An introduction to Indonesia

Three days in Ubud turned into a nice getaway from the heat and nightmare place that is Kuta. It was by far the most i have been hassled by touts anywhere on my trip and after a month in australia with none of that it was a shock to the system.

Ubud is a pleasant enough town situated in the volcanic foothills of Bali, set amongst what seems like endless scenic rice terraces. It is also the artistic centre of Bali attracting many artists from all around Indonesia. My real problem at this point in time is space, i have very little of it and there is increasingly less ways i can rearrange my bags to fit within baggage restrictions. This trip has revealed my intense weakness for buying art and i should have realised in retrospect that Ubud wasn't the best place to go in my position. In three days i wrestled with my conciense and in a way i successfully escaped with only one more painting to squeeze in. There are some seriously impressive pieces on show and for between 10-100 quid a pop it is seriously hard to resist.

With only ten days to spend on Bali i had to move on and the next port of call was Toya Bungkah a small town inside the crater of Gunung Batur. This is the second highest point of Bali and is truly stunning. The road and several villages rest precariously on the rim of the volcano and down below lies the town of Toya and the beautiful lake. Then within this crater is another volcano which is the summit. I headed here eager to get some more hiking in before returning home and a steamy active volcano seemed just the ticket. Before this i had another slightly more unwelcome challenge to overcome. I had rented a scooter to get around Bali as the island is pretty small, but this brought me face to face with the islands incredibly corrupt and such a pain in the ass police force. Knowing full well that tourists don't have the correct paperwork they seem to have taken it on themselves to dent Balis image and extort money. So as i approach the crater rim my heart fell as a police road block waves we over. Shit shit shit. I had spoken to some people in Ubud who had been had for 100 quid which was not an option for me or even within remotely reasonable realms so i awaited what they said. Predictably they say you do not have an international license which is true (the uk one does not count in Indonesia) so i just keep saying, no my license is fine over and over again like a stuck record hoping they will just let me go. Not to be outdone he calls the boss over and same story is repeated to him, then an unexpected turn he asks what is is in the tube i am carrying. I explain it is a painting, then he says you are an art student, yep i reply not knowing where it is going. Then prove i am a student i pull out the bedraggled and long since expired card i carry all the while trying to hide the money just taken from the ATM earlier. I think the student ploy was good as they said so you are poor and yes that is now very much true thanks to Australia and with a smile that seemed to say you are not going to be so lucky next time he let me go. So so happy but it just meant that i had to ride looking out for police more than anything else and although twice more i was waved at i just floored it with the plan of playing ignorant and they never pursued. It really is annoying though, in Vietnam despite being there for a month and breaking so many road rules we didn't have a single issue. But Indonesia as a whole is not quite as welcoming or accommodating as some of the other places i have been to.

When you do a trip like mine you cant always be in a country during the dry season and so it is with Indonesia. January is the wettest month and up until Gunung Batur no rain although this was unlikely to last. I took the initiative and climbed while the weather was fine and it was a great hike up through the pine forest and over the lava fields to the summit. I had been given an egg by the lady at the home stay but after putting it in a steaming vent to cook i dropped it over the edge as it was a lot hotter than expected. Not too big a disappointment as i would rather the egg than me. There really wasn't much else to do in the crater apart from drive up and down the windy road pretending to be Valentino Rossi and even that after a while lost its thrill. So off to do some snorkeling in Amed.

The weather by now had turned and in torrential rain i headed off for the three hour drive over two volcanoes to the coast. On the way i stopped off at the Besakih temple complex the holiest site on Bali which was full of worshipers as it was the full moon that day. The rain meant i couldn't really hang around but fortunately by the time i reached Amed the sun was out and wow what a place. The beach is black sand and due to the time of year pretty much deserted making for some tasty deals on beach front bungalows. I really enjoyed it snorkeling on the amazing reef in the bay with all sorts of colourful fish and then an early morning fishing trip. I managed to extend my run of never having caught anything ever and instead had to make do with watching a school of dolphins swimming around us and then jumping ahead of the boat. Amazing stuff. The guy who took me fishing i think felt pitty and gave me some fish he had caught which the lady at the bungalows turned into the most incredible fish lunch i have ever had. Indonesian food might have little variety but if you like fish there is no better.

My flight left the next day so i split the journey back to Kuta with a stop over in Padang Bai. The town was pleasant enough for the evening but the road on the east coast of the island was phenomenal and the real draw. Like the great ocean roads of California and Australia but designed for bikes. Windy, up and down with amazing views so much fun. More than confirming my need for a bike license when i return. I had six hours to kill till my flight and there was a huge power outage so i headed to the airport just to get some air con and max out Starbucks free wifi. The heat in Kuta that day was like nothing i have ever felt before, so hot and humid you feel sick and cant breathe. Plus i had 23 kilos of luggage hanging off me. Cant wait to be rid of it soon.

Bali might not be my favourite of places and sometimes it is a bit of a tourist trap but i would recommend it if anyone wants a taste of Asia with all the trimmings. And the east coast is stunning and would be a highlight of any trip.

10 days in Bali down and then a flight to the north of Sulawesi and hopefully a bit more adventure. Touching down in Manado at midnight was a massive pain especially as all the hotels were full leaving me with the hotel Celebes. Not bad location i thought next to the harbour, that was until the morning fish market started at 5.30am. Great stuff. What took the cake is that i had to stay two nights as being a small christian enclave in Indonesia nothing runs on a Sunday. From Manado on many peoples recommendation i headed out to Pulau Bunakan which is rated as one of the top 10 places to dive in the world. And i can see why. Not being a diver i satisfied myself purely with snorkeling. Lorenzos bungalows was quality and had a great vibe and some really nice people with whom i shared a boat out onto the reef. It was such incredible snorkeling we stayed alot longer than i had planned and my back was thoroughly cooked by the time we returned. The disappointment of Australia was completely forgotten. The reef stretches 100m or so off shore before there is a deep sea dropoff that attracts barracuda, sharks and many other things besides. We saw so many turtles it was getting ridiculous. Two days of that was wonderful and im so glad i got over my slight fear of being swept away in the fairly strong currents and took the plunge. Again pushed for time as i always seem to be yesterday i grabbed a bus on a wild ride through the dark forest and mountains in the north of the island to Gorontalo to get the ferry to the Togian islands. This is something i have looked forward to for nearly a year. Its a tropical paradise national park, with wildlife teeming both onland and offshore and i cant wait to get back in the water. Never ever thought i would say that.