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.