Bali Notes

Posted on October 22, 2024 by murray

I like Bali. It is busy as hell and there are tourists everywhere but the ‘vibe’ is very comfortable. The people are courteous and work hard to keep the tourists happy. Customer service is part of growing up.

We have been here twice. We haven’t seen anywhere that lacks travelers. Ubud has been on the tourist trail since the days of the hippies. Kuta is within walking distance of the Denpasar airport. Sanur is a beach destination and jumping off point for a couple of the islands to the east. We are now in Tulamben, it should be a nowhere destination but at least ½ of buildings are dive shops or dive resorts. Tourism is the main industry in each of the above places. I am sure there are areas ‘much less traveled’ but I think these too will be holiday destinations soon.

Bali
Nudibranch

Even with all this tourist activity, the locals seem to carry on with their ways. A few days ago the entire island participated in celebrations of the full moon. As Debbie mentioned, there were parades where everyone is dressed in their traditional finery, the ladies carry offerings to the gods balanced on their heads and the long procession is accompanied by a gamelan band. Today there was another celebration in Tulamben. It was more of a local thing but still a lot of effort went into it.

The way people live and eat has changed in the last 100 years but there remnants of olden days. Most dress in western type clothes but it is not unusual for someone to be on the street in a sarong. Western food is readily available but the rice base diet of ancient times is still predominant.

Ribbon Eel
Ribbon Eel

Religion is far more dominant in Bali than say, Canada. It is not possible to move about by car or by foot without seeing a number of temples on your journey. Most of the people in Indonesia are Muslim. In Bali most of the population is Hindu. The people practice a unique type of Hinduism, Balinese Hinduism or Agama Hindu Dharma. This is a combination of Shivaism and Buddhism. 90% of the population participate in this highbred practice.

In keeping with hot climates, the pace of life is rather slow here. Nobody is in a hurry to get anywhere. The walk pace on the street is measured. The food in the restaurant is cooked when ordered not prepped in the morning and nuked when someone choses it from the menu.

Shrimp
Shrimp

If you want an Asian destination that is relaxing and friendly, go to Bali.

This is our last post from Indonesia. We have enjoyed our short time here and are already thinking about when we can come back.

Bali
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Muck Diving in Tulamben

Posted on October 20, 2024 by debbie

In the Tulamben area, all the diving is shore diving. We learn a new system once again.

We meet at 8:30 at the resort dive shop and don our wetsuits, check our tanks and make sure we have all our gear. BCDs and tanks are loaded onto a small truck along with the plastic crate holding our fins, masks and small gear. With cameras in hand, Jaya (our dive master), Murray and I climb into the back of the truck for the short drive to one of many dive sites.

Once parked, four ladies descend on the truck to carry the tanks down to the shore and the crate to a staging area. Each dive shop pays fees to an organization of “porters”, which in turns pays ladies at each dive site to carry gear. And it’s only the ladies who are the porters!

Frog Fish
Frog Fish

Jaya gives us the dive briefing while we don the rest of our gear, grab our fins and cameras and go to where our tanks are. The beaches are quite rocky, so I am playing my princess card. Jaya throws my tank onto his back and escorts me, carrying my fins, into the water. I put on my BCD, then my fins and wait for Jaya to return to the water with Murray. They both walk in with their BCDs on and Jaya carrying my camera. We make sure we are all put together and then descend to the underwater world.

The diving here is “muck” diving, which means diving over the sandy, gravelly, rocky bottom. There is usually no coral on muck dives. We are looking for tiny creatures, mostly nudibranchs, that are less than 1/2 inch, or one centimetre, length. More about these critters later.

Nudibranch
Nudibranch

At the end of the dive, we repeat the process to get out of the water. Murray and Jaya first and then Jaya comes back to get my tank so I can walk out of the water without a tank. Oh by the way, I usually use a small tank but the dive shop does not have any small tanks so I have to use a regular sized one, which is heavier and more cumbersome than a small one, thus the princess card.

