Labuanbajo

So we arrived in Flores at Labuanbajo. As mentioned it has a much more rustic feel here and hasn't been spoiled yet by tourists. Currently im reading the beach and i can understand the way the travelers feel in that. It seems most of the travel hotspots , thailand, australia etc etc have been ruined by 18 year olds looking for package adventure and holidays. Of course there is nothing wrong with this as I have done that myself and it is fun but the problem then comes when you want to move past this. Where do you look for something truely unexplored and untainted by western toursits. One of the things I like about the port here is that the locals still do the things I imagined the would have done hundreds of years ago. They fish!In the streets there is a foul stench of rotting and fresh fish alike being between the locals. To me it is a breath of fresh air and I hope long will it remain. It seems the fallout from young travellers has already spread from thailand to bali and in parts of lombok and it seems like it will continue to spread untill it reaches new guinea reaching australia. Hopefully this won't happen as the untouched regions I encounter are always my favourite and I feel privledged to have been there. Komodo was one of these suprises and I fear in ten more years it may be spoiled.
This brought up the topic of Papua and Papua New Guinea. I had read somewhere that the inner highlands of papua are some of the remaining unexplored areas of the world alongside parts of the African jungle and the Amazon. My dad mentioned that an SAS team tried to venture into Papua but got stuck in a valley or something, it may have been scare tactics but it interested me more.
Having met James and Jarod in particular both have an interest in reaching the unknown and who knows maybe in the next few years we will venture into the highlands and see what its all about. I hear however arachnid phobia was filmed there so we best be on guard!
Anyways yesterday we sat around planning to go to a whaling village where they still use traditional hunting methods (ie bamboo spears) to catch wales! We had heard through the grapevine that one could accompany them on hunting trips which appealed to us greatly. However the village was 200 km away which in Indonesia equates to at least 10 hours travel and alongside upset stomachs its not pleasant. Anyway we didn't have the time so we decided to sit in a local restaraunt literally all day, using their shower too and relax. The next day (today) we would get the boat. Of course it isn't working. It has broke down or something so we are no waiting for another boat to arrive so our 28 hour bus/boat journey to bali is not going to be 32 hours and the majority of which will now be at night. Goodtimes.
It wasnt all bad I guess and doing nothing gave us a little time to relax and although there was 3 of us jammed into our room last night, with no blankets but an abundance of mozzies I feel more rested and ready to take on the journey! Bon voyage!

Komodo by boat!

