Impossibles looking very fun as the offshores are just starting up for the day.

Small afternoon lowtide Bingin. Perfect little nuggets rolling through, but if you fall you will hit the reef no matter what. I surfed there once in these conditions because it wasn't crowded, and I got away unscathed because of my booties. In hindsight I should have surfed there more when it was like this because it is uncrowded and you are fine as long as you are careful.

The Peak at high tide Ulu Watu.

I think this is called the Bombie, it's outside and to the left of the Peak at Ulus. Basically a mushy peak that jacks up tall before crumbling.

Looking south from the Peak. I don't think this is quite at the Temples area yet. What shocked me about Ulu Watu is how big the area is. It is like a gigantic wave park with several distinct spots. Only the Racetrack at lower tides is a really perfect wave. The other spots around Ulus are shifty powerful lefts, not unlike Blacks.

A good size wave at the Peak. This will turn into a gaping barrel in about 3 seconds. The waves this day were MUCH more intimidating from the water than they look in these pictures. Of all the places I surfed in Indonesia during my trip, some were bigger than this day, and some were hollower, thicker, and shallower than this day, but this was the most intimidating session I had. The waves are moving FAST out of the open ocean and they hit the reef hard.

High tide at the Racetrack(?). I'm not sure if this is considered Outside Corner or not, but it's the area to the north of the Cave.

A very tidy barrel on an in-betweener at the Peak.

A big set hitting the Peak.

A guy getting totally shacked at the Peak. Trust me, this is a HUGE barrel. This one section in particular had horizontal lips. It seemed like it took an eternity for the lip to impact in the trough - I swear it looked like the lip was floating in mid air.

Go on to Part V - Ulu Watu Temple photos

Part V - Ulu Watu Temple photos

One day I felt like doing a little non-surf related sightseeing so I hopped on my sweet motorcycle and hit the road.

My killer motorcycle complete with surf racks (only $3 a day to rent - you buy gas in liquor bottles from people on the side of the road) at the turnoff from the main road to the Bingin area. The first day I got it I rode it around on some empty dirt roads to get the hang of it. I crashed into a bush, much to the delight of a toothless old man looking on from a roadside shack.

Unlike the rest of Indonesia, which is mostly Muslim, Bali is about 90% Hindu so there are temples all over of the place. One of the most important temples on the island is the Ulu Watu sea temple, which is about a mile down the coast from the surf spot of the same name.

The oldest parts of the temple were originally built in the 1300's, though I'm sure it's been rebuilt over the years. The temple is still used in religious ceremonies and some parts of it, like the enclosed area in this picture, are totally off-limits to non-Hindus.

But I would be lying if I made it seem like I came to see the architecture. The real attractions for me, and most tourists, is the breathtaking scenery and the hundreds of crazy monkeys that rule the temple.

Only Hindus and monkeys are allowed on the other side of this wall.

The monkeys were everywhere you looked, climbing all over the place.

The monkeys are very smart. They steal sunglasses, cameras, water bottles, and any other shiny object you are careless enough to let them get their hands on. They literally sneak up behind people and reach in their pockets. They run away if you approach them, but they're really good at sneaking up from behind. I even saw a money drinking like a person out of a water bottle. Here's an assortment of monkeys:

I'm so close to the monkey here that you can see me in the reflection in his eye.

And here's some scenery photos. The cliffs are near vertical straight into the ocean pretty much everywhere in the temple area. That pointy tower thing in the next photo is about 30 feet tall, so I'd estimate the cliffs at over 300 feet.