Then after nearly a week of relaxing and helping, a long time for me to stay in one place, we head off ...........on a Reece adventure.
13/8/10....
Bondalum/Pemuteran
The” Bis Terminal” at Singarajah is like so many others ....lots of little warungs and touts to tell you where you “really must go”. We managed our haggling for a trip to Permuteran for 20 thousand each (about $3.00 -3hrs). The local bus was relatively quiet really, just a few boxes/parcels and some peeping/squarking chickens, bloody hard on the bum though!! The trip is punctuated by many stops as the ‘kenek’ hangs out the door yelling to anyone on the side of the road that they really should consider a ride on his bus!!
Permuteran is on the coast, north west Bali. The coast line here is stunning and the mountains almost meet the sea. We find a room for 300thousand a night(expensive!!). This area doesn’t have a great deal of budget accom, so we feel lucky to have the room as many places are full.
A walk up the beach through the local fishing area reveals small fishing family houses built so close to the sea with their boats pulled up in front. Juxtaposed against this, just meters up the beach are huge resorts with tourists laying on lounges enjoying the quiet atmosphere.
This is a diving area and it’s great to see the care and respect that is going into the reefs here. Along the black sand beach is a place called Reef Seen. Reading about this place in Australia prompted my visit here. An aussie guy set up here 30 years ago and has had a huge impact on the amount of education and work set up. The reef is recovering from netting, dynamite fishing and general abuse helped by various projects. Artificial reefs are also working well. Bio Rock is a wire reef structure set up with an electric charge running through which stimulates the coral growth.
Menganan Island is about a 1 hour boat trip away. On the way we saw dolphins and a flying fish!...they really can fly!! I was surprised to see how far, perhaps about 200 m, flapping its little fins like mad!! Great snorkelling over beautiful corals. The fish were abundant with such a huge variety....we even saw nimo in an anennneneneomeee!! Ax15/8/10 Permuteran to Java....
After a swim in the ocean, we headed off on our next adventure......a bemo from permuteran to Gilamanuk (the ferry port to Java.) This part of the trip was fairly easy, straight onto the ferry. Most people board on their motorbikes bus etc....we walked on. We sat outside at the back and were assaulted by really bad loud pop music. With nowhere to escape the raucous we suffered the pain!!The ferry trip took about half an hour to cross the straight, but about 1 hour waiting time. Getting off at the other side and it was time to start negotiating where to go to get the next bus/bemo and hopefully believe the information you are being told. There are so many different stories and trying to haggle is always a tad confronting!..should be used to it by now and I suppose i am, it’s just that sometimes you realise it’s over $1 or less! So it’s a bemo to the bus terminal and then 1 hr wait for a bus to Pobolinko. We ate a simple roadside warung and were entertained by the local kids who enjoyed reading my English/indo dictionary. Pobolingo is a five hour bus trip....and its late and dark when we arrive there. The travel warnings say it’s a hell of a place at night because of the touts at the bus station...not so much dangerous but dishonest and theft is common......so we get off the bus in town and stay the night in a hotel.....it’s too late to tackle the next part of the journey (another two hour up a very steep incline to Cemoro Lewang and Mt Bromo). Needless to say we’re exhausted after the day’s travel...worth it???? You know what, yes i think so....so many interesting characters and sights.... The old lady who struggled on with all her gear, bags of shopping and boxes, she sat there looking out the window, her withering body not at all a problem as she dully cracked every knuckle, even her ear lobes flapped in the wind...now there’s something to look forward to!! The ‘buskers’ who hop on every bus at the terminal and play fairly bad music on battered guitars or ukuleles: They walk up and down the aisles with a plastic bag for coins....most people give them about 200r (5cents). The short blind fat man who made his way along the aisle at the terminal who would tap each seat to see if someone was there....he was usually granted more money....a one thousand note (20 cents), a tap on his tin to let him know you had paid..and off to the next seat.. Every kind of transport , so many levels of society ...it’s interesting watching it all ‘close up ...yet i suppose so far away.