We all decided that the Komodo trip was a good idea! The next morning we packed and left at 9ish before driving in an air conned bus to the port! The others were in a larger bus so we felt fairly privledged! En route we listened to some old classics. Lighthouse family, spice girls the top gun theme tune, all the classics time forgot!
After numerous stops we arrived at the harbour to see our boat. It seemed rather small for 18 or so people plus crew. Very small in fact and I couldnt work out were all the sleeping cabins were. Of course they didnt exist. Anyhow we set out with high spirits witnessing some pretty amazing views as we went.
That evening we sailed till dark. We anchored then had some food. I will wrap up the food for the 4 days now by noting that all we had was rice, noodles , vegetables 2 scrawny old chickens that had been living on board for a while and eggs mixed in with everything, presumably from the said chickens. So the food wasnt great.
That evening we all found somewhere to sleep. I was late in choosing so was resigned to a spot on the upper deck, (actually the roof of the boat with a sheet over it) at the front. This was good for numerous reasons. Firstly I pee alot in the night and if I was at the back it would have been a nightmare crawling through the 3 foot high space over sleeping bodies and secondly as I could clearly see the stars as the canopy ended right over my head, so at night I layed back watched the stars while floating comfortably back and forth.
At around 4am I heard a thunderous noise as the engines started. We were on the go an as I was still really tired from Rinjani had no problems sleeping again. That morning we had banana pancakes for breakfast which was nice. We then snorkelled for a bit. The toilet on the boat wasn't so much as a toilet as a hole. Basically if the boat was stationary it wasn't the best idea to go to the loo unless there was someone in the water you didnt like. As there wasnt I swam ashore and aquainted myself with nature.
Feeling better after breakfast etc we all went for a walk on the island to the waterfall. It was cool. Ive seen better in Hawaii but for any European it was impressive.
We set sail for what was goin to be a long night. Our itinerary noted that we would sail all day and through the night for about 13 hours. After dinner I felt a little sick so lay down on my little matt overlooking the deck and adjacent to the night sky. It felt comfortable and although the boat was rocking alot I began to feel less sick. After a few hours of light sleeping the boat began to get considerably more rocky. Its hard to paint a picture of this boat but it is sufficeth to say it would not pass European regulations. The sides were low, there were ropes for hand rails. People were littered all over the deck and roof and as far as I was aware was unseaworthy except for sailing between local islands. As we were heading a fare distance we were now as I calculated out on open water chop and at the mercy of the elements. After a while of heavy rocking the boat hit or rather dropped into a wave side on and everyone slide in unison on their matts. This is when people began to get worried I could tell. I had been awake for a while and was already aware of the increasingly dangerous situation but for those sleepers recently awoke they began to realise what was goin on. The couple behind me seemed to cling together and the next morning James told me that Himself and Ciara had got out of their sleeping bags and put on clothes in case we capsized. I sat up and held onto the mast beside where I was sleeping. We could no longer see the lights of the fishing boats which usually look like a little village of the shore. I couldnt see any lights from land. There was some sort of sail hoisted at the front of the boat even though we have a motor and all the lights were off, i assumed the captain was using the stars. As the boat pumelled through the swell each splash made by its hull illuminated the side of the boat with the phosphorescent algi.
It is easy to look back and laugh at this experience as we all did but it was at this stage that I was genuinley worried. Our little boat was being smashed by the waves and in all honesty it seemed inevidable that we would capsize. There is no way we can make it through this I thought. I turned my phone on so that I could send a text or ring home just to let them know what was going on but of course there was no signal.
I really cant describe how I felt that night. Thousands of miles from home, in the middle of the Indian ocean on some rickety sciff plowing through huge swell in complete darkness bar the moon and although with new friends it would have been a very lonley way to go. At times like that I guess thats when faith etc comes into play. When you realise you are literally helpless over your fate it makes one wander what its all about.
Whether faith plays a part or whether the seas calmed themselves after a while it seemed the waters flattened and we were back to usuall. I felt at ease and soon drifted to sleep knowing that we would be fine.
The next morning we all woke and laughed about what had happened though in the back of my mind I knew just how serious something like that could be.
We awoke in a bay near komodo. We climbed a hill nearby to witness some spectacular views over the islands. After breakfast we ploughed on heading for Komodo. We arrived soon after lunch. As we entered the bay and saw the gates to the park I felt great that we had made it in one piece. As I climbed of the boat and onto the wooden harbour it felt good to be on dry land again. Walking through the gates I couldnt help but hum the jurassic park theme tune in my head. This tune remained through most of the trip and even through the next day on rinca. This really is as close as one can get to walking with dinasours i think. We met our guide and began walking on foor through the prehistoric park. The fauna etc was all in tune with the Jurassic park type setting now all we needed were the dragons....and then, there it was. Reaching outstretched up a tree trying to grab a piece of goatmeat was my first glimpse of a Komodo dragon. Those reading this know I enjoy a good documentary and over the years ive watched many about the Komodo dragons. I was not dissapointed in every way it lived up to expections and more. Seeing this huge lizard in its natural habit was something I could never have expected of this trip and is something I will never forget.
The walk through the park was impressive and after I gorged on a club sandwhich chips and 3 fantas! Those who have travelled in less developed countries know that like a camel one must consume as much good food as possible when it is available! That evening we sailed briefly to a local bay were we retired for the night. In the mangrove swamps we noticed some large blackbirds nesting and flying around. It was strange however that when they landed the hung upside down! Yes they were not birds. Flying foxes or giant fruit bats! One of the crew took James and I out on the little canoe for a closer look and it was genuinley incredible. They were huge. About the size of a rats body but with wings like a bird, we were so close we could see the bone structure and features of the wing. That evening we played cards and relaxed all in high spirits.
The boat did not sail that night so I personally slept soundly. In the morning we began our voyage to Rinca island were some of the larger dragons live. It is worth noting I finished Orwells Burmese days. It was a great read however I was desperatley dissapointed with the ending, poor Flory.
We arrived at Rinca a few hours later. In Komodo we only saw one dragon but while sailing to Rinca we saw a huge one walking across the beach. Entering the park walking across the dry lake we saw another large dragon, i knew we were in for a treat. That day we saw numerous big dragons but the highlight was when we saw a buffalo the dragons had bit. They dont kill prey like water buffalo straight away, they bite them then the bacteria and poisens fester in their blood causing sceptis and death, I guess i empathised with the bufallo knowing how poorly he must have felt! He though had greater worry than I ever had. It takes around 3 days for the poisen to kill a buffalo and with a huge festering bulge on its backside it was imminent he would soon collapse. Waiting on guard were 4 large dragons ready to maul the beast. The buffalo looked helpless although one of his friends it seemed had stayed with him which I though was very humane! At one stage we seemed trapped between the bufallos angry friend and the 4 dragons although our guides soon managed to get us safe.
It strikes me that many of the practises in Indonesia are just not safe although i suppose this is expected in any south east asian country.
We finished up our trek and headed back to the boat. I genuinley felt a sense of contentment after witnessing such an amazing spectacle. I was impressed that the islands are relativley untouched with only a few intrepid travllers prepared to make the 4 day boat trip ( or wealthy familys with luxuary yaughts) being able to access the islands. Long may it remain i hope.
After we sailed to a desert island and snorkelled. Here I found some cool shells amongst the dead coral. Following which we sailed to the island of Flores. Arriving here felt like arriving in aport in the early 20th century. It is much less developed than Bali etc and has a nice feel to it. We will spend the next few days here. This is the place were the found that new species of human known as the hobbit so hopefully we will have an interesting time.
The last 4 days have been scary, exciting, relaxing and untterly memorable, truely this is another memory that will last longer than the feeble cost ever could.

