Holidays and road trips - Canggu, Indonesia
Canggu, Indonesia
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I'd like to take a second to wish you all the best in 2014. Last year brought major changes in my life but, upon reflection (something I've had time to do on my trip), it was all for the best and allowed me to set off on this amazing trip of a lifetime! Thank you all for being a part of my life... from acquaintances to best friends and family, I'm grateful to have you. Happy 2014 everyone! :-) What's in a name? Bali has a funny tradition for naming their children. Since they usually have large families, they simply give them numbers! Regardless of being male or female, each person receives one of four names based on birth order. Firstborn is "Wayan" Second born is named "Made" Third is "Nyoman", and Fourth born is named "Ketut" They have started accepting some variations but 80% of Balinese people have one of those four names. It makes it easy to remember people's names... however imagine being in a social environment and needing to call out someone's name... and half the room turns to answer?! I can just imagine what all my teacher friends would think if that was practiced back home! Lol Xmas We had a great Christmas here in Bali! Surrounded by friends, old and new, we had a Xmas eve party at our place complete with a turkey, stuffing, vegetables, gravy and roasted potatoes! It's a package deal we bought at a local grocery store for around $80. Our feast was followed by an evening of music, singing and dancing as we partied the night away! The nine of us even had a goofy dance off and I decided to whip out my BrakeDance moves from the mid 80's!! Lol I hadn't even attempted some of those in 15, if not 27 years!! Luckily there were only minor injuries sustained and most had to do with the hardness of the concrete floor! ;-) The next day we woke up and went surfing! The waves weren't that big but it didn't rain and many people wore Santa Claus toques out on the water! It was quite the site to see and really put me in the festive mood! :-) We were invited to a friends place for a traditional Christmas dinner. They had ordered the same turkey special but added so many other great foods to compliment including mashed potatoes!! I loves me my mashed potatoes and gravy and this was a big deal for me!! Best present I could have had! Lol Rain! Well, after my first post we soon discovered why this is the rainy season in Bali. What was simple afternoon showers turned into a week of almost constant rain! It has since been roughly 80%25 rain but we've made the best of it! Still going out for morning surf and enjoying our chill time at the house or the company of friends. Bali was about getting some great R&R and we have sure gotten our fair share! Merry Surfing! One of my goals coming here was learning how to surf. I have heard that this is not an easy sport to learn and I can certainly confirm that with you... especially for stocky guys! Every time I'm out there I see these small Indonesians, women and kids catching waves while it seems my board can barely keep me afloat, let alone catch a wave! Lol Ok, perhaps a slight exaggeration there but it seems that if I rent a bigger board, I can't manoeuvre it fast enough to get up to speed and at the right spot... but if I use a shorter board it doesn't have enough lift on beginner waves to "take me" and let me surf. I'm convinced that I simply need to ride bigger waves! Kinda makes sense right... proportionally, bigger men should ride bigger waves! If you could see the gashes and reef rashes we've already got from the beginner waves... I'd hate to see what the big waves can inflict! So far I've caught about 5 or 6 waves that had enough pull to let me attempt to stand up... with maybe half of those riding for a few seconds. I'd like to catch a few nice waves before I leave but, with the weather, the ocean has been either choppy, rough or flat! I guess we'll see what she brings in the next week or so. Nusa Lenbogan As part of our strategy to escape the rain, we planned a 3 day trip to a nearby island called Nusa Lembogan. This small island was simply amazing... filled with waterfront hotels and restaurants. We spent our days snorkelling, scuba diving & surfing... and the evenings watching the sun go down on seaside patios nestled into the rocky coast. It was a tough getaway! ;-) Stars and Stripes A highlight of our trip to Lembogan was the chance to dive together. We each have a dozen or so dives but one of us had never tried scuba diving. Luckily, we found a great dive center near our hotel that could take us all and could give our fifth the proper training needed to certify him for our dive. Although the visibility wasn't ideal, we got to see some amazing coral, clown fish, bright blue star fish, groupers, lionfish and ended our dive with a large school of surgeon fish circling us as we did our safety stop. Fun times for all and a great memory to add to this trip. :-) Kicking off the new year! After weighing our possible party options we decided to buy tickets for a bar in Kuta called Sky Garden. Our $30 entry bought us an all you can eat 35 item buffet, 2 free VERY strong drinks and VIP access to the whole bar including the rooftop. I was really impressed by this place... the size was simply overwhelming! I can't be 100% certain, but from what I remember it has 5 floors and incorporates at least 7 different rooms/clubs that included DJs spinning dance, pop, R&B... and it even had a 3 story live music hall! Our night was one of complete debauchery and chaos! Splitting up in pairs to explore, chase drinks and find new friends! ;-) We all met back up on the rooftop at midnight for the countdown and were dazzled by a cityscape filled with fireworks shooting from everywhere! Toasts and champagne flowed as we celebrated the new year high on a roof top in Bali! Definitely one I will remember in my lifetime! Rainy dance party! Being the monstrous sized club that it is, we had set a meeting time and place to get together and go home. Unfortunately, I had made a few new lady friends and so I decided to stay. After borrowing 700,000 Rupiahs from Reid, I ventured back to the rooftop where I found my friends dancing in roughly 6" of water! Due to the lack of proper drainage, the rooftop patio had turned into a rainy dance party! We danced for hours to the sound of DJs