Friday, June 8, 2012
Paradise
I am siting here just above the rocks as the waves come crashing in, hearing their thunder and feeling their concussive impact on the rocks below, as the spray lands all around me. The boys have headed to Ulu's and I have decided to stay here - reading, writing, and when the tide gets lower, taking some photographs of Rock n' Reef from the beach. Sam Miller joined us here for a sunset dinner and we enjoyed hearing the trials and tribulations of doing business (Bombastic Plastix) in Indonesia and sharing our Bali adventures with him. Sam said Bali chooses who it loves. Bali must love us!
Uluwatu
The swell is small at Impossibles, so a taxi took us to Uluwatu - definitely not the quite, mellow scene at Impossibles. Ulu is not only a wave magnet, but a magnet for everything. The stairs down to the beach were like a narrow street, lined with small restaurants (warungs), shops selling everything imaginable and everyone wanting to sell you something. A woman latched onto me immediately, spotting quickly that we didn't even know how to get down to the beach. She led us down to the point where the boys had to swim out through a cave to get to the break. Luckily a photographer, coming in, gave a little instruction - "Paddle like hell to the left to avoid the rocks and then let the current take you out. Don't fight the current." And off they went. There was no beach or shade at high tide, so our "guide" led me up another staircase to a spot overlooking the break where I could rent a lounge chair under an umbrella. I looked down and saw Tom and Carl paddling out of the cave, and with the binoculars, I could easily spot them on the waves. When they each caught a wave, I relaxed, but was going to have my "guide" until I bought a tee shirt or had a massage. I opted for the massage. The break was crowded - at one point there were 40-50 surfers - spread over 3 sections, Temples, The Peak, and Racetrack. The level of talent in the water, as described by Carl, was a humbling experience. Roundhouses, arials, tubes, cutbacks and floaters practiced by The Ripcurl Grom Team (hence the photographer) were awesome to watch. Tom and Carl were in the arena of the professional surfers. Through the binoculars, I saw Tom get a tube at Racetrack, and Carl get an amazing ride from The Peak through Racetrack, passing 30 surfers in the wave. 
Jimbaran
In the afternoon Made drove us to the temple at Uluwatu and to Jimbaran for dinner on the beach. Pura Luhur Ulawatu was built to honor the sea spirits in the 11th century and expanded by Nirantha who spent his final days here after attaining moksa, freedom from earthly desires. Perched on the highest point on the Uluwatu cliffs, the inner temple cast a beautiful silouette amidst sky, sheer cliffs, and blue green surf pounding below. Statues of Ganesha flanked several of the gates. We did see the bad monkeys, as Made described them, but all our guide had to do was to show his sling shot and they backed away. I think Carl was hoping for a scary monkey encounter, but I wasn't!
Along Jimbaron Beach, tables are set up by the many different warungs, for candlelight dining and grilled seafood. We selected our fish from Morenga Cafe - a Crazy Yellow Fish (which Carl said looked like a Beeliner) along with red and white snappers and were seated at a table closest to the water. The setting was perfect - the sun going down, the candles flickering in the slightly smokey air, the sound of the ocean, clinking glasses and music from a group of roving muscians in the air. Not to mention the scrumptious fish, fileted, split served with head and tail, that was marinated with galic, lime, and a
chili sauce, then grilled over a coconut husk fire. There was a garlic butter sambal as well as a tomato chili and traditional ones but the fish was amazing just by itself. No leftovers!
Along Jimbaron Beach, tables are set up by the many different warungs, for candlelight dining and grilled seafood. We selected our fish from Morenga Cafe - a Crazy Yellow Fish (which Carl said looked like a Beeliner) along with red and white snappers and were seated at a table closest to the water. The setting was perfect - the sun going down, the candles flickering in the slightly smokey air, the sound of the ocean, clinking glasses and music from a group of roving muscians in the air. Not to mention the scrumptious fish, fileted, split served with head and tail, that was marinated with galic, lime, and a
chili sauce, then grilled over a coconut husk fire. There was a garlic butter sambal as well as a tomato chili and traditional ones but the fish was amazing just by itself. No leftovers!
On the Rocks
5/4/12
We arrived at Rock 'n Reef on Monday for the last leg of our Bali adventure. Following the directions, we came to the end of the road. A small paved path turned into steep twisting, stairs carved right into the cliff face the rest of the way down. We are literally nestled in the rock cliffs of southern Bali, near Uluwatu. Looking from our balcony, the break Impossibles, is right in front of me and I can see Padang Padang to my left, a perfect clear green tube pounding onto the reef. At low tide the reef is nearly dry, and we walked out to the point to watch it break right in front of us - an amazing sight.