To Mordor and back

So we decided to go to Rinjani , a local volcanoe which is about 3000 metres or so. Currently one cannot reach the summit due to the volcanic activity which begs the question why can we climb it at all? Anyhow we agreed a price of 55000 ruppiah each about 35 quid and hired porters and a guide for the trip.
We spent the night again in Hotel Ellen in Singigi! As Jarrod says if we were to write in the lonley planet about this place we would write, "do not go"! Actually it is ok!
Hotel Ellen is fine, it is right beside the mosque which I really have grown acustom too. There is a decent left and right surf break but when we checked it was at low tide and too shallow to surf. Some local checked it out before us and ended up tearing out a fin. James and I chilled at the beach talking to him and some local girls who were cool. I now have serious Bali belly so ran back to the hotel. While away James met and iraqi refuge and his family who were trying to get to Oz but to no avail.
That evening we ate food at the same restaurant as before, i had king prawns again which were awsome. We went to bed promptly as we had an early start.
From the outset I knew it was going to be a disaster, in a good way though! 4.30AM wake up was my least favourite! We even missed the morning prayers at the mosque. They really are fascinating! These people pray like 6 times a day and begin at 5AM. One person sings the Koran through a microphone I guess and listening to it in the warmth of the dark night is nothing less than enchanting. I think I could take a leaf out of these guys dedictation!
Anyways we drove 2 and a half hours to the starting point. Enroute I felt illish but i managed to sleep a little. We began trekking and as we set out we saw a large milipeed on the road which was cool. To cut a long story short the trek was hellish! In the jungle it was super humid so i was sweating like a mad man then through the clouds we couldnt see anything and as we passed over the clouds the sun burned us and the terrain became pretty tricky. I am really not fit and i struggled. Parts of it were very like Kilimanjaro notably the cloudforest and passing into scrubland.
When we finally reached the rim we heard what only can be described as the noised jumbo jet engines make prior to take of. In the centre of the volcano there was a new dome which had formed and out which lava and smoke were spewing. It was literally incredible although nothing compared to when the sun went down. The sunset was as good as any but as the light faded the lava grew more intense and as we sat watching the volcano errupt in the crater below us i really could have saw Gollum and not been suprised. We watched the volcano for about and hour then got into our tents.
Sleeping was nigh impossible for me it was cold, some guy from the UN was snorring and the volcanoe sounded like thunder. After a few hours of not sleeping I left the tent to go to the toilet which acording to our guide was everywhere...Finding a good spot to pee i noticed further up the mountain was our guide and porters. No tent just sleeping bag. He was playing some sort of stringed instrument overlooking the crater. No lie that was one of the most memorable pee's ever. I cant find words to describe it really but standing on the crater watching lava spew while a local indonesian man plays his guitar or whatever it was is a moment that will stay with me forever! Im glad I drank so much water!
That night i did not sleep and in the morning we had a frugal breakfast before descending the mountain. The descent was tricky and just like kili as the sun rose and the air warmed i felt alive once more. It is notable that now i have the runs, so the descent was not nice! At least kili had toilets!
After hours of trekking Sophia (Morrocan) Anabel , Mathew (french) and I all made it back to the starting point. We were haggered and celebrated with cheese and tomatoe toast and chips! Glorius! We took our bus/van back to Singigi. En route the guy from the UN shared some storied with us about his time in Iraq and other dissaster stricked parts of the world. His stories were humbling and at times frightening. As we discussed the dangers of driving in Iraq etc some american chick chirped up to inform us that driving in Indo is safe and that it is organised chaos. Literally just as she said this a scooter coming round the corner hit sand and literally missed our truck/death by inches. I smiled inside and resisted calling her a jackass.
Anyways we are back in Singigi! Hotel Ellen is full so we are in some dodgyu hotel in a back alley. It has barbed wire and metal bars on the window so i hope it is safe.
Its no lie i actually stink right now! I havent showered since the trek and hours of jungle sweat have caught up with me, time to shower and sleep!
The last 2 days have been crazy, i can barley remember half of the goings on. Tommorow we leave at 9. We have organised a boat to take us to the komodo islands 4 days away to see the dragons. After which we will explore more eastern and untouched parts of Indonesia.