16/8/10
We decide to take a walk across the” sea of sands”. This is a 2km walk across the base of the crater, a wasteland of flat land between the old caldera and the new active cone. It’s black sand with very little vegetation that circumnavigates the smouldering cone. A truly magnificent and somewhat eerie landscape, Think planet of the apes crossed with star wars!!
The descent into the Sea of sand is steep and the calf muscles begin to burn .. wait for the following ascent!! After a fairly steep climb upward in soft to medium dessert sand you reach the bottom of the vertical steps...all 260 of them......(perhaps the light house training was a bit light on!! : )
Looking down inside the crater is a small, perhaps 10m hole at the base that billows sulphurous smoke. How far down does it originate?. . I ponder as I sit on the crater rim. It’s sandy and slightly unsure footing for me and I panic slightly as Reece makes his way further around the crater rim.
The view from the top was worth every breath...i wish i had the words really. Walking back across ‘the dessert” the wind howls and twisters of sand reach for the sky...
After a punctuated sleep we rose at 4am to reach the top for sunrise...this time on horseback. The horses are small and fine boned. Waiting outside our room in the darkness is Olying and his pony Pudra. I hop on and Reece’s pony is at another meeting place......mmmm but it’s not there!! Short wait and we set off, eager to get going. An extra horse and guardian soon catch up to us. Now, picture this...Reece’s long legs hitched up in high stirrups on a VERY tiny pony......funny and uncomfortable!! We swap horses and adjust stirrups to make the journey slightly more comfortable!!!
Its dark, still and so misty you can see very little....an incredibly magical atmosphere...though we are not alone. Motor bikes and jeeps now also make their way across the Sea of Sand although on a slightly different route. (We came here 25 years ago with my dad and brother and there certainly weren’t cars on route.) The silence crossing the sand is quite strange as the mist totally surrounds you and the cold air takes your breath away......wish I had some decent words to describe it.
It’s Independece Day today and we are not alone in our climb. Several locals are also puffing their way up. It’s truly The MOST SPECTACULAR sight. The valley is totally engulfed in thick mist but above it all the sun peeps through amazing coloured sky and greets the day.....and it’s all for us!!!!
At this point I cannot describe the sensations that surrounded us except ...magical really.
The ride home is totally humbling and I feel totally satisfied with where I am; right here right now...Axx
A text to Nyoman Dira saying we are at Bromo, where he had recently brought his family and 74yr old mother to the temple and crater. I tell him that we are going on a mountain pony trek and he quickly replies “ Pony to small for u your leg to long ha-ha-ha good time “ knowing only too well that they stand at about 4foot high.. those two times I rode the horses at home making all the difference between pure amateur and regular cowboy, although when the handler hit my pony on the arse he assumed that I could ride like Angela.....not.
The long distance bus ride from the ferry port to Probolingo, 200+ km takes about 5hrs, the side of the main highway on both sides is lined with an unending array of life and industry. Main road frontage is all important for every business enterprise you can imagine. The result of this is a town planner’s nightmare with large cities fading away to rural areas, only to head straight back into the next city with only a natural land feature (N.Park, mangrove swamp, cliff etc.) causing any real break. A constant movement of local and long distance traffic weaving in and out of the roadside slowing the trip, although the return trip in semi AC comfort is slightly faster than the public bus.
The 40km bemo ride couldn’t take more than an hour... 2.5 hrs later after a fairly fast run up the long lower slopes of Bromo, a hair-pin winding assent in first gear up the old caldera we arrive. Again my estimates of travel times are well and truly thrown out the window......slow learning curve....we are in Asia now....but 40km down hill is a lot quicker!
Leaving the relative peace of Medewi we drive to Ubud to join Kieran and his friends for his 60 b,day dinner. At the dinner we are all amazed as a traditionally cooked suckling pig is presented on a platter, rice and local vegetables complete the meal. A really fun night with lots of laughter.
An early morning market visit is an eye opener, a daily ritual for locals with quality testing and haggling over price for every item brought- meat, fish, fruit & veg, flowers and precooked delicacies some of the things available. No tourists are about till around 8.00am then the road around the main part of town fills with vehicles until a day long traffic jam ends about 8.00pm. Art and culture are the main draw cards for Ubud, though I haven’t found my special piece yet. ..............R
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