Lovina to Kuta

So after the dolphin madness I set off back to Kuta. Not that exciting, just making sweet turns on my motorbike until I got to the mountains. Winding up and down, freezing at the top, I remember having to pull over once and hang out in the sun to warm up, it's quite easy to overlook bringing anything heavier than a T-shirt when you travel Bali.

 I stopped once halfway up a mountain to shoot this gateway to a temple, then continued on deciding not to stop at Git-Git waterfall. 

I came around a corner to find a pullout full of vehicles, and monkeys, my favorite. Stopped to take a few shots. (Sorry if you're getting sick of monkey photos, but they're my favorite thing to shoot)

Continuing on I came to Lake Bedugal. I don't really know the story about this place but there is a famous temple built on the lake. It is the picture on the 50 000 rupiah note. I wasn't feeling very creative so this is the stock shot I took.

 

I passed through the strawberry fields and by many more rice paddies before the skies turned grey and of course, it started raining. Not only raining but a full-on downpour, I took shelter under the roof of a tiny shop and bought a rain poncho, had a choppy conversation in Indonesian with the shop owner, then fought the rain back towards Kuta. Checked back in at the Sandat where I would come to find myself for the next two weeks. 

Lovina

  I woke up around 6am on the fourth day in Balian and went for a surf. I noticed Ty and Keri's boards were not under their huts so they must have been out already. We did, after a couple days, discover a way that we didn't have to paddle the river. I drove the road to the fancy resort side and ran into Ty as I was parking my bike. We chatted a bit then I started paddling out and ran into Keri. They had been up since 5:30 am and already had a short session. I went out solo cause Lars was feeling ill, and Alex and Rory were sleeping, and seemed to only go right on the A-frame that day.

  After I got out of the water I met with everybody who had decided to continue up the island that afternoon. Lars and I hadn't planned on leaving, but after some discussing it we all met in Medewi for breakfast, then hit the winding mountain roads after a meal. Lars ran out of gas, and Keri almost had a head on collision with a tour bus, but other than that we all made it there in one piece.

 

  Unfortunately by the time we got there something uncool was happening, Ty, Alex and I all started feeling super ill. Ty went out to eat, and Alex and I napped while Rory, Keri and Lars did some exploring and played some cards. Ty came back with stories of running out of the internet cafe and puking on the street, Alex had made himself puke next door, and I was wishing I could do the same. We all spent the rest of the day and night in bed. Food poisoning round 2.

  The next morning we all woke up feeling better, I went for a quick cruise to the beach but quickly turned around due to the pushiness of the locals trying to sell dolphin trips, magic mushrooms, necklaces and bracelets, all while I was riding my motorbike I might add. I ran into Rory, Keri and Lars who had just finished the dolphin watching, sounded cool. "DOLPHIN!!" I booked my dolphin trip for the next day, and stayed an extra night while everyone else headed back down to 

Kuta. 

 Last time I was in Indonesia I had ventured to a pretty amazing waterfall, Munduk it was called. I got my camera gear ready and head out to try and find it again.  It took a while but I eventually came to a waterfall. 

 This waterfall was named Munduk, but it seemed a lot different than last time I was here, It was shorter and wider, on a different angle, and now there was a restaurant on the side of the hill. I shot some photos from a table and then asked a bit about the place. 

 

Turns out it was a different one altogether, they pointed me to a skinny trail through the trees and I ventured until I found the one I was looking for..

 And it couldn't have come sooner. I was damn thirsty by the time I got there.

 I messed around for a bit, then hiked out back to my bike and continued on the road completing the loop. I chilled by the pool for a bit with the local staff, then went for dinner to a place named' Warung Perfect.' It wasn't so perfect, I would say decent at best. To bed early, had a big day with the dolphins coming up.

 

 I got up before sunrise and headed down to the boats. Went out with our local captain, and two guys from Europe. We made it about 200 meters out when the boat engine crapped out... The captain rowed us back in, we were unable to help due to the one paddle. 

 We eventually made it back to shore and swapped motors then head back out to join the hectic-ness of chasing dolphins. The group would start breeching, someone would shout, "Dolphin!" And the boats would all turn and chase the group. 

 We spent an hour or so chasing them around, then stopped for coffee and fried bananas in the boat, unreal. Every other boat went in and we spent a few more minutes searching for the dolphins. 

 

 It was definitely a challenge to photograph the dolphins, more of an experience you must 'take in.' DOLPHIN!!

 

On the road to Balian

  We had all had about enough of Kuta by now, and the swell had died dow so the 6 of us decided to go on a mission up the west coast to a place called Balian. Also nearby is Medewi, on a good day this wave can provide 800m rides, we were looking forward to this. The crew was Ty, Lars, Keri, Alex, Rory and myself. 

We all met downstairs at 9am and set out on our motorbikes. Before we even made it to the highway we lost Rory, thought about going back to find him but decided against it, thought he'd have more of an adventure on his own. It was a pretty hectic ride for the first bit until we got out of the city area, then smooth sailing on the winding jungle mountain roads. 