You can kill 2 birds with one stone!

The next few day on the Gilis were pretty relaxing. We slept in, had breakfast and lay in the hamock. Im reading Geore Orwells burmese days at the moment and although im not in burma i still think its apt considering im in south east Asia.
After breakfast etc as usuall i walked out of the hotel onto the beach. It literally is paradise I half expect to see Peter Andre singing mysterious girl in the water. Thjs evening we watched Slumdog millionaire in the open air cinema then watched the lions match. I really thought we had it in the last 5 mins.
Today I woke up later than the rest of the guys so met them at the beach. We were sitting outside one of the really posh resorts (ie 40 dollars a night not 6) . Ciara was on the beach while James and Jarod were snorkelling. Unbeknown to me at first the had a spear gun. Afer a while they both stood up in the water and with someting slithering the began to walk towards shore. Whatever it was was pretty big and when James stepped out of the water i immediatley recognised that the beak of the fish belonged to the parrot fish. This is not a good fish to eat! The spear was right through the head and the poor thing was slithering around. James wanted to gut it in front of the horrified tourists but we convinced him to take it to the man who gave him the gun. However knowing it was uneadible and affeered of the grief the locals would give them James released the beast back into the water. It seemed to have some fight in it but im sure it was quickly picked up by the reef sharks. Ciara and I both felt upset at the waste and as a consequence there was a bad air in camp that morning.
After lunch and as we still had the gun we rented a boat to take us hunting. This is when the miracle happened. Chuck Norris would be proud. Yes ladies and gentlemen i got 2 fish with one shot! Who ever thought it could happen. Not me! Not monsters just little black reef fish the locals would eat but I was still chuffed t0 get them. We got 5 in total and just swimming with the fish and turtles was satisfactory enough.
Last night we had food in a more local eatery.It wasnt great but we spent some time with the locals and planned our trip back to Lombok. The next morning we packed and left early arriving in Sengigi at midday. Now its time to try organise some porters to take us up the volcanoe. Its currently active so we need to be carefull but it should be fun. Apparently there is a surf break nearby so we will probably have a surf before tea!

