Watch out, its told end to beginning! Surf, Sunset, Sunset...Vietnam, and the rest is history
19 July 2010
13 July 2010
HUGE WAVES! Monkey standoff (part 2) and the 7 Deadly Plagues of Max
So we left off flat... Not anymore! Imagine a 2 story house, now make that a wave breaking on an offshore reef about a half mile out. Now place yourself on top, and ride down it with the wind quite literally whistling through your ears. That was our Sunday.
We surfed the biggest waves either of us had ever surfed (and we have video proof of max eating it really bad on one wave) Youtube video to follow shortly. The swell arrived and with it some of the most perfect right hander in Ekas history. After days of no swell, you can only imagine our delight, one that Max was feeling better, and two that there were waves finally! Usually a low tide break, we paddled out to inside Ekas at high tide. We saw only one guy out, and he was nothing but a speck on the horizon. I thought he was too far out (usually you catch the wave pretty close to shore) but as we paddled I saw why. A set wave of 3X Overhead (imagine me X3) broke and he got on it perfectly! We were really excited. As we got out we saw why nobody else was out. There was a current pushing you directly into the path of the oncoming swell. Therefore if you stopped paddling you would be crushed. But thankfully Max caught one, then I caught one so we were feeling good. We then talked to the other guy out there, this Californian from Huntington beach who was wrecking it. We took some queues, and got ready for the next set. Max took off trying to catch the wave, but for once my cautious nature paid off and I was in perfect position for the next wave. As I rode down the huge barreling wave, I could just see max getting crushed underneath it (he had missed his wave...) I ended up about 200 meters in from where I started, and after about 3-4 more waves on the head, Max was right next to me. So we paddled back out, but the current had gotten even stronger, and we had to paddle even harder just to stay put. The last thing I saw was the other Californian dropping in on a 24 foot monster, which then crashed on my head. I then caught the tail section of the next one and rode it in. I was exhausted after about 2 hours of constant paddling for only 3 waves. When I made it in we spoke with Jules, and apparently on Max's last wave he took off, realized it was going to close out, and doe off the wave, not quite making it. But we got a good video. We then took naps and paddled back out in the evening, this time to a perfectly breaking left (about 1,5X overhead but it seemed small) that only breaks about 6 times a year. We were getting 1.5 minute long rides, and loving every second of it. When we got out it was dark, and we scored some free food and then slept, solidly for about 10 hours.
A little more about Max's 7 afflictions. The day before the swell hit, we surfed two breaks, in the morning we surfed perfect head high + southern reef, and in the afternoon surfed inside Ekas. As there were no waves Max went with the 15 year old Australian almost pros. He had to paddle about 1 mile over, and when he got there surfed a barreling wave, but there happened to be TONS of sea lice. Sea lice normally don't cause problems, (they don't leave marks) but are merely uncomfortable. In this case it was "like swimming in acid". So I asked why he didn't get out and Max replied "because I didn't want to be shown up by a 15 yr old." Needless (at this point) to say, Max was covered head to toe in little welts that were incredibly itchy. So as we sat watching the upcoming swell Max looked over at me and said, "this is like the 7 deadly plagues, first Jellyfish! then Reef, followed by Insect (Mosquitoes, Max was covered in bites while I had basically none) then Stomach Virus, and then Sea Lice. Wonder whats next? Then Max got crushed by the biggest waves of his life, and afterward oh number 6, Giant Waves... SO I said well I hope number 7 is that you had to hang out with me for 3 weeks, and Max said he hoped not (he didn't want me to be one of his deadly plagues, but I know he actually did)
The next day we escaped from Lombok by driving 3 hours, taking the Ferry for 6 hours (should have taken 4 but the captain couldn't get the direction figured out, and then the deckhands could literally NOT get the boat tied to the dock) and then driving for 2 more hours to Ubud. Oh yeah and we didn't eat anything the whole time so we were absolutely starving. We managed to find a place to stay though. For only 10$ each we had a gorgeous room, with a balcony facing the rice paddies. Breakfast included. We then had a beer, an amazing salad, nasi goreng (fried rice) gado gado (vegetables with peanut sauce) and black rice pudding, all for 10$. We slept like babies, and then had one of the busiest days ever, (which I am just wrapping up now).
Monkey standoff, part 2. We woke to fresh coffee and tea, and amazing eggs with a fruit plate. We walked through rice paddies to the Monkey forest, site of my standoff last year. This time we came armed with bananas, and a good hiding place (Max's shirt). We gave a few out, and got pictures of Monkeys crawling all over us (I had 4 on me at one point). Everything good so far. But then I gave one monkey a banana, but he wasn't satisfied, and tried to bite me (I guess he knew I had more bananas, so I threw them to Max, after which the monkey just started biting towards me, I didn't know what to do (again) so I tried to be bigger then him and scare him, this just pissed him off, so I tried to back slowly away (the preferred method to deal with Monkeys (but this just made him more bold) so I kinda half ran, jumped away and got the heck out of there, Nick plus Monkeys=no good.