Hop back in the truck to go back to the dive shop for our surface interval and then do it all over again. Sounds like fun, right! 

Shrimp
Shrimp

We come to Tulamben to search out small critters. Mostly nudibranchs, shrimps, frog fish and the odd crab. I have a new camera, one that shoots macro and super macro, so I am in a steep learning curve. It is a different kind of photography than what I am used to. The first dive I have maybe two photos that are in focus and 50 out of focus. With each dive the ratio of in focus to out of focus goes up.

On the second day of diving we dive the Melasti Dive Site in search of the Nudibranch Costasiella Kiroshimae, or lovingly called “Shaun the Sheep”, for its black eyes, expressive feelers and sheep like face. These guys hang out on leaves and are about the size of a pin head. Jaya is great and is tutoring me on my camera and what settings to use for teeny creatures, tiny critters and small fauna. May I introduce you to one of many different Shauns……..

Shaun the Sheep
Shaun the Sheep
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Wakatobi to Tulamben

Posted on October 19, 2024 by debbie

It is a travel day for us. Wakatobi to Tulamben. It’s quite the schedule: 6:30 luggage outside and breakfast, 7:30 pay bill, 8:30 vacate room, 9:30 leave for airport via boat then car, 11:30 flight leaves, 2:30 flight arrives in Bali. Phew!

We are picked up by Made, the driver for the Tulamben Wreck Divers. After stopping to exchange Canadian funds for Indonesian, it is a 2 1/2 hour drive to Tulamben, on the north east coast of Bali. I mentioned to Murray while still at Wakatobi to be prepared for the scrum once back on Bali, and indeed it started right away with a fender bender, not us, in the parkade.The traffic was almost in gridlock, but it moved.

We see another accident, this time a young woman with a motorbike sitting on the asphalt at the side of the road. Several people were helping her.

We pass a number of “celebrations”. People dressed up in traditional clothes, in procession. The women carry ceremonial buckets of fruit on their heads, offerings for the gods, and the men play music, with cymbals, drums and gongs. Apparently the celebrations are for the full moon, which happened yesterday. 

There is a group of men running, in formation, down the highway taking up a lane. Further ahead there are three or four groups of ladies walking, in formation, swinging their arms and saying something in unison. It is very military like. Made says they are practising for a future celebration. 

The vehicle we are in is a smaller, brand new, Toyota SUV. It’s too big for the roads. It feels like the vehicles are getting bigger here but the roads and infrastructure are not made for this size of vehicle. It will be interesting to see how this develops.

The traffic slows down around two temples. The area is crouded with parked vehicles and pedestrians. It’s kinda odd. One was a temple that celebrated bats and the other monkeys. Wikipedia says that monkeys are sacred and a symbol of harmony between nature and humanity.

We arrive at the Tulamben Wreck Divers at 6:30, tired and starving. Time to eat, unpack and then sleep. We dive tomorrow.

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Diving from the Pelagian

Posted on October 17, 2024 by debbie

The first two days of diving from the Pelagian are unexciting. The reef doesn’t seem to be the pristine eco system that we had heard about. By day three, we change our minds.

Wakatobi

Healthy coral, both soft and hard, stretches for as far as I can see. The colours range from the usual tan to brown to yellow, blue, purple and orange. There is only a teeny bit of white bleach spots on the odd piece of coral. 

Wakatobi

The fish are abundant, although there are hardly any big silvery fish like barracuda. Most of the fish are smaller, like damselfish, triggerfish, anthais, and very colourful. Enormous schools of Red Toothed Tiggerfish swirl and eddy beside us. Anemone fish (clown fish) in their individually tailored anemones are happily doing their thing, until we float by, and then they are nervous and on alert.

Wakatobi
Nudibranch

Nudibranches, my fav, and flatworms, Mur’s fav, are spotted regularly. Some we know and some we do not.

Wakatobi
Flatworm

Our fourth dive every day is a night dive.  The day time fish are in holes resting. Weird and whacky creatures come out of hiding when it is dark. Two of the weirdest are the Spanish Dancer Nudibranch, a foot long fat Nudibranch, and the Anemone Crab.

