INDONESIA - BALI - BALIAN - 2 TO 9 JULY 2014- 'BALIAN HIGH'

Info

Car/driver Legian to Balian– Made – 350 000R – 0816570626

Gubug bungalows – 375 000R – nice air con rooms with a good view over the surf.

Our journey

We had a pleasant drive to Balian and settled into Gubug Bungalows. The room was nice and clean with a big bed, TV, air con and bathroom. Jacinta was happy! Breakfast was included. The patio had a good view over the surf.

We stayed in Balian for about a week. The weather varied from rain to clouds to sunshine. We met lots of nice people, hiked around the area, swam in the Pitaya pool and I surfed.

Balian was an oasis to us! The accommodation was good and varied and the food was good. There were a number of restaurants with some cheap and not so cheap food. The dishes ranged from Indonesian to Western. The deco of the restaurants varied from benches with plastic covered tables to hard wooden or rattan chairs with nice decorated tables. The views from some of the restaurants help make them a good social scene – Pitaya and Deki’s

There was a mixture of people from friendly locals to expats to tourists to travellers and surfers. Most people were who they were and some were who they wanted to be. Some were nice and the occasional one was an arsehole.

We met a lot of nice people, some were:

Myra from Bandung and Tony from Margaret River. Nice couple. She was very funny and he was very fit. Both of them were very earthy.

Darus, who is the manager of Pontok Pitaya and two Java girls who were his friends. He was nice and hospitable.

Viv and Didi from Tweed Heads. They had a long term one room lease in Kuta and some interesting stories to tell regarding the lease

The walks in the area were excellent:

One day, we walked to Mejan Beach, It walked via the village and down Jalan Mejan. There were some pretty rice fields and small temple along the way. The beach was long with grey sand. We backtracked part of the way and turned right after the temple. This path took us through Mina Gajah Resort and out to the headland. There were great views along the north and south of the coastline. We sat there for a while watching the ponding surf and endless lines of swell.

On another day, we walked south along the long stretch of grey beach. We crossed a few small rivers that were only ankle deep in water. After the long stretch of beach, there were a number of small headlands with beaches in-between. Occasionally, there were local people searching for food amongst the rock platforms. Eventually, we could go no further due to a long drop off the final rock platform and no safe way to climb back due to the incoming tide.

The hike into the village was easy, passing other guesthouses, restaurants, shops and local houses. The main town is centred on the main road with a large square with a number of shops and a night market in the evenings. The village housing radiated from the main oad in a number of directions down roads and gangs (small paths)

The surf was good though my recovering toe was a dominate consideration all the time. Basically, I didn’t want to hurt it again!

The waves were head height throughout the week. On my first surf, I was floundering but finished the session much happier. On some other surfs my toe wasn’t a problem and on others I bumped my toe and the pain was excoriating. I had to paddle over to the channel and wait until the pain subsided.

It was time to move on. The next destination was Ubud, Bali.