We then shopped for a bit, (2 hours in Ubud bargaining from 250,000 (about 25$) to 50,000. Then had lunch for 1.6 dollars, and got on the road, straight through all the traffic of Denpasar, to the beach called Impossibles, a reef break near Uluwatu. We jumped in the water, and promptly were able to connect a ride for the whole reef, (not so impossible) got lost on the way back to old Betsy, drove back into Kuta Bali, dropped off Betsy (we almost ran out of gas, almost caused an accident by driving the wrong way down multiple streets), got a room, got dinner, tried to change my flight, ducked into the clubs here, and then typed this out.
Whew. How much can one do in 16 hours??
Sleep now, surf tomorrow, eat, repeat.
Be back on Thursday!!
See y'all soon!
Nick
SO now we should have some more swell tomorrow, surfing Kuta's legendary beach break!
We surfed the biggest waves either of us had ever surfed (and we have video proof of max eating it really bad on one wave) Youtube video to follow shortly. The swell arrived and with it some of the most perfect right hander in Ekas history. After days of no swell, you can only imagine our delight, one that Max was feeling better, and two that there were waves finally! Usually a low tide break, we paddled out to inside Ekas at high tide. We saw only one guy out, and he was nothing but a speck on the horizon. I thought he was too far out (usually you catch the wave pretty close to shore) but as we paddled I saw why. A set wave of 3X Overhead (imagine me X3) broke and he got on it perfectly! We were really excited. As we got out we saw why nobody else was out. There was a current pushing you directly into the path of the oncoming swell. Therefore if you stopped paddling you would be crushed. But thankfully Max caught one, then I caught one so we were feeling good. We then talked to the other guy out there, this Californian from Huntington beach who was wrecking it. We took some queues, and got ready for the next set. Max took off trying to catch the wave, but for once my cautious nature paid off and I was in perfect position for the next wave. As I rode down the huge barreling wave, I could just see max getting crushed underneath it (he had missed his wave...) I ended up about 200 meters in from where I started, and after about 3-4 more waves on the head, Max was right next to me. So we paddled back out, but the current had gotten even stronger, and we had to paddle even harder just to stay put. The last thing I saw was the other Californian dropping in on a 24 foot monster, which then crashed on my head. I then caught the tail section of the next one and rode it in. I was exhausted after about 2 hours of constant paddling for only 3 waves. When I made it in we spoke with Jules, and apparently on Max's last wave he took off, realized it was going to close out, and doe off the wave, not quite making it. But we got a good video. We then took naps and paddled back out in the evening, this time to a perfectly breaking left (about 1,5X overhead but it seemed small) that only breaks about 6 times a year. We were getting 1.5 minute long rides, and loving every second of it. When we got out it was dark, and we scored some free food and then slept, solidly for about 10 hours.
A little more about Max's 7 afflictions. The day before the swell hit, we surfed two breaks, in the morning we surfed perfect head high + southern reef, and in the afternoon surfed inside Ekas. As there were no waves Max went with the 15 year old Australian almost pros. He had to paddle about 1 mile over, and when he got there surfed a barreling wave, but there happened to be TONS of sea lice. Sea lice normally don't cause problems, (they don't leave marks) but are merely uncomfortable. In this case it was "like swimming in acid". So I asked why he didn't get out and Max replied "because I didn't want to be shown up by a 15 yr old." Needless (at this point) to say, Max was covered head to toe in little welts that were incredibly itchy. So as we sat watching the upcoming swell Max looked over at me and said, "this is like the 7 deadly plagues, first Jellyfish! then Reef, followed by Insect (Mosquitoes, Max was covered in bites while I had basically none) then Stomach Virus, and then Sea Lice. Wonder whats next? Then Max got crushed by the biggest waves of his life, and afterward oh number 6, Giant Waves... SO I said well I hope number 7 is that you had to hang out with me for 3 weeks, and Max said he hoped not (he didn't want me to be one of his deadly plagues, but I know he actually did)
The next day we escaped from Lombok by driving 3 hours, taking the Ferry for 6 hours (should have taken 4 but the captain couldn't get the direction figured out, and then the deckhands could literally NOT get the boat tied to the dock) and then driving for 2 more hours to Ubud. Oh yeah and we didn't eat anything the whole time so we were absolutely starving. We managed to find a place to stay though. For only 10$ each we had a gorgeous room, with a balcony facing the rice paddies. Breakfast included. We then had a beer, an amazing salad, nasi goreng (fried rice) gado gado (vegetables with peanut sauce) and black rice pudding, all for 10$. We slept like babies, and then had one of the busiest days ever, (which I am just wrapping up now).