Gili Islands

Our one night in Lombok was a good one. We had good food and we each had our own bed so it was comfortable.
I woke at 5am to the sound of the prayers from the local Mosque. Although I am not a Muslim I found the prayers strangly soothing, so it was a nice start to the day.
We packed had pancakes then got in our van to take us to the docks. The journey was about one hour and the scenery was amazing. We got to the dock and boarded the small boat to take us to the island.
The island is incredible. It truely is paradise. No cars or bikes only dusty sand roads lining the beach. There are a hotels and eateries on the shore but inland there is nothing save a few local coconut farms. We found a great place to stay and had lunch righ opposite the beach. After lunch we went to surf the local reef break. Its fair to say I was taught a valuable lesson. After walking over 100 meters of coral I finally made it out to the reef break. Paddled into what I thought was the line up and watched a few medium size sets. No one was taking a wave even though there was only myself and 3 locals, one of whom was only ten! I soon realised why no one took a wave. Out of nowhere a huge head high plus set came in. Getting stuck inside this is not nice. When James finally made it out , He , I and another australian dude on a longboard got stuck inside a huge set! We all made it past the first wave but when I saw the second I turned and paddled towards the reef. I knew I was never gonna get underneath it safely so cut my lossed and tried to get as far away from the impact zone as possible. James and the Aussie bloke tried to go under it. The were both hurled backwards onto the reef while I was tossed from my board like a ragdoll. I came up out of breath but unscaved while the ozzy guy broke his board and took a bashing from the reef. Let me assure you, hitting the reef is not nice. The coral is razor sharp and when you are cut by it the coral continues to grow in you body which is agony.
I caught one or two waves ten decided to head back in choosing to paddle half a kilometer aruond the reef. I was absolutley wrecked when I got back to shore , without doubt the heaviest surf ive been in.Not the biggest but the most challening and dangerous.
Today we all slept in. We had breakfast and got snorkelling gear. We cut through the inside of the island to get to the uninhabited side. We snorkelled for a bit but I was too tired really. We found a cafe got some lunch and ate in a beach hut before sleeping for a while.
In the evening we ate food in the local cinema and watched twilight. The island is pretty amazing. It can only be described as paradise and im sure I will enjoy the rest of my time here.

Lombok

Today we packed up our gear and left Bingin. The surf was simply world class standard and we wern,t up to it....yet! Our next destination is the Gili Islands. They are described as paradise and with a long sweeping right hand reef break around head hight, seems to be more in line with my abilities as a surfer.
We packed up our gear and were greeted by our friend Deborah. The lady of the house gave us all bracelets which is one of the first free things ive received whilst being here. We made our way up the steep hill looking back only to remember the few nights spent in the gurung. There is something purifying sleeping in a windowless hut on a cliff side listening to the roar of the waves, at times they literally sounded like a wild animal.
We found our transport and began the 2 hour journey to the dock. Again it was uncomfortable the traffic here is deadly, literally. Matt the tazmanian boke hitched a ride a jumped out half way. We arrived at the port where we debated for about an hour over whether we should trust some dude on the street to get us to Gili. The price he quoted was 100 000 ruppiah and seemed to small. In his credit his word was good, and we are half way there.
The ferry was 5 hours long and it felt like it. We saw dolphins en route and sitting at the front with the wind in my face was the only thing that kept me from being sea sick. The journey was actually ok, and we had some good chat. James had to use the toilets which was v unfortunate for him, trust me! On arrival at Lombok I felt very uneasy. It was dark, we had been warned of pick pockets and as we were unsure about our transport etc it all made for a very uneasy feeling. The port was pretty much pitch black save a few lights and we were lucky to have our transport spot us. Long story short we made it and our now staying the nigth in a garung awaiting transport to the Gilis. I hear there are trips to Komodo from hear so after a bit of R&R it could be on the cards. The last few days have been amazing and I hope it will continue!

Dreamlands!