Wakatobi
Spanish Dancer

Pygmy creatures are always exciting to peer at. We see a number of pygmy seahorses and a pygmy squid. The squid was so hard for me to see, I had to ask the dive master to hold his pointer next to it so I knew where to focus my camera.  

Wakatobi
Anemone Crab

The diving off the Pelagian in the Wakatobi area is some of the best diving we have done. We are now thinking we may have to come back to experience more of this wonder.

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Wakatobi Reasort

Posted on October 16, 2024 by debbie

We disembark the Pelagian this morning and are now staying at the Wakatobi Resort. The resort is run like a finely tuned Ferrari. We are met, checked in, given a tour of the dive center and then whisked away to do two morning dives while our bungalow is being prepared.

Wakatobi

After diving we are escorted to our bungalow and given an orientation there. Drinking water, outdoor shower, A/C, safe, no shoes/no sand inside. The usual.

The resort has a Longhouse, where reception and the dive center are, a Restaurant, a Spa and numerous bungalows and villas. Check out the website if you want to know more.

The staff at the resort memorize the photos and names of the guests from passports, so when we meet Opan for the first time, he opens with “Hello Debbie”. It is a little disconcerting and I ask him how he knows my name and he explains that they know all the guests names. And then Ibram, the restaurant manager, calls us by name. It’s kinda freaky but kinda nice also. Murray and I are now determined to learn, and remember the names of some of the staff.

Wakatobi

Another unusual thing is that on the name tags that the staff wear, there are the words “My passion is:” and then varying passions like swimming or football or playing guitar or cooking. We chat with a number of servers in the restaurant about their passions. It provides a way to chat with the staff that brings a level of friendliness to the resort. I like the idea!

Hermit crabs! We not only see crabs under water but at the resort too. Once it turns dark, diminutive shells with their occupants start scurrying along the pathways. Some have fancy shells and some have plain shells. We are now careful where we step so no crab gets squashed and ends up with a broken house.

Wakatobi

We have come off the Pelagian tired as we did four dives a day for six straight days. Our schedule for the resort is two morning dives and veg for the afternoon. There is a beach and crystal clear water that is calling me, so playing in the water is on tap too. Will write more after another good nights sleep.

Wakatobi
Designs along the paths

In the room is a Pillow Menu. The resort wants us to have a good nights sleep so offers four different pillows: down, microfiber, natural latex and memory foam. Murray’s pillow is giving him a stiff neck so he has utilized the service and will try a different type of pillow tonight.

What makes this resort special is the staff and how friendly and genuine they are. The customer service is exceptional and this one thing puts the resort high up above other resorts. We plan to come back here.

Wakatobi
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Pelagian

Posted on October 15, 2024 by murray

Ok, we are a bit late but we just spent a week on the nicest appointed boat we have been on, the Pelagian, part of the Wakatobi dive resort. It started life as a private yacht and was converted into a dive boat. There are a few odd things about it but the adaptation is very well done.

The rooms, I presume, are the old staterooms of the previous owners and their guests. Our room had its own private stairway. The room itself was actually big enough to move around in. Two beds, a small bench, a washroom and 3 closets. A room that big is in itself luxury on a boat of any kind. There are other small things like brass handrails on the interior stairs, carpeted lounging and dining areas and  an outdoor lounge aft. The décor is not super modern but it suits the boat very well.

The meals are gourmet. There is a daily menu and you can choose what you want at any meal but if those choices don’t suit you, you can have anything made special. The portions are small which suits Debbie and me perfectly. We generally just eat the main course but if one requires more sustenance there is soup or salad and dessert.

