Driving, Monkeys and the Perfect Wave

Max: "That monkey will be back... with a vengeance" Me: "kind of like your diahrea" Max "yeah kinda like that"

This was after I sent max to stand near the monkey eating in the tree behind our house at Ocean Heaven so I could get a good picture. When Max got close the Monkey reared back and sent him running for cover. I love lombok "or so the bracelet I had made by a little girl named Billabong says.

We made the trip from Kuta Bali to Kuta Lombok in the afternoon of the 3rd of July. We chose our vehicle not for looks or comfort, but for price, and the assurances of the man renting it that it would indeed, contrary to appearances, survive the journey across Bali and Lombok in search or the perfect wave (or waves). For only 120,000 rupiah, or about $13 we could drive a 1980 Diahatsu 2 door gorgeous black automobile with enough ground clearance and power to make our way to spots unknown. Right as we made our way in Betsy (named later for obvious reasons) out of Kuta Bal, on the left side of the road, shifting with my left hand, we were pulled over, of course. The policeman demanded why we were not wearing seatbelts, and as we showed the man that there were no seatbelts he said this was no excuse. Then he asked for my international driving license. (I later learned that my UCSF student ID will pass) but he said we would have to settle the issue in court, or pay 200,000 rupiah. We tried to bargin the bribe down, but could only get as low as 100,000 and paid accordingly. What an ignominious start to a 14 day journey in Betsy. Then the road disapeared. Or rather our side disapeared. So now rather than traveling on a 4 lane road it was reduced to a 2 lane road, as they were doing work on the other side. But no signs really announced this, and one could actually see traffic still on the "closed" side, so it was amazing that we didnt have a front end collision with anybody during this time. Somehow through the shifting, driving through dirt, and exhaust smoke, we made it to the ferry, paid off the cops, and tried to pay for the crossing. Mind you a bike is only $5 to cross so we were destroyed when we were told we would have to pay $60 for old Betsy! We should have flown and rented on the other side! This did not put us at ease but we got on the boat (again by paying for the officers to buy some tobacco later) and on our way to Lombok. Driving in Lombok is confused by the fact that there are no street signs, and nobody speaks English. We got some rudimentary indonesian language help (enough to say how do we get to...) and with the help of a map, eventually arrived in Kuta Lombok.

We soon realized that surfing was not easy or cheap here. The first day we surfed with Matt from England (travelling with his girlfriend Becca), at an absurdly shallow break named Mawi (yes pronounced like Maui). On entering we had to pay 10,000 rupiah to get to the break, and then 10,000 more to park. And then Max sliced his foot open on the reef while entering the water. Not that the wave didnt have potential, but there was no swell in the water. In the afternoon we surfed Grupuk, much more successfully as it turned out. The wave is about a 10 minute boat ride (again you must pay 30,000 rupiah to get out) but at least there was swell (surfed about a head high wave) and we decided to return. We surfed here a few more times, until one morning te boatman offered to take us to a "secret" spot on the other side of the bay. We went and had the best surf of the trip! Big glassy waves were breaking away bothe left and right off a deep reef. We caught so many waves as it was only the 3 of us out, and all had the best time. We returned at night, and caught a few, not as clean or as nice as the morning session. Of course when we returned the next morning, there were 20 guys in the water but again had a great surf. This time Matt was barreled and Max and I both got into tubes, but sadly not out. Fun times but it was time to move on to Ekas, which we did.

A little about Kuta. We had a good time here, but the whole town is set up to take advantage of travellers. We were literally followed around by Billabong and RipCurl, two local girls who tried to sell us everything and anything they could. I ended up having them make me a bracelet which reads "Nick loves Lombok" in red white and blue (I got it on the 4th of July), and ended up bargining with an 8 year old girl for about the difference in price of about 10 cents. Yes I gave her the total price in the end... There were several restaurants which were amazingly priced. We paid about 37,000 rupiah ($4) for amazing meals of Mahi Mahi and local caught barracuda, all made by a former 5 star hotel chef. Incredible. And the town of Grupak was quite nice, a real fishing village, with many friendly fishermen who loved to take us surfing, as they either fished or joined us out in the water. All in all a good time, but time to leave when we did.

Now we are staying at Ocean Heaven, a new part of Heaven on the Planet. We are staying in our own villa, within eye sight of the amazing break in Ekas, lots of bugs sharing our room, (and at least one mouse) and many Monkeys within eyesight. (Max woke up with one staring at him through the window) There are absolutely no waves, but for once we are happy about it bc both Max and I are quite sick. Max and I both have some sort of cold (probably just as a result of running our immune systems down) and Max has a horrible case of Bali Belly (he has only moved about 100 yards today and has been to the bathroom about 50 times). So we wait, read and pray for waves. I will surf tomorrow morning early, and tomorrow evening the swell of the year should arrive (or is predicted to) and we will surf.

Gotta love life, hope things are good wherever you are.

Nick