Monkey standoff, part 2. We woke to fresh coffee and tea, and amazing eggs with a fruit plate. We walked through rice paddies to the Monkey forest, site of my standoff last year. This time we came armed with bananas, and a good hiding place (Max's shirt). We gave a few out, and got pictures of Monkeys crawling all over us (I had 4 on me at one point). Everything good so far. But then I gave one monkey a banana, but he wasn't satisfied, and tried to bite me (I guess he knew I had more bananas, so I threw them to Max, after which the monkey just started biting towards me, I didn't know what to do (again) so I tried to be bigger then him and scare him, this just pissed him off, so I tried to back slowly away (the preferred method to deal with Monkeys (but this just made him more bold) so I kinda half ran, jumped away and got the heck out of there, Nick plus Monkeys=no good.
We then shopped for a bit, (2 hours in Ubud bargaining from 250,000 (about 25$) to 50,000. Then had lunch for 1.6 dollars, and got on the road, straight through all the traffic of Denpasar, to the beach called Impossibles, a reef break near Uluwatu. We jumped in the water, and promptly were able to connect a ride for the whole reef, (not so impossible) got lost on the way back to old Betsy, drove back into Kuta Bali, dropped off Betsy (we almost ran out of gas, almost caused an accident by driving the wrong way down multiple streets), got a room, got dinner, tried to change my flight, ducked into the clubs here, and then typed this out.
Whew. How much can one do in 16 hours??
Sleep now, surf tomorrow, eat, repeat.
Be back on Thursday!!
See y'all soon!
Nick
SO now we should have some more swell tomorrow, surfing Kuta's legendary beach break!
08 July 2010
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
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
02 July 2010
Hanoi Hilton, jellyfish and former US Presidents???
I looked up at the Indian Man and asked "you're from India, then it must be good Indian food" He confirmed, then looked to Max and said "you're friend, he looks like Al Gore". Max qithout missing a beat, "Damn you get Al Gore and Kennedy, and all I get is fucking Nicolas Cage". Not sure where he was coming from, but he made some terrible Indian food. We soon saw why, a Vietnamese girl was the actual cook.
We had just arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly/currently Siagon) and had made our way acros the metropolis of 7 million people in about 15 mins while nearly killing (or at least maiming) several scooter drivers on the way. It is actually insane how they drive in Vietnam. There really are no rules, or at least official ones. When 2 streets intersect, there is no need for a stop sign or traffic light, you just go, literally. We saw 2 accidents between scooters while we were there, and were almost hit ourseles while drinking beer on a street corner in Hanoi. Apparently 408 people died last year in traffic accidents, and so far this year 387 have died in Hanoi, about half the size of Saigon. Its only for how slow they go that more werent.
Back to Hanoi. Arriving from SF, I literally almost passed out on the street. It was in the middle of a heat wave and I was doing some serious sweating (4 shirts the first day alone). We alked around for a biut, or sort of limped around while drinking beer and adjusting. Apparently the smaller the chair the cheaper the beer (or at least this was what Conni a nice Dutch guy said). And we found a place on a street corner that had you sitting about 2 inches off the street, so he beers were 20 cents a glass! While fun we escaped the next day.
Halong bay was amazing, only a bit out of the city, and we were on a Junk headed across the bay of several hundred (or thousand ) islands. The islands are just bits of limestone sticking out of the water with dense jungle on top filled with mostly cicadas. We swam and kayaked around them and under them in caves and generaly enjoyed ourselves. We then actually got to stay on one of the islands, and wakeboarded and swam in luminescent water under a full moon, hard life.
Then it was back to Hanoi, and an overigth bus to Hue, about halfway down Vietnam. My bad feelings were confirmed when our taxi could not find the bus stop. The fun continued with two drivers whose family were probably killed during the war, and thus had an intense dislike of Max and I. Everytime we put our feet outside of the "bed" made for a vietnamese midget with his feet cut off, the guys actually slapped them, and by the end max actually took to putting his knees where they would whack the guys as they passed. Good thing we took valium and sleeping pills, so by the time we stopped we were so groggy we almost passed out in our food. We then stopped to say whats up to the remaining families of the drivers and then took a rest stop halfway through the night for about 2 hours. So all in all the trip that should have been 14 hours took 19 hours of pain. Never again.
Hue was gorgeous, we rente4d bikes and checked out the whole city including the former palace, and surrounding royal graveyards and rice paddies. It was nice to have a day to relax. We then rented bikes to travel the 140 km to Hoi Ann, along the coast. We found a desolate beach and ate fresh cuttle fish, swam in the crystal clear water, and then biked over the dividing mountain range of Vietnam before heading into Danang and then Hoi Ann. While heading through Danang, we witnessed our second crash and then ate some fresh fish and swam on the infamous China Beach. Hoi Ann is basically just a shopping town, so we shopped. I got an amazing suit of charcoal cashmere, and a custom pair of leather shoes, all made within 24 hours. We organized our flight to Saigon and got out of dodge.