Check out the website for the Pelagian. Their photos are much better than mine. Pelagian

The group we dove with was fantastic. It helped to restore our faith in small group ‘tours’ where we are confined to a small space for several days with people we don’t know. Two of the last three boats we were on had what I would say were undesirable guests. Each of the tours (one on a river and the other a dive live a board) had 4 people on them that made the 7 days very uncomfortable. We were wondering if we should gamble and book any more of those trips. This group was friendly, chatty, personable to a person. I enjoyed visiting with every one of them. They were interested in us and they all had interesting stories to tell. Their diving experience was extensive and we were able to learn of a few places worth diving we have not been too yet.

There is no dive deck on the Pelagian. We struggle into our wet suits in the exterior lounge at the aft of the boat and load the tender via a ladder on the side of the mother ship. The small boats ferry us out to the dive site and pick us up 70 minutes later. Boarding the Pelagian using the same ladder we used to get off the boat, then the side aisle is used to strip off the wet gear and rinse it with Dettol and hot water from the available spray nozzles. No rinse tanks except for the cameras and dive computers. The system seems odd at first but once you figure out a way to be efficient it works pretty well.

The diving is amazing. The reef is in excellent shape. The fish seem to be sparse and then around the next corner there is a massive school of Redtooth Triggerfish, hundreds and hundreds of them all moving in unison. The coral is probably the highlight of the area. It is abundant and amazingly colourful. Soft coral, hard coral, sponges, you name it, it is here. Every colour you can dream up.

The diving is not particularly hard, at least we didn’t experience any difficult dives. The first few dives the current was odd. Down current, up welling, drifting along and the current changes direction so you turn around and drift in the other direction.  The dive masters are very accommodating and we rarely  fought current and then only for a couple of minutes before we reversed direction. The last half the week the current was more normal and we just went with it again, not fighting the direction.

The crew is beyond attentive. We hadn’t been on board more than a minute and hadn’t been formally introduced yet and they were addressing me by name. After one meal they knew our preferences and would clarify that we would like to continue status quo or would we like to change up. For instance, the first time I was served a bun there was only one pad of butter, I asked for a second pad and every time after that when I was served a bun I was the only person with two pads of butter. They noted all the oddities for all 10 guests on board.

We had heard all about Wakatobi and how fantastic it is before we got here and it is all true. This dive resort and live a board are a step above any other place we have been. And most of the boats and places we have been are first rate operations. You pay for the upgrade for the Pelegian, but it is very special.

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Kuta, Bali

Posted on October 6, 2024 by murray

Our second time to Bali and Debbie and I find tourist central. Bali is a destination for many travellers and holidayers so no matter where you are on this small island there is bound to be a lot of foreigners. But more on that later.

We got back to the hotel around 2.30pm. We organized a bit and then I flicked on the TV. Don’t watch TV except at hotels so it is a bit dangerous as I can’t take my eyes off it once it is on. When in a land where the first language is not English it is even more of a problem because I might watch something in some other language and I don’t understand a word of it. I scrolled through the channels and ended up on a sports channel watching a Australian National Rugby League game. Debbie put down what she was doing and started watching as well. It was near the end of the game but ‘next up’ was the Grand Final of the NRL. It was live and in colour. We watched most of the first half and were interested in the game. Weird game, sort of a combination of hot potato and red rover. Here you take the ball, no no you take, that’s quite all right fellas I don’t really want it either, Oh shit I’m stuck with it might as well run straight into the competition and get slammed to the ground. Anyway we wanted to see the end so at half time we ran across the street got a pizza to go and sat through the final 40 minutes. Didn’t really know anything about the teams but in the end the winning team had won the last 4 Grand Finals and that was some sort of record and established them as the ‘greatest team ever’. Sort of the like the Edmonton Oilers of old.

Kuta

Earlier in the day, Murray wanted to go to a currency exchange away from the airport to see if we could buy Indonesian Rupiah at a better rate. Inside the airport the exchange is 10,400 IDR to 1 Canadian dollar. Just outside the airport it is 10,700.

We walk into an area called Kuta, tourist central. There are beaches along the coast and many many resorts, hotels, inns and home stays. Holiday Inn, Sands, Sheraton, Wyndham and then, of course, Starbucks, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, Hard Rock Cafe. You get the picture.

