When you live and travel in Asia, there is never a dull moment. I flew into Bali, Indonesia last week and was completely amazed when I landed. The international airport was brand new, the services inside were super convenient and the customs procedures totally blew me away. I’m not sure what I was expecting… a small town, quiet airport perhaps but Bali’s new International Airport rivaled that of Bangkok (OK, it wasn’t that good... but it was close)!
When it comes to customs, visa regulations and new arrivals into a country, Asia is all over the board. Malaysia is somewhat speedy, Cambodia is slow, yet self-explanatory and Vietnam is, well, difficult. Indonesia, however, has the whole customs thing down pat. Two rows of desks are set up in the arrivals area, the first collects the Visa on Arrival money and gives you a receipt, the next accepts the receipt, prints out a visa sticker and you’re on your way. No hassles, no outrageous lines, no government-issued “letters of invitation”. Simple as that, I was in Bali!
The first thing I try to do when I land in a new country is pick up a SIM Card. They are usually cheap and make getting around so much easier. Before I could even think about commencing my SIM search, I was greeted by a row of SIM kiosks in the arrivals area. No questions, no ID requests, just 10$ USD or even less in local currency and I was good to go for a month… a bit different from my SIM experience in Bhutan! Continuing on with my ultra-convenient arrival, I went over to the prepaid taxi stand and booked a cab into the Kuta area. I hopped in the car, handed over my slip and started chatting with the driver.
His English wasn’t superb, but good enough for basic questions, so I asked him “How long is the ride to Kuta?”
“Umm, 20 minutes to 2 hours” he responded.
I scratched my head, pondering the odd response, and thought maybe his English was a bit off. “20 minutes to 2 hours?”
“Yes”
“But it’s only 6 kilometers from the airport into Kuta” I said.
“The traffic is unpredictable!”
I sat on this response for a while, and as we cruised through the evening streets of Bali, I was hoping for my ride to be more on the 20-minute side of things. All of a sudden, as if it dropped from the sky, the traffic just appeared. We went from regular car speed to a slow walking pace in a matter of seconds. The driver just sort of smiled at me in the rear view mirror and said "See what I mean!" The journey ended up taking about 45 minutes from the airport into Kuta; not exactly the quickest 6 kilometers I’ve ever traveled... But really not that bad.
After arriving in the Kuta area, it seemed as if we had been teleported to an entirely different country. Bars, restaurants, clubs, loud music, foreigners everywhere- I had obviously found Bali’s tourist district. While Kuta was clearly not planning on sleeping at all that evening (or any night from what I gather), I had to work the next day. So I checked into my hotel and called it a night.
The next day (Friday) I spent inside working on the hotel's blazing fast WIFI. When I finally took a break for lunch, I wandered into the buzzing streets and noticed a parade going on nearby. Though I hadn’t read about any special events in Bali at this time, I asked a local what holiday it was. I was told “In Bali, April is filled with festivals! But this is NOT one of them!” So there’s a giant parade of men dressed in traditional Balinese attire, carrying a golden pedestal through the streets… but they aren’t celebrating anything? Interesting.
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| The Passing Procession |
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| The Royal Treatment!! |
Ultimately I found out that it was a boy’s “coming of age” ceremony- similar to the Jewish Bar mitzvah. They were carrying the boy through the streets, celebrating as a community, and ending up in a function hall for the big party. I left the non-festival behind, grabbed some lunch and went back to work for the remainder of the day. That night, instead of soaking up Kuta’s buzzing nightlife, I crashed early because of my extremely early wake-up call the next morning.
Sunrise at Mount Batur
2 A.M. came mighty quick and I was greeted by my tour guide in the lobby. We were off to climb Mount Batur- Bali’s most active volcano.
After a 2-hour drive to the base of the volcano, I stepped out of the car and into total darkness. The trailhead was located somewhere amidst the dew-laden, dense jungle terrain, and there was absolutely no light anywhere to be seen. The only thing rescuing me from blinding darkness were the ultra-bright constellations in the sky… and that was pretty cool!
We began the 1700-meter hike to the mountain’s summit, which I quickly discovered was a super-steep, uphill climb the entire way. The dirt hiking trail was narrow (at its widest parts), and I did my best with a tiny, handheld flashlight to stay on track. However, each time I kept the flashlight lit on the path in front of me, I’d walk into a low-hanging, dew-drenched tree that soaked me when I brushed against it. From then on, I was like a lighthouse beacon, shining my light up and down, back and forth, doing everything I could to stay on track without walking into a small jungle shower.
During the initial ascent, the only thing my guide and I passed on the steep climb were tiny clearings covered in vines, overgrown jungle and low hanging trees. Inside were old, Balinese temples that looked like they’d been meditatively sitting there for hundreds of years- I honestly felt like I was in a scene from Indiana Jones!
About halfway into the hike the jungle terrain was replaced by volcanic gravel. As we hiked through the solidified lava, the terrain kept getting more and more difficult. Jagged rocks and finely ground sand comprised this perilous leg of the journey, and with each step I was thankful for my sturdy, cross-trainer shoes. My guide, however, was wearing tattered, second or third hand sneakers that clearly didn’t fit his feet properly. They definitely couldn’t have been comfortable!
After a long journey up, we finally reached the summit of the volcano 20 minutes before sunrise. The view? Clouds and darkness. After all that work, I had reached the peak and visibility was zero. I guess my eyes revealed my extreme disappointment because the guide quickly said, “Give it five minutes!” Not even 2 minutes later, the wind changed directions, the clouds drifted away from the peak, and we suddenly had crystal clear, panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and valleys below. As the sun crept up from the horizon, we were exposed to the most heavenly views of dawn… the hike suddenly was worth every single second. We looked out at the surrounding mountains where a few other hiking groups were perched, I snapped some photos and we grabbed some breakfast at the peak: volcanic-steam boiled eggs, pastries & tea!
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| The clouds starting to part on top of Mount Batur |
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| The Few Lone Hikers on our Trail |
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| Opening up to a beautiful sunrise |
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| Me finally reaching the top of Mount Batur |
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| Preparing Our Volcanic Breakfast! |
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| Enjoying my Volcanic Tea |
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| Happy to see the clouds parting!! |
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| A Few Busy Surrounding Peaks |
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| Amazing Scenery!! |
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| About to head back down the "easy trail" |
“That’s because we are on a different trail,” he said. “We’re on the easier trail now!”
“Easier Trail? Why didn’t we take the easy trail on the way up!?”
“Well, I wanted to make good time and you looked like you could handle the difficult trail.”
Flattered? Maybe. Confused? A little. Exhausted? Totally!
By the time we reached the bottom I was absolutely wiped out. Despite taking me up the difficult route so we could “make time”, I was really happy with my hiking guide. As a token of my gratitude (and because his were years beyond repair), I gave him my cross training shoes- hopefully he’ll get a few good years of volcanic climbs out of them!
By the time I got back to the hotel, there was only one thing on my mind: sleep. I took a rejuvenating late-morning nap and woke up with plenty of time to explore Kuta’s bustling streets once more. With my body already sore from that morning’s hike, I decided it was time for another local experience: a Balinese Massage. 12 dollars and 2 hours later (no joke!) I felt like a completely new person. I flew back home to Singapore that night pleasantly surprised from another smooth, Southeast Asia adventure.
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| A Daytime View of the Volcano |
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| Beautiful Bali! |
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| One of many Balinese Temples |
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| Busy locals on the hike down |
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