Woke up early this morning, through my stuff in my bag, paid and checked out of suka inn and made my way round to meet the others at their place. Crammed all our bags and boards into a small people carrier then made our way into the crazy streets of Kuta. It took a while to get out of there and on the open road im not gonna lie it's pretty terrifying. En route we began to see the real side of Bali. Street vendors lined the road alongside make shift stalls selling everything you can imagine. It seemed very like Africa, I imagine many 3rd world countries share similar traits. After a lengthy journey dodging scooters and trucks we (with no help from the driver) found the car park where we had planned to be dropped. As soon as we got out of the car we were greeted by the usuall entourage of hawkers and street merchants somehow I don't think they only wanted to welcome us. Notably amongst them was a lady called Deborah. See was very insistent that she carried a bag although refused to tell us the price untill we arrived at our hotel. We said no and chose to carry our own stuff, posssibly due to the fact she was 3 times our age and at least half my size.
We were told our hotel was on a cliff and as we walked down the dirty path we got our first glimpse of the coast. To put it simply it was breathtalking. The steep cliffs overlooked some of the best surf ive seen in my life which was stunning. We carried on downt the steps and found a place with beds called Tuttis garung. Jarod and I had to share a bed which was cosy but apart from that it was amazing! It was one of those houses on stilts built into the side of the cliff edge. It was prettt rustic which only added to the sense of adventure. Our bedrooms were upstairs and to access them we had to climb up a set of stairs/ladders with a latch which made it feel like a tree house. I guess it fulfilled my childhood desire to live in a tree house as thats simply what it felt like.
The surf was perfect. Bingding- a left hand reef break which broke over a shallow coral reef 2 feet below. Today i could'nt surf due to the sunburn and in rhetrospect i regreted it. The next morning the surf was double over head high ie 10ft plus breaking in 2 feet of water. Basically if you fall you end up on the coral. Not pretty, There was a guy walking about with heavy bandage clearly from the coral and there was a couple of boards broken, snapped under the preassure of the water. I didn,t dare surf it although watching it from our little tree house on the windowless veranda with pink floyd and van morrison playing in the background was nothing short of awsome in the literal sense of the word. It really was a pleasure watching some of the best surfers in the world tackle some of the most dangerous waves on offer, taking the drop, cutting up the face and coming out of the barrel unscaved was a memory that will stay with me forever.
Desperate to surf we walked down to dreamlands beach break. The surf was HUGE! 20ft plus! The break however was much further out and not on reef so I figured if i could make the paddle if i wiped out it wouldnt be on coral. Grabbed my board and went for it. I was taught a valuable lesson. I didnt even make it passed the shore break. The 3rd wave that hit me held me under for a while and by the time i resurfaced i was 100 yards down the beach in the rip. Not a good idea!
Tonight we chilled and had food. James has the runs and is feeling poorly. Jarod and I had some food at a cafe on the shore front but the fish wasn't really cooked so i left it. Alot has happened here in 2 days, memories that i will cherish. Im glad i left Kuta and it seems now that the places im seeing now and the people im seeing them with are the memories that will stay with me a long time after the trip is finished.

And on the seventh day He rested!

So yes I rested today mostly because of the sunburn but it was nice to take a day off and recoup! Yesterday after the sunburn i had a pretty torrid time of things. Pretty much spent the day lying on my bed covered in some weird after sun type lotion which i'm sure was useless. On most holidays sun burn isn't that traumatic, but when you are on your own, ten thousand miles away from home with no phone, lying in a sweaty room with no air con and only a single fan to help cool you down it isn't quite so pleasant! What made it worse was that i couldnt meet James and Ciara. This sucked as i was gonna travel with them to some of the more isolated surf spots on the south of the island. Sure i couldt go myself but its always nice to have company and good company at that. So i lay in bed feeling miserable , i actually thought at one stage i was gonna pass out or something. Im not sure what the affects of serious sun burn are but im sure i was the most sun burned man alive for that moment. So my day was boring. Not one I will remeber fondly. I read most of James Caans book which was ok. Very similar to most entreprenuarial esq books, ie come from nothing now have everything this is how I spend it on good things type deal but it was ok, it kept me sane so thankyou Mr Caan, although thats not your real name is it...
Anyhow today was equally as bad as yesterday for most parts. Spent the day lying in bed. Purchased more aftersun but im sure this stuff had gone of in the sun as it was very watery. Lay about all day gutted that i was going to have to plan and travel south solo as i had no way of getting in contact with James and Ciara. We dont have phones out here and as i was unable to meet them yesterday had no way of contacting them so i was stumped. But then.... knock knock knock. James Ciara and there american friend Gerard turned up randomly at my hotel! I guess i must have mentioned where i was staying but even so it was awsome and made me feel alot better about heading to some of the outter reef surf spots. Surfing unfamiliar reefs feels much safer when you have someone with you, whether they can help or not it just makes you feel more comfortable.
So we headed out and had a drink and a chat and discussed our plans. We plan to head to Bingin a surf spot overlooked by huge cliffs and i think a hotel. Apparently its actually carved into the rock and only costs like 2 quid a night so im really intrigued! Our transport cost us 70000 ruppiah or about 4 quid.
When Marcus told me about indo the one thing he said was NOT to get stuck in Kuta. I guess in a way i have. Ive been here for 5 days and apart from the surf its 5 days too many. The busy streets with hawkers and people grabbing you and constantly asking you if you want transport are not for me. Having sunburn and feeling sick etc added to my distaste for the place but i have never felt more ready to leave somewhere when travelling. I guess now the real exploration of Indonesia begins!

Bali belly and Sunburn!