We walk down Jl Kartika Plaza, the busy street in Kuta, checking out the exchange rates and everyone’s rate is 10,900. We pick a small exchange and transact our business. We cut through the Discovery Kartika Plaza Hotel (stopping at the bathroom) onto the beach and are surprised that there is no beach, just a rock embankment with waves splashing on it. Further down the beach, in both directions, we can see sand into the water. If I were to come to Kuta for a beach holiday, I would make sure the hotel I choose is actually on a nice part of the beach.

Kuta

By the time we walk along the walkway on the beach and turn inland, we are need of a rest out of the sun. We find a wall to sit on that happens to be under an awning and park ourselves to watch the world go by. We spy a young woman with a pack back come out of the cross street and she is looking like she needs directions. We quip that if she asks us, we only know that the beach is that way, the main road is the other way and the airport is back that way.

C, a solo traveller from France, ended up sitting on our wall and chatting with us for quite awhile, and then we three decide we need lunch. We find a restaurant close by and continue to visit while ordering and then eating lunch. Eventually we have to say goodbye, C to head to Ubud and us to walk back to our hotel. Sometimes, the best part of travelling is meeting the nicest people!

Kuta
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Staying Awake in Brisbane

Posted on October 4, 2024 by debbie

After an eternity of about 13 hours flying from Vancouver to Brisbane, we disembark the plane at 7:00 am local time, cruise through immigration, baggage collection and customs, dump our bags at the Ibis Brisbane Airport Hotel and ride the Airtrain into downtown Brisbane. We are headed to the Gallery of Modern Art. 

Brisbane

We have found that the best way to counter jet lag and the time zone difference, is to stay awake all day, and in order to accomplish this, we have to keep moving. So, the Art Gallery is our way to do it.

When we get to the Gallery of Modern Art, we are told that the 3rd floor is closed but the second floor has an exhibit or two. We wander up the stairs and view the rather spartan exhibits. Mmmm. We decide to go across the plaza to the Queensland Art Gallery. Don’t even get in the door as the security guard informs us it is closed to the public today. Oh oh, we are striking out with the art galleries today!

Brisbane

We decide to walk across the river towards Queen Street Mall, a pedestrian mall. On the way we walk by City Hall and see signs for MOB, Museum of Brisbane. We enter and tour through a photography exhibit, one on flowers and a few smaller exhibits. Well worth the stop.

Outside City Hall is a large tent with an exhibit of works created by folks with mental health issues. We are amazed at the number of works of art, some to our liking and some not. Many people enjoy the exhibit along with us.

Brisbane

The start of our search for art didn’t produce much but we ended with finding art in unusual places.

We walk slowly back across the river and to the train station with tired feet and foggy brains. Time to camp out at the hotel and try to stay awake until after supper.

Brisbane
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Wakatobi, here we come

Posted on September 26, 2024 by debbie

Many years ago, I think back in 2018, we heard about the Wakatobi resort. It was from a older American gentleman (he was maybe 80 yrs old) from the deep south of the country where everyone has that distinctive drawl. We met him at the first briefing on the liveaboard we were on. As I walked up to the table to sit down, he got up from his chair and pulled out my chair so I could sit. A real gentleman! Murray, jokingly, said “Oh please don’t do that……She will expect it from me now!”. This gentleman had all the ladies on the boat enthralled with him by the end of the cruise. He was a lovely person.

The fellow was on his last dive trip with a male friend before he got married. Remember….he is about 80! He mentioned that he was taking his new wife to Wakatobi. The resort sounded wonderful so it got written on our wish list. We researched the resort when we got home and found that it was rather expensive, so it stayed on the wish list.

Then Covid hit. We didn’t travel but we had lots of time to think and dream. What came out of all that thinking and dreaming? “What the h***! Let’s go to Wakatobi!”

Four years later, we are on our way.