So here we are, just got in to Bali. We bought surf boards, got a car rental figured out, (15$ /day for a new SUV) , and will surf tomorrow fro the first time, and then head to Lombok. We are headign to Kuta Lombok. Imagine white sand beaches, crystal clear water, and world class surf breaks, and then multiply by 15 or so. I hope to get lots of reading done, climb a volcano or so, and basically refresh ourselves.
More soon.
We had just arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly/currently Siagon) and had made our way acros the metropolis of 7 million people in about 15 mins while nearly killing (or at least maiming) several scooter drivers on the way. It is actually insane how they drive in Vietnam. There really are no rules, or at least official ones. When 2 streets intersect, there is no need for a stop sign or traffic light, you just go, literally. We saw 2 accidents between scooters while we were there, and were almost hit ourseles while drinking beer on a street corner in Hanoi. Apparently 408 people died last year in traffic accidents, and so far this year 387 have died in Hanoi, about half the size of Saigon. Its only for how slow they go that more werent.
Back to Hanoi. Arriving from SF, I literally almost passed out on the street. It was in the middle of a heat wave and I was doing some serious sweating (4 shirts the first day alone). We alked around for a biut, or sort of limped around while drinking beer and adjusting. Apparently the smaller the chair the cheaper the beer (or at least this was what Conni a nice Dutch guy said). And we found a place on a street corner that had you sitting about 2 inches off the street, so he beers were 20 cents a glass! While fun we escaped the next day.
Halong bay was amazing, only a bit out of the city, and we were on a Junk headed across the bay of several hundred (or thousand ) islands. The islands are just bits of limestone sticking out of the water with dense jungle on top filled with mostly cicadas. We swam and kayaked around them and under them in caves and generaly enjoyed ourselves. We then actually got to stay on one of the islands, and wakeboarded and swam in luminescent water under a full moon, hard life.
Then it was back to Hanoi, and an overigth bus to Hue, about halfway down Vietnam. My bad feelings were confirmed when our taxi could not find the bus stop. The fun continued with two drivers whose family were probably killed during the war, and thus had an intense dislike of Max and I. Everytime we put our feet outside of the "bed" made for a vietnamese midget with his feet cut off, the guys actually slapped them, and by the end max actually took to putting his knees where they would whack the guys as they passed. Good thing we took valium and sleeping pills, so by the time we stopped we were so groggy we almost passed out in our food. We then stopped to say whats up to the remaining families of the drivers and then took a rest stop halfway through the night for about 2 hours. So all in all the trip that should have been 14 hours took 19 hours of pain. Never again.
Hue was gorgeous, we rente4d bikes and checked out the whole city including the former palace, and surrounding royal graveyards and rice paddies. It was nice to have a day to relax. We then rented bikes to travel the 140 km to Hoi Ann, along the coast. We found a desolate beach and ate fresh cuttle fish, swam in the crystal clear water, and then biked over the dividing mountain range of Vietnam before heading into Danang and then Hoi Ann. While heading through Danang, we witnessed our second crash and then ate some fresh fish and swam on the infamous China Beach. Hoi Ann is basically just a shopping town, so we shopped. I got an amazing suit of charcoal cashmere, and a custom pair of leather shoes, all made within 24 hours. We organized our flight to Saigon and got out of dodge.
So here we are, just got in to Bali. We bought surf boards, got a car rental figured out, (15$ /day for a new SUV) , and will surf tomorrow fro the first time, and then head to Lombok. We are headign to Kuta Lombok. Imagine white sand beaches, crystal clear water, and world class surf breaks, and then multiply by 15 or so. I hope to get lots of reading done, climb a volcano or so, and basically refresh ourselves.
More soon.
21 June 2010
Back To Southeast Asia, Vietnam and Indonesia!
Hello Friends and Family,
As many of you know I will be leaving on an adventure again. This time with another 6 foot+ tall California dude known as Max as my right hand man!
Leaving this Wednesday night on the Redeye, to places unseen by western eyes (or at least our western eyes) and unsurfed outside of a few brave (or stupid) locals. We will hike, bargin, surf and eat to our hearts content, all for under 30$ / day.
I will be updating the blog, so enjoy if you want, otherwise I will just enjoy reading it myself.
Much love,
Nico (Nick) Nicholas Hertz
03 July 2009
Motor Bikes, Ubud and Leaving
In the Tokyo Airport after just walking around the beautiful city of Narita with a Delta stewerdess I found. This after just taking a shower in the Airport, and spending the night on my plane in Business class!! I guess every body in Indonesia really is corruptible. Situation: Nick standing at the counter after drinking a few beers on the way for my 11:55 pm flight, hair of the dog that bit me the night before till 6 in the morning. Nick "any exit row seats available?", guy,"No", Nick "what about for 50,000 rupiah?" (5dollars), guy "maybe..." after checking me in, says "meet me upstairs." He then finds me upstairs, I buy him a bottle of Johnny Walker Red and get on the flight and my ticket says business class! Sooo nice, tons of legroom, all the food and drinks I could get my hands on. And for the next leg, 12 hrs in the Exit row! Not all bad for an 800 dollar ticket.
