INDONESIA - BALI - BALIAN - April 2013

It’s back to Balian. The car was 400 000R. It’s never like groundhog’s day there as it such a different trip each time.

I stayed at Ayu’s (150 000R) at the beginning but the mosquitoes were relentless. I never had a problem with them before.

I moved next door to Gubug Balian Bungalows 350 000R to 400 000R). It had aircon, better bed, no mosquitoes and a great view. The staff was friendly and helpful. Especially Putu, who drove me to an ATM. It took about 2 hours to find an ATM that worked for my card. We had a couple of informative nice chats.

I hired a motorbike for a day but the main road was too risky with busses and trucks overtaking smaller vehicles in an unsafe manner.

I walked south and north. The south walk is great especially at low tide. There were heaps of locals around to have a chat along the way and the sea cave at the end of the walk is a highlight.

I met a number of other tourists - Steve and Jamie, Gus and Lorraine and a number of others.

Ian and his wife Jenny who own Batu Balian have had a baby. I visited with a present. Ian always has good, insightful and interesting stories to tell.

The food was good as usual thought the beach warungs were in decay due to heavy wave action wiping out their businesses.

 

The surf was good with a number of big days. The shore dump was horrendous at times. I got caught badly twice. The second time, I cut my feet a lot and end up getting an infection (though I treated them diligently) and now I’m on penicillin for a staph infection. The joys of surfing!

Impressions

Relaxing and quiet

Good food

Nice people

Grumpy people

Great walks

That was the end of the Indo trip for April. I’ll be back in August – where to next - Somewhere old and somewhere new.  Let the planning begin!