Today I woke up early to catch the morning swell/ripple at kuta. Had some banana pancakes which tasted a little odd. Definently no huki lau! Headed to the beach paddled out and caught a few wee waves. All was going well when it hit. Yes its Bali Belly. I knew I would receive a visit sooner or later! After this memorable experience I had lunch in KFC then surfed again in the evening. Met a guy called James surfing. Ironicly he dropped in on me on a wave but it turns out he is cool. His girlfriend is from Derry. All going well we may head down south soon but who knows. Later that night i remembered to take my malaria tablet only to have it stick in my throat! This was an unpleasant experience as you can imagine. Drank litres of water but still felt awfull. Obviously a mcdonalds made me feel much better! Had a sleepness light mostly i think to the malaria tablet, apparently they have a strange affect on you.
Last night was so hot so barely slept again which sucks and to make matters worse just as i drifted to sleep guess who bangs my door? housekeeping , drunk friends returning from a night out? of course not, the guy i was talking to about a surf trip in the street the previous day, who else! How the hell he knew which hotel i was in and which room i was in is beyond me, i assume the locals share info to screw the tourists as much as possible. Obviously i wasnt as happy to see him as he was me so he didnt stay long.
It wasnt all bad as i was supposed to meet james for a surf anyways. Ran to the beach, met james then we searched for the boat which marcus told me about that takes you to airports. Airports isa reef that breacks about a mile offshore so its a heck of a paddle without a boat. Paid 50000 ruppiah then motored out on a traditional balinese skiff with an outboared motor attached. The guy on the boat with us was from germany and had moved to bali indefinently working as a tatoo artist on the street. His girlfriend was Balinese and they were both ok surfers.Arrived at the reef jumped out and realised we cud actually touch the ground. Hmmm. Paddled into the line up, move into position and dropped into a nice waste high plus left hander. It wasn't the longest ride of my life but it was my first real wave in Bali and for that it was memorbale! Of course it was the first wave of the set so i got stuck inside for like 10 mins before i realised i wasnt surfing portrush and that if i paddled horrizontally to the break i could get out of the way of the uncoming waves. Today was a great lesson in duck diving! Spent about 2 or 3 hours surfing here. Caught some great waves and only had one wipeout which is unusuall for me and i didnt even hit the reef! Sounds great and even though i was beside the most competitive japanese couple i held my own.As we took the skiff back to the beach it seemed like the perect surf day. However, hello sunburn! Im pretty sure ive said i dont get sunburned, but i do! Bigtime! My face is like red/ purple so ive got water oreos and some stuff for burns and it looks like im gonna have to spend a day or two in the flat, which is a shame as there is a big swell on the way and we were thinking of heading down south. Time to think of plan B!

Jetlag I own you!

So last night a took a walk around kuta. Its pretty crazy, mopeds everywhere! As you walk down the street there are hawkers everywhere offering sunglasses souveners surf trips, you name it! Had an early night last night. Slept from 9pm until 3pm the next day. Thats 18 hours! o yea! sorry if that is boring Willis i will try and spice it up tonight! Today i swam then had chicken and rice again for lunch then just chilled. Went out with the lads i met for tea do some nice place and had snapper and potatoe. The fellas i met are cool but they are pretty crazy to say the least. They have travelled all over asia and have some stories that are equally as impressive. Most of which cannot be listed on this. so thats it really. there is no surf at the moment which is dissapointing but there looks to be a swell coming this weekend! so thats all for now, hopefully tommorow i will get some sort of surf in!

Not so Easyjet!