Back to Bali. I didnt say anything bc I didnt want to worry my parents, but I have been riding a Moterized death trap, also known as a scooter around Bali for the past few weeks. It was unavoidable. Traffic is so bad if you have a car you cannot go anywhere, and the scooters come with nice surfboard racks. So I let my Argentinean friend convince me that was the best way to get around, everybody does it and all that, so I did... Ughhhhh I abhor, abhor maybe isnt even strong enough to describe the extent of my hate of the traffic and the smog, and the near death experiences that everybody else seems to just wave off. I despise riding that fing scooter. But it did get me around, and despite being lost most of the time, and desperately avoiding trucks that drive in the middle of the road, huge buses that just HAVE to pass on a tiny two lane (I use the word lane loosely here) road, and potholes/ plain uncovered sewers that can swallow buses whole, I survived. Never will it happen again, my neck and back will never recover, but I did ride across two islands, and surf to my hearts content, so thanks scooter, but you will die an oiless death in desert point before I ride you again.
More adventures. After waking for the second day to a flat ocean, I decided to leave Lombok. I was having a great time, but I could not rationalize another day of laying by the pool with no surf, so I left for Bali and more adventures. I arrived in the beautiful mountain town of Ubud after a tense 3 hrs of scootering across Lombok, 4.5 hrs on a ferry, and another 1.5 hrs of scootering with backback+surfboard abd close toed shoes/ pants in 95+ degree weather. So basically after being lost for 20 mins finding 3 places full, I got a room and REALLY needed a beer. Easier said than done. Not a place was open, so I asked a nice white looking guy, a dutch fellow named Christian, where the nearest pub was, and pointed me in a general direction. After 15 mins of fruitless searching I again came upon him and he asked if I had found a beer yet, I said no, and he said we would go together as he had told his girlfriend that if they saw me again we had to get a beer with me, not to leave me walking all alone as he is also normally a solo traveller.
Ended up being the beginning of a great friendship. The next day was his last with his girlie (Australians call their girlfriends girlies) so I went hiking and shopping, not mutually exclusive as some would lead you to believe. I walked about 20-25 km over many hours. Walked in deserted terraced rice paddies, swam below the Sanoy Terrace hotel in a refreshing mountain stream, bought masks and oil paintings, and came across a cool artists retreat complete with crazy cool artists who told me about my star signs in the mayan calender (I am a spectral star) and gave me a sweet sarong that displays that to all. Needless to say I was quite tired, but after dinner christian and I went for a beer before bed, ended up meeting three delightful Dutch girls, also from Amsterdam and the five of us stayed up till the wee hours hanging out listening to music from a nearby bar that charged almost 4 dollars per beer. Imagine our outrage, a bar at a market is barely 1 dollar. But the next day, the real shopping commenced and poor christian was dragged along for most of it.
Here is a description of bargining: "How much for that?" (usually some cool wood carving or mask, or cloth, or painting), them "300,000 rupiah" (almost 30 dollars). Me "no, no, no! Ill give you 10,000" them, shocked "me bancrupt! okok 250,000" me "10,000", them "ok ok 100,000, final price!" me "10,000", them ok ok 30, 000" then they wait for a few minutes here, I start to walk away, they come down to 25,000, and I usually give it to them. so from 30 dollars to just over 2. I often ask, do you ever sell it for the first price, them smiling either say no, no, no or no, only for you good price. Not sure I completely understand but it is quite fun. I alsio bought some really nice stuff, one mask for (gasp) 700,000 rupiah, it is actually really nice, with gold leaf and lots of details, I think I will have it for some time.
So, after this, Christian was a little upset, he wanted to leave, so we hopped on the miserable scooter and I took him to rice paddies and then the four seasons where we snuck in (if youre white it doesnt matter if you have flip-flops and board shorts on, you can get in anywhere. We then went to the pool, sauna, and then the bar where we ordered a 10 dollar drink to some rich persons room. All in all amazing fun. Then on the way back found the best bar in all of Bali, complete with pool tables, free golf arcade games, and a free jukebox that only played the coolest music! It was run by a really cool American guy (not many Americans in Bali) who hung with us till we went back to Ubud after a great day.