We arrived at Rock 'n Reef on Monday for the last leg of our Bali adventure. Following the directions, we came to the end of the road. A small paved path turned into steep twisting, stairs carved right into the cliff face the rest of the way down. We are literally nestled in the rock cliffs of southern Bali, near Uluwatu. Looking from our balcony, the break Impossibles, is right in front of me and I can see Padang Padang to my left, a perfect clear green tube pounding onto the reef. At low tide the reef is nearly dry, and we walked out to the point to watch it break right in front of us - an amazing sight.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Medewi Beach
6/3/12
This afternoon we drove to Medewi Beach, a rocky left point break that wasn't happening. It needed to be high tide (6am or late afternoon) for it to break and the boys prefer Balian. We traveled on a little further paralleling the Java Strait to another of the sea temples, Pura Rambut Siwi, no crowds or vendors in sight. There are cave temples here in additon to the main one, the concrete made with the black volcanic sand and a sea wall to protect it from the high tides. In one directon, views of Java across the Strait and in the other, rice fields completed this beautiful vista.
This afternoon we drove to Medewi Beach, a rocky left point break that wasn't happening. It needed to be high tide (6am or late afternoon) for it to break and the boys prefer Balian. We traveled on a little further paralleling the Java Strait to another of the sea temples, Pura Rambut Siwi, no crowds or vendors in sight. There are cave temples here in additon to the main one, the concrete made with the black volcanic sand and a sea wall to protect it from the high tides. In one directon, views of Java across the Strait and in the other, rice fields completed this beautiful vista.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Into the Mountains
6/2/12
After the morning surf, we headed up into the mountains through the ricefields of Blimbing and Sanda, to the clove and coffee growing areas of Pupuan and Munduk. Dawa, our driver, found places for us to stop and take pictures, and today we could see Ganung Batakaru, usually hidden in the clouds. We saw the tall clove trees and smelled the green cloves drying on mats along the road side. Most of the cloves are exported to make Jakartas - the strong clove laced cigarettes that are smoked throughout Indonesia. Vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cocoa are also grown up here on this spice island. We bought some vanilla tea and cocoa, but passed on the cat poo coffee, supposedly a delicacy.
The road climbed steeply, with many switchbacks up the old volcanic slopes flanked by coffee and cloves. We stoped and hiked to a beautiful waterfall near Munduk, the mist filling and cooling the air - a waterfall as majestic as any we had seen in Hawaii. The hike reminded us of Lombok and the stairway to Heaven. Incredible views down to the ocean from Ngiring Ngewedang, where wew stopped for a late lunch. The food was as good as the view - fresh strawberry juice, a delicious tomato soup, satay, and rice noodles with vegetables, to which I added just a touch of the hot pepper sambal. From Munduk, the road descended to the crater lakes of Tamblingan, Buyan and Bratan, where we stopped to visit the temple, Pura Ulum Danu Bratan, to the goddess of the lake Dewi Danu.
After the morning surf, we headed up into the mountains through the ricefields of Blimbing and Sanda, to the clove and coffee growing areas of Pupuan and Munduk. Dawa, our driver, found places for us to stop and take pictures, and today we could see Ganung Batakaru, usually hidden in the clouds. We saw the tall clove trees and smelled the green cloves drying on mats along the road side. Most of the cloves are exported to make Jakartas - the strong clove laced cigarettes that are smoked throughout Indonesia. Vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cocoa are also grown up here on this spice island. We bought some vanilla tea and cocoa, but passed on the cat poo coffee, supposedly a delicacy.
The road climbed steeply, with many switchbacks up the old volcanic slopes flanked by coffee and cloves. We stoped and hiked to a beautiful waterfall near Munduk, the mist filling and cooling the air - a waterfall as majestic as any we had seen in Hawaii. The hike reminded us of Lombok and the stairway to Heaven. Incredible views down to the ocean from Ngiring Ngewedang, where wew stopped for a late lunch. The food was as good as the view - fresh strawberry juice, a delicious tomato soup, satay, and rice noodles with vegetables, to which I added just a touch of the hot pepper sambal. From Munduk, the road descended to the crater lakes of Tamblingan, Buyan and Bratan, where we stopped to visit the temple, Pura Ulum Danu Bratan, to the goddess of the lake Dewi Danu.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Surf at Balian Beach
6/2/12
The surf is bigger today - I could tell by the sound this morning before I opened my eyes. Sitting by the pool, I can see the boys surfing as I write. After all the scurrying around in Ubud, it was nice to just swim, relax by the pool, do some yoga with the boys, and explore the beach - smooth black pebbles shinning on the black sand, bleached white drift bamboo in imaginative shapes, local fishermen in their brightly colored boats, shells....
The surf is bigger today - I could tell by the sound this morning before I opened my eyes. Sitting by the pool, I can see the boys surfing as I write. After all the scurrying around in Ubud, it was nice to just swim, relax by the pool, do some yoga with the boys, and explore the beach - smooth black pebbles shinning on the black sand, bleached white drift bamboo in imaginative shapes, local fishermen in their brightly colored boats, shells....
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