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.
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