The next day was my next to last, so I headed to Kuta Bali (Australias Mexico) played beach vollyball, surfed, and then after meeting up with my german and argintinean friends went to a club that had an hour of Free Flow, all drinks free! The germans then proceeded to take me to every single club and/or bar in Kuta, for a last whirlwind night. Fun until the Indo prostitutes came out and we headed back home for some sleep. Then after waking up bright and early at 12, went to Uluwatu to surf the epic wave, thank goodness with not a huge swell and on a high tide so I didnt end up like freddie crueger, a 50,000 basket of crab, red snapper, and shrimp and one last Bintang before flying to Tokyo, and now to LA! Ok gotta get on that flight, see everybody soon!!!!!
Back to Bali. I didnt say anything bc I didnt want to worry my parents, but I have been riding a Moterized death trap, also known as a scooter around Bali for the past few weeks. It was unavoidable. Traffic is so bad if you have a car you cannot go anywhere, and the scooters come with nice surfboard racks. So I let my Argentinean friend convince me that was the best way to get around, everybody does it and all that, so I did... Ughhhhh I abhor, abhor maybe isnt even strong enough to describe the extent of my hate of the traffic and the smog, and the near death experiences that everybody else seems to just wave off. I despise riding that fing scooter. But it did get me around, and despite being lost most of the time, and desperately avoiding trucks that drive in the middle of the road, huge buses that just HAVE to pass on a tiny two lane (I use the word lane loosely here) road, and potholes/ plain uncovered sewers that can swallow buses whole, I survived. Never will it happen again, my neck and back will never recover, but I did ride across two islands, and surf to my hearts content, so thanks scooter, but you will die an oiless death in desert point before I ride you again.
More adventures. After waking for the second day to a flat ocean, I decided to leave Lombok. I was having a great time, but I could not rationalize another day of laying by the pool with no surf, so I left for Bali and more adventures. I arrived in the beautiful mountain town of Ubud after a tense 3 hrs of scootering across Lombok, 4.5 hrs on a ferry, and another 1.5 hrs of scootering with backback+surfboard abd close toed shoes/ pants in 95+ degree weather. So basically after being lost for 20 mins finding 3 places full, I got a room and REALLY needed a beer. Easier said than done. Not a place was open, so I asked a nice white looking guy, a dutch fellow named Christian, where the nearest pub was, and pointed me in a general direction. After 15 mins of fruitless searching I again came upon him and he asked if I had found a beer yet, I said no, and he said we would go together as he had told his girlfriend that if they saw me again we had to get a beer with me, not to leave me walking all alone as he is also normally a solo traveller.
Ended up being the beginning of a great friendship. The next day was his last with his girlie (Australians call their girlfriends girlies) so I went hiking and shopping, not mutually exclusive as some would lead you to believe. I walked about 20-25 km over many hours. Walked in deserted terraced rice paddies, swam below the Sanoy Terrace hotel in a refreshing mountain stream, bought masks and oil paintings, and came across a cool artists retreat complete with crazy cool artists who told me about my star signs in the mayan calender (I am a spectral star) and gave me a sweet sarong that displays that to all. Needless to say I was quite tired, but after dinner christian and I went for a beer before bed, ended up meeting three delightful Dutch girls, also from Amsterdam and the five of us stayed up till the wee hours hanging out listening to music from a nearby bar that charged almost 4 dollars per beer. Imagine our outrage, a bar at a market is barely 1 dollar. But the next day, the real shopping commenced and poor christian was dragged along for most of it.
Here is a description of bargining: "How much for that?" (usually some cool wood carving or mask, or cloth, or painting), them "300,000 rupiah" (almost 30 dollars). Me "no, no, no! Ill give you 10,000" them, shocked "me bancrupt! okok 250,000" me "10,000", them "ok ok 100,000, final price!" me "10,000", them ok ok 30, 000" then they wait for a few minutes here, I start to walk away, they come down to 25,000, and I usually give it to them. so from 30 dollars to just over 2. I often ask, do you ever sell it for the first price, them smiling either say no, no, no or no, only for you good price. Not sure I completely understand but it is quite fun. I alsio bought some really nice stuff, one mask for (gasp) 700,000 rupiah, it is actually really nice, with gold leaf and lots of details, I think I will have it for some time.
So, after this, Christian was a little upset, he wanted to leave, so we hopped on the miserable scooter and I took him to rice paddies and then the four seasons where we snuck in (if youre white it doesnt matter if you have flip-flops and board shorts on, you can get in anywhere. We then went to the pool, sauna, and then the bar where we ordered a 10 dollar drink to some rich persons room. All in all amazing fun. Then on the way back found the best bar in all of Bali, complete with pool tables, free golf arcade games, and a free jukebox that only played the coolest music! It was run by a really cool American guy (not many Americans in Bali) who hung with us till we went back to Ubud after a great day.