Ok so that would have been a better pun if I was actually flying with easy jet but it still works! Traveling didn't go according to plan! Got to Belfast int with time to spare for once. Unfortunatly my flight didn't take that into consideration. A one hour delay qucikly moved to two then three and so on. This is where I met Mardy and Charllenne! Walking up the steps they spotted I was pretty lost and basically ran about the airport with me for like an hour trying to find a printer so I could check in online for my Singapore flight. There isn't one publice printer in the whole airport! Wick!
So finally flew to London arrived with 30 mins till departure and practically killed myself trying to get to terminal one from terminal three! Made it in about ten mins but was to late! Great! Dad helped me organise a hotel which hopefully the insurance will pay for as Aer lingus washed their hands of it! Long story short spent the night in London then watched like a million movies en route to Singapore including Benjamin Button which I might add was excellent! The mixture of fatigue, poor food amd turbulance combined with an emotionally charged picture like that was simply too much to bare and I must admit I almost cried! No lie. But I didn't.....haha.
Nagotiated my way through the Singapore airport took a 2 hour flight to Denpasar and oila! Goodmorning Vietnam! I mean Indonesia.ha.
Getting of the plane was most similar to Dar es Salam. Hot sweaty air full of exotic spiced and scented filled my nostriles and gave me a nauseas feeling. It was worse in Dar but that was in fairness my first trip. Got my gear and haggled with a taxi man for ages trying to get a good deal. After about ten mins of getting ridiculous quotes I finally remember I wasnt dealing in Dollars or anything close! 80 ruppiahs was in fact a good deal, about 5 quid to take me 20 mins through one of the most crazy places ive encountered! I imagine it to be similar to Inian Urban areas. Scooters, bikes , horses, cars , vans you name it were flying down each side of the road using little or no indications. I can understand why the roads here are so deadly it really is a free for all!
The taxi man dropped my off at the end of the lane where my hotel was. Got a room at about 4 or 5 quid a night, double bed en suite! It is basic but compared to the hovels in australia it is paradise! Met some cool European and Korean guys who are here on holiday from their travel in ozz. Yes they are on holiday from a holiday. Weird. Got lunch which was cool then had the best massage of my life! Dont worry it was a massage clinic not parlour!aha. So its about 4.30 pm. There are no waves in the evenings apparently plus i haven't slept for a number of hours so im gonna get in the pool, cool down the sleep. Early start tommorow for my first surf in Indo!
Perfect!

Dear babes...

I have decided to write in the form of a diary/blog an account of my indonesian surf trip as Gina did one and it was pretty cool. Gina is a much better writter than me and I can't spell very well so don't expect anything more than a crude account of my adventures when and if I get the time to update this.
Since I started surfing I have heard many stories of the great surf in Indo. Last summer in Hawaii I met my good friend Marcus who had previously spent time in Indo. His accounts of crystal clear waters and consistently perfect waves had me hooked. You had me at hello Indonesia!
Since Hawaii ive been building up the old student over draft just enough to get flights booked and give me enough spending money to hopefully last me a month(thanks parents)! Booked flights a few weeks ago to Denpasar in Bali. Fly from London through Singapore then on to Denpasar. Quite a long flight but i've had worse. Ive also had better. Notably my flight from London to South Africa. I sat beside Stuart Maunder and Titty on this flight. Needless to say Titty had a fun flight! goodtimes
Today is departure day. I leave at 5 which is perfect as I forgot to get the required injections and had to race down to the doctors this morning! I am fairly prepared, although I always think its best to be slightly unprepared to allow for adventure. Surfboard of course is waxed and ready to rip. Rucksack has a few t shirts along with some quirky/strange clothing only suitable for backpacking. Got the old medical kit sorted. Esther (my mum) helped me sort it all out yesterday. Went to Boots where we were greeted and served by a babe with blonde hair. I thought she was pretty hot and began to adopt the chilled out surfer dude flirting technique. All was going well when Esther asked if she could show us were the immodium tablets were. O yes that old chestnut. Mum i'd expect that of Hall or Black but not my own mum!Thankyou Esther. I quickly explained I was going to bali where bali belly is often on the cards to avoid any more akwardness however any hopes of meeting a new babe were gone.
I'm semi packed and ready to go. I found my camera charger which is a great success. I can take photos now of hot girls and pretend I pulled them. Arrive in Singapore tommorow avo then Denpasar at 10pm tommorow. I have it on good faith that there are lots of hostels etc so I havent booked, although this may prove tricky as by the time I sort out my visa etc it will be late but I guess it all adds to the excitement. Hall did however suggest sleeping on the beach. Apparently its a great way to meet friendly new people.... Thankyou Andrew I will be thinking of you when being sold into the indonsian sex trade.
So now is go time. Im starting to get that feeling all travellers get before a trip. Excitment, nausea,uncertainty and as I sit here on my bed, nervous, thinking to myself why do I do this, I remind myself of the truley AMAZING experiences I have had while travelling. The beutifull places ive been in, the dingy hostels ive stayed, the times ive felt unsafe, the times ive been on top of the world and the lifelong friends i've met along the way. Writting this has made me super pumped, its finally time to go to INDONESIA!!!Let the Odyssey begin!!!