spinning tracks, stopping only to get drinks. Although these Canadian ladies were out to party all night before catching their flight back to South Korea, I was starting to crash and opted to call it a night around 5:00am. I soon found myself wandering the streets with tens of thousands of people, looking for a ride home. I reached into my pocket... only 280,000 left. Hummm... our cab to the bar cost over 400,000... not sure how I'll get back!! I walked up and down the streets in the rain looking for taxis but the streets were closed. I then started talking to private motorbike taxis... which are simply bike owners looking to make a few bucks on the side. No license, no insurance! Lol not having many options, I found a driver who agreed to take me for whatever money I have. I empty my pockets and he agrees. Wayan is his name but he says to call him "Allan". He has only one condition... that we briefly stop at his place so he could change. I agree. A rainy ride home A short walk to his bike and we were off! We drove for 20 minutes before he pulled into a small alley... then into an even smaller alley and then another. When we came to a stop he offered me shelter under the covered roof at the back of his home. Before entering to change, he gestured for me to sit on the floor which I accepted, tired and wet. Suddenly the door opens and a woman comes out. I politely say hello but the husband yells at me from inside... letting me know that his wife doesn't speak any English. I simply smile and she responds in kind. She lights the stove and grabs items from a cupboard. I then realize that this back porch is their kitchen! She takes out cookies, crackers and hands me a cup of hot tea. I politely accept, she sits on the floor next to me and we start to drink. I eat some cookies and drink a much appreciated hot beverage. My driver emerges with dry clothes and he joins us on the floor. We make small talk and exchanges more smiles. We talk about Bali, Canada, the weather and our families. As if on cue, a little girl emerges from the other room. She holds her arm and talks to her mom. I look at her and notice her arm is in a cast. I ask Allan what happened. He tells me that she fell riding her friend's bike and broke her arm. I feel bad for this poor little 6 year old girl. She sits on her mom and stares at me as we eat cookies. I reach down and offer her one... she smiles. Allan gets up and goes back into the other room. He comes out holding a large envelope. Puzzled, I ask him what it is. He tells me they are her X-rays. Suddenly I have become a doctor and he's asking for my advice! We look at the X-rays under the light and he shows me her original and latest set. Not good! Her radius isn't healing well. It's misaligned and he tells me they need to break it again for it to heal properly. He doesn't understand why and asks me to explain. Through charades and pigeon English I explain that, even though it'll prolong the healing and pain, it's better for the long term. I look in his eyes and see a loving father wondering why everyone wants to hurt his little girl. I explain again, and I comfort him. I'm not sure he understand or convinced, but I definitely feel for him. Breaking the silence, his wife says something to Allan. He says it's time to go so I finish my tea. "Terima Khasi" I say. "Same same" she replies with a smile. Allan grabs his keys and we set off... back to the roads and the rain. I get on the back and we drive off. With no rain coat or helmet, the warm rain falls on me drenching every inch. I can barely see as the rain stings my eyes. I choose to simply close them and hope for the best. Near miss Suddenly I feel a jolt and come to... I'm falling off the bike!! I squeeze and hang on as Allan recovers from the close call. Somehow, even with the pouring rain, I fell asleep and almost fell off the back causing the bike to swerve. Luckily I woke up in time to catch myself and Allan is pretty agile with his reflexes! He asks if I'm ok... I'm sure as heck awake now!! ;-) We continue the drive for another hour with cars splashing us as they pass. I am wet through and through. Finally, we pull into the alley to my Villa. I pay him and he leaves. What a bizarre end to an incredible evening... and now, my bed awaits! The Hobbit What better thing to do when it rains but to watch a good movie with friends?! One afternoon, we decided to go into town, do some souvenir shopping, have a good dinner and go watch The Hobbit! We went back to the Sky Garden bar for their amazing buffet... some 40 items available for $5! After stuffing ourselves we went to the theatre for our 9:30pm show. We bought tickets for the premium theatre assuming we'd get those comfortable seats like back home that have some thick cushions and that you can lean back a little. When we got in, we were amazed by this theatre! It was filled with rows of leather recliners with blankets! We each found our seats and settled in. Much to our content, these chairs can recline flat and are electric! What a sweet setup... but then, to top it all off, this is a full food service theatre! You can order your food and drinks right from your seat... and not just soda and popcorn, you can order anything from premium coffees, pastries, even beer and club sandwiches! Boy I hope they have those in Canada some day!! Everything is bigger in Bali! If had to say one negative thing about Bali it would have to be the bugs. Like any other tropical paradise, this place is crawling with every kind of insect you can imagine... and they are bigger! From bumble bees the size of your thumb to geckos a foot long... everything is bigger here! We have spiders the size of your hand that spin webs 4 feet across. Colonies of ants so numerous that they change the colour of the floor when you drop food! I've gotten bitten so many times by countless bugs that I've kind of gotten used to it but it's definitely not a place for an insectophobe! It's strange how I've gotten used to showering with ants crawling on every wall, spiders sitting still in every corner and crickets jumping at my feet while geckos rush about trying to catch them! NEXT: I'll post another Bali related blog before I leave. It's been an amazing time and we've had some great adventures not in this entry, including a volcano climb and another fun trip I'm hoping will happen tomorrow... but you'll have to come back and see!! ;-)