The next day was my next to last, so I headed to Kuta Bali (Australias Mexico) played beach vollyball, surfed, and then after meeting up with my german and argintinean friends went to a club that had an hour of Free Flow, all drinks free! The germans then proceeded to take me to every single club and/or bar in Kuta, for a last whirlwind night. Fun until the Indo prostitutes came out and we headed back home for some sleep. Then after waking up bright and early at 12, went to Uluwatu to surf the epic wave, thank goodness with not a huge swell and on a high tide so I didnt end up like freddie crueger, a 50,000 basket of crab, red snapper, and shrimp and one last Bintang before flying to Tokyo, and now to LA! Ok gotta get on that flight, see everybody soon!!!!!
26 June 2009
Lombok, Heaven on the Planet!
I have been having the most amazing surf sessions of my life! This wave is incredible, a perfect peeling right, about 3 foot over head, maybe 200-300 feet, enough for 7-8 big turns. And then on High tide, a not quite as nice left, peeling over about 200 feet. And thats just the inside wave. There is a huge slabby left that throws over on the right tide and will mess you up if you get caught inside. Basically heaven on the planet, also the name of the hotel I happen to be staying in that overlooks the break perfectly, actually I can see the break from bed.
Again, from the beginning. Leaving Bali was a day long trip, 2 hours on the road, 4.5 on the slowest boat from Bali and then another 3.5 hours in Sunday afternoon wedding traffic on Lombok, another world from Bali. Nobody speaks English here, the majority of the population is very devout Sasak Muslim, i.e. no alcohol, praying 3 times/day, and married at 17. Very different experience. We traveled to the end of Lombok, literally the end of the road, and then further. As we were driving, came across beautifully dressed Sasak women on the back of tiny little motorbikes, only the men with helmets, on there way to group weddings that happen during the dry season every Sunday. And then a hunting party of guys, again on motorbikes waving guns and hands at us, I was pretty sure we were not in the right place. But the people here are just extremely friendly. They actually havent seen that many westerners, so everywhere you walk you wave and yell "Apacabar Batur!" Hello friend to everybody you see. Our accommodations started out at 10 dollars/ night, and we shared the bathroom with rats and not a few large frogs, no shower, just a tub of water, the same that you use to "flush" the toilet, with which to splash water on yourself. Good times.
But the wave, so incredible. My first morning out, caught a few lefts, got out, waited for the low tide and spent 4 hours surfing this wall of aquamarine water, with a strong offshore breeze, all the way into the coral reef. I dont think that does it justice, but I am in love with this place.
The next few days were spent in this way, fighting teams of Lombok monkeys while walking to the beach, seriously, and laying for hours on the perfect white sand beach, waiting for the tide to drop. And then after one of my best sessions EVER, Jony tells me this wave doesnt quite cut it and he wants to leave! I said I had to stay, and we would meet up soon, but first we had to go to a circumcision party, traditional Sasak party that lasts until 6 in the morning. Didnt quite know what to expect, but our friends Oudin and Maan were sure we would enjoy it. It was great. We first had some dinner (watermelon, spicy fish, soybeans, and the everpresent white rice) at our friends house, sitting on th floor and taking pictures of the kids (the love to see the photos). And then to the party, of course no alcohol and everybody was just sitting in front of the mosque watching a backlit puppet show, telling the story of some important muslin figures, not sure who, but leading up to the circumscision the next morning. Amazing.
The next day I had an interesting experience. As I came into the bathroom, there were three monkeys inside the bathroom! I guess they had come through the hole I kepts telling the guys to fix, to get water presumably. I think they were just as surprised to see me as I them, and they became quite agitated. So before they had a chance to attack, I slammed the door, hoping they would leave the way they came in, opened it again, one had left but the two remaining were freaking out! One was smashing its head into the ceiling, and the other was sortof coming for me, so again I slammed the door, and hoped they would leave, looked back in, one more was gone and the last was looking for blood, rushed back out, and finally he was gone. Wow. The monkeys here are wild and are always around, pretty cool, but scary when you come into the bathroom not expecting them.
Anyway, that was my last night there, I moved to the Heaven on the Planet resort, incredibly nice. Views from every bungalow, cool Australians/British to hang with (Toby, Tom, Mike, Nic, Dan and George rock!) and a more relaxing atmosphere, the locals in the old spot were getting a bit close and wanted me to but property and maybe eat monkeys? (The language is difficult) And here I've been.
Also, met this boat crew of Austrians who Ive eaten dinner with the last two nights. The captain is this amazing bloke, surfer extraordinaire, runs a boat here 8 months of the year and 4 months as a ski patrol back in Austria. Cooks an incredible chili con carne and last night some of the best pasta carbonara I have ever eaten. Actually the swell was pretty much non-exsistant for one day, I think Thursday, so when I ate there it was easy to come back to the beach. But last night no such luck, so I slept on the rocking boat, which was awesome, and then got in the water this morning at 4:45, before first light, and caught about 7 BOMBS, fighting off the boat and otherwise crowd that has assembled here. Seriously the best surf of my life. Did I mention that it is about 2-3 foot overhead and a perfectly breaking wave. I absolutely love this place!