  We took one stop on the way for some water and to give our asses a break from the uncomfortable bike seats. We had a laugh about Rory, and were hoping that he would cruise by while we were sitting around, it never happened.

  Continuing on with many stops to shoot rice paddies, so many in fact that there was an ongoing joke about us stopping to take photos. "WOAH check it out, a rice paddie!" Was the going one for a while. 

 

 

  Rice paddies are pretty easy to overlook when you drive by one every 10 minutes, but they are quite fascinating. The amount of work that goes into the layout to fit the landscape along with planning the drainage route for the water to make it down each step is amazing. Well, I thought so at least..

  Lars led us to a restaurant he discovered on a previous trip up the coast. We pulled in and ordered our food then walked around the farmland out back. We could definitely see swell lines in the ocean which lifted our spirits. Came back to our food which was quite mind blowing, not as much though as the coffee milkshakes. Best in Bali, hands down. We asked the restaurant staff  how far we were from Balian and to our surprise they told us only 5 minutes. We continued on down the road, found our turnoff and pulled up to the ocean. 

 

  There was definitely some swell. We noticed a homestay just back on the road so we went and got ourselves some rooms in a pretty unique place. 

   After sorting out the sleeping arrangements we went for a surf. Had an awesome session on the A-frame, it was a nice rock bottom break, and the crowds were nothing like down in Kuta. The only down part was the disgusting river flowing out right into the break that we had to paddle across every time we surfed. Ear infections came about, but it didn't stop us from surfing two times a day. 

  After our first night Alex had decided to go and write Rory a facebook message. Later that evening he showed up to the place we were staying and joined our gang. 

 

One day after a surf there was some heated badminton matches going on. Most of us played but none of us could beat Rory. 

This pup hung out at the little shack on the beach where cold drinks were served. We all took quite a liking to this dog, nobody ever gave her a name, I will think of one for next time I go back. 

Between surfs and also for dinner we frequented the restaurant Lars had showed us for the best garlic prawns and coffee milkshakes around. One night on the way home I came across a sign to a place that sold some interesting things..

 

  This was the view out of the door of the hut Lars and I stayed in. Was a pretty amazing place with great waves. I miss it already, but there have been talks of another trip back. We'll see what happens.

 

I want to apologize for the inconsistent spacing on the layout. I can't figure this stupid thing out. 

Back to Kuta

  My friend Tom and I got a motorbike ride to the boat station and purchased our tickets, sat around until it was time to board. Pretty standard boat ride back, and we already had transport waiting in Sanur to take us back. We found our guy, he held out a sign that said "Chain" and we got into his Kijang and cruised back to Kuta. We got back to the hotel to find everyone chilling by the pool, with a few new additions. Lauren and her friend Sarah were laying around trying to match my sweet tan, and my old pal Lars had swung over from Germany. We hung around the pool for the afternoon and then the crew of 10 of us went to Chasers for dinner. (This place is unreal) 

  Just after finishing my dinner the surprise set in, I was sweating bullets at the table and felt like complete garbage. I tried to puke in the bathroom but it didn't work. I had to excuse myself and go home to bed, which is where I the next 16 hours with my new friend food poisoning. Lauren provided the Gatorade and water, lifesaver, and also brought back the news that Tom had the same. Oddly I felt relieved about that. Turns out we even puked the same number of times. 

So that was the big surprise..

  The next day we went surfing with a large crew, Balangan was the place. I got a flat tire on the way which was quite sketchy while doubling on the highway, but we eventually made it and had a fun little surf with everyone. 

  Definitely stayed too long in Kuta after the Lembongan trip. Surfed a bunch of different waves, shot some photos of the bigger swells, and skated the Globe bowl. 

 

This is a shot from a break called Impossibles. It looks pretty small but this day was easily double overhead. I found a nice beach lounger right on the water to shoot from, paradise really.

 

  We surfed Balangan a lot. This is definitely my favorite part of this beach. One of the warung owners keeps this beauty chained up, I don't know monkeys name but I can assure you we are good friends. This day a little local kid walked a bit too close to the monkey and it stole his ice cream bar, then proceeded to eat it just like a human. We bought the kid another ice cream because he was looking quite sad afterwards.

 

Lars and the monkey are friends too. 

 

I spent one afternoon at Dreamland beach with Lauren, don't have any photos from the day but this is from there. 

 There is a massive shore pound here due to the steepness of the beach, also it is the main tourist beach on the Bukit. I was shooting photos of these ladies hoping the shore pound would take one of them out, it didn't happen...

One morning Lars, Keri and I drove out to Balangan in the rain for a surf, Keri sat in the warung and shot photos, here's a couple of Lars and I. 

 

Other than surfing everyday and hanging out with friends, the odd party night and hangin by the pool not much else happened. We started planning another trip to take place in the next couple days, and I tried to surf less and shoot more photos. (Still working on this task)

This one's me shooting from the point at Balangan. Gotta give Lars credit for this post, most of the photos are from his camera.