Wakatobi is in Indonesia, just off the island of Sulawesi on the south east coat, on the island of Tomea. Its name is made up of the first letters of the four islands nearby – Wangi-Wangi, Kaledupa, Tomea and Binongko. There are no scheduled flights to the island, so a private charter is taken to the resort from Bali.

Wakatobi has a liveaboard and a resort. We are going to spend one week on the liveaboard and four night at the resort. The liveaboard accommodates only 10 guests, rather than the 20 we had on the Solitude in the Philippines, quite a difference. Our plan is to dive as much as possible on the liveaboard (4 a day) and then slow down to two dives a day at the resort so we have time to enjoy the resort, beach and water.

Wakatobi…here we come!

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Philippines Post Script

Posted on May 25, 2024 by murray

The people make the place and the Philippine people are great. The diving is diverse and really, really good.

Debbie managed to suss out good places to stay. The one place that was disappointing on first impression we grew to like after the first couple of days. I would return to every one of them.

The local food was a bit disappointing. There are plenty of street food type venders but the problem is we were not sure what they were serving. Some of the delicacies included pig intestines and pre hatched baby ducks, not eggs ducks. So, we stayed away from mystery meat. Pork Belly is something else that is eaten a lot. So little meat and so much fat. Yuck. Debbie survived on rice and chicken and I was always able to find something. The food was inexpensive though we managed to eat for less than $25 CAD a day for both of us. Note: we don’t eat huge meals and often share an entrée, you would have to adjust if you have a ‘normal’ appetite. I allowed 200p for breakfast and 400p for both lunch and dinner per person.

The water is more than warm. When diving we consider warm water to be 81F (sorry we dive imperial). The water here was on average 85F. The only time I felt a chill was the occasional time we passed through a thermocline. We dove coral gardens larger than a football field, walls with a kaleidoscope of colours, we stared out into the blue hanging in the water with no bottom and we dove the muck finding all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures. There are so many more places we could go and experience diving every bit as good as what we did on this trip.

There are a couple of things that a traveller needs to be wary of. Filipino airlines are not governed by the same regulations North American airlines are. When Philippine Airlines over charged us for the tickets we bought they would not pay us back in cash. All they offered was a voucher good for one year. A very useless gesture for most foreign travelers. We did manage to use the voucher to upgrade the tickets on another flight we had booked but the cash would have been much more useful. Then when they completely cancelled a flight and put us on a flight the next day they refused to provide us with a hotel room to make up the extra night in Manila. Cebu Pacific pulled a similar stunt many weeks before we were to arrive in the Philippines and they would not refund our money so we could book on another airline. The ticket was non refundable but it was the airlines inability to provide the service we had paid for that caused us to change our hotel bookings. If we had wanted the change, I can understand their decision but since the change was initiated by them, I think they should have kept us happy.

Taxi drivers caused me too much grief. I read before we left home that white taxis were the most reliable. They are supposed to be metered and the drivers are supposed to use the meters. About half the time we got in a taxi, the driver refused to start the meter and then told us how much the ride was going to cost. Once I bargained as we drove and we agreed on a price. The driver still wanted more when we arrived. He messed with his meter and showed me a bogus number he said reflected the cost of the trip. I gave him a few pesos more and later found out even the first number we had agreed on was too much. When one cabbie was completely out of line, I made him let us out and we found alternative transport. I would suggest if you are to use a taxi that you make the driver start the meter before you get in or don’t get in. You can use Grab, an Uber type app, and you will know from the onset what the trip will cost but the one time I was able to compare a Grab fee to a metered fee the Grab fee was twice as much.

Debbie and I are already talking about the possibility of returning to the Philippines. The diving is very diverse and there are several areas we heard about that I sure would be worth a visit. I would definitely go back to Dauin and spend a couple of days in the muck. We were inches away from coming face to face with a tiger shark in Malapascua and we were not fortunate enough to happen upon any whale sharks that might happen by. So, there is still lots to see. Next time would be strictly a dive adventure though. We did a bit of touring this time and got a pretty good sense of what the country is like.

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