SO anyway for the next 3-4 days I will rock this sick spot, until Tuesday or Wednesday, and head back to Bali, probably check out Ubud, and then Uluwatu, and back with my German buds for one last party night in Kuta (possibly at Sea Garden) and then for a bit of shopping/surfing Cangguu and then back to reality, shiza...
Back to the ocean, or maybe a nap, or maybe some snorkling, or...
Again, from the beginning. Leaving Bali was a day long trip, 2 hours on the road, 4.5 on the slowest boat from Bali and then another 3.5 hours in Sunday afternoon wedding traffic on Lombok, another world from Bali. Nobody speaks English here, the majority of the population is very devout Sasak Muslim, i.e. no alcohol, praying 3 times/day, and married at 17. Very different experience. We traveled to the end of Lombok, literally the end of the road, and then further. As we were driving, came across beautifully dressed Sasak women on the back of tiny little motorbikes, only the men with helmets, on there way to group weddings that happen during the dry season every Sunday. And then a hunting party of guys, again on motorbikes waving guns and hands at us, I was pretty sure we were not in the right place. But the people here are just extremely friendly. They actually havent seen that many westerners, so everywhere you walk you wave and yell "Apacabar Batur!" Hello friend to everybody you see. Our accommodations started out at 10 dollars/ night, and we shared the bathroom with rats and not a few large frogs, no shower, just a tub of water, the same that you use to "flush" the toilet, with which to splash water on yourself. Good times.
But the wave, so incredible. My first morning out, caught a few lefts, got out, waited for the low tide and spent 4 hours surfing this wall of aquamarine water, with a strong offshore breeze, all the way into the coral reef. I dont think that does it justice, but I am in love with this place.
The next few days were spent in this way, fighting teams of Lombok monkeys while walking to the beach, seriously, and laying for hours on the perfect white sand beach, waiting for the tide to drop. And then after one of my best sessions EVER, Jony tells me this wave doesnt quite cut it and he wants to leave! I said I had to stay, and we would meet up soon, but first we had to go to a circumcision party, traditional Sasak party that lasts until 6 in the morning. Didnt quite know what to expect, but our friends Oudin and Maan were sure we would enjoy it. It was great. We first had some dinner (watermelon, spicy fish, soybeans, and the everpresent white rice) at our friends house, sitting on th floor and taking pictures of the kids (the love to see the photos). And then to the party, of course no alcohol and everybody was just sitting in front of the mosque watching a backlit puppet show, telling the story of some important muslin figures, not sure who, but leading up to the circumscision the next morning. Amazing.
The next day I had an interesting experience. As I came into the bathroom, there were three monkeys inside the bathroom! I guess they had come through the hole I kepts telling the guys to fix, to get water presumably. I think they were just as surprised to see me as I them, and they became quite agitated. So before they had a chance to attack, I slammed the door, hoping they would leave the way they came in, opened it again, one had left but the two remaining were freaking out! One was smashing its head into the ceiling, and the other was sortof coming for me, so again I slammed the door, and hoped they would leave, looked back in, one more was gone and the last was looking for blood, rushed back out, and finally he was gone. Wow. The monkeys here are wild and are always around, pretty cool, but scary when you come into the bathroom not expecting them.
Anyway, that was my last night there, I moved to the Heaven on the Planet resort, incredibly nice. Views from every bungalow, cool Australians/British to hang with (Toby, Tom, Mike, Nic, Dan and George rock!) and a more relaxing atmosphere, the locals in the old spot were getting a bit close and wanted me to but property and maybe eat monkeys? (The language is difficult) And here I've been.
Also, met this boat crew of Austrians who Ive eaten dinner with the last two nights. The captain is this amazing bloke, surfer extraordinaire, runs a boat here 8 months of the year and 4 months as a ski patrol back in Austria. Cooks an incredible chili con carne and last night some of the best pasta carbonara I have ever eaten. Actually the swell was pretty much non-exsistant for one day, I think Thursday, so when I ate there it was easy to come back to the beach. But last night no such luck, so I slept on the rocking boat, which was awesome, and then got in the water this morning at 4:45, before first light, and caught about 7 BOMBS, fighting off the boat and otherwise crowd that has assembled here. Seriously the best surf of my life. Did I mention that it is about 2-3 foot overhead and a perfectly breaking wave. I absolutely love this place!
SO anyway for the next 3-4 days I will rock this sick spot, until Tuesday or Wednesday, and head back to Bali, probably check out Ubud, and then Uluwatu, and back with my German buds for one last party night in Kuta (possibly at Sea Garden) and then for a bit of shopping/surfing Cangguu and then back to reality, shiza...
Back to the ocean, or maybe a nap, or maybe some snorkling, or...
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