After my unbelievable diving experiences in Malaysia, Sabah, I was going to make my way back to Bali overland from Sabah, through Kalimantan Indonesia, but it was going to take too long, as travel always does in Indo. I would really like to go back to dive in Kalimantan one day. Also I had been told that there are still canibalistic tribes still in some inner parts of Kalimantan and Sarawak, which I would have had to go see for my self and might have not turned out the best. Right? HA
Anyway I flew to Kuala Lumpur again for the 3rd time. I stayed only 3 days there this time and did some shopping and met up with a Malay friend of mine Louis, who I had met back in Sandakan. I flew out to Bali with Air Asia and stayed for 5 days in Kuta. I bought another surf board and booked a trip to G-Land, a world famous surf break in Java, the next island over from Bali.
I did some amazing diving along Bali in those 5 days as well. I dove along an island called Nusa Penida that took 1hour to get to by fast boat out in the open ocean. We were after Manta Rays, and we got em! Not 5 min after dropping in 12 ft wide mantas were swooping above us and I was going camera crazy! It was the most majestic animal I had ever seen under the sea! You couldn't chase after it you just waited and they would swoop above you or just below you! Soo amazing, it was a manta cleaning station , the Dive Master had said. That meant that the mantas would come here to be cleaned by small wrase fish. You could see them swimming along on the backs of the rays! Such a great dive we must have seen 5 different Mantas at least! I dove a few other spots and seen some great corals and Turtles. I also did a dive on the Liberty, which was shipwreck just of the east coast of Bali. It was a US cargo vessel that was sunk by a Japanese destroyer during WW2. It wa really broken up by Mt Agung erupting in 1968, the quake from the eruption shook the old ship into pieces. Seen some of the most beautiful and different soft corals here along with large travalee schools and one big old resident barracuda!
I met up with an English guy named Sumer while I was diving, actually we did all those dives together. He worked in trading in downtown London and was on a two week vacation. We had supper every night together, and he told me of how bloody expensive London is and some great stories about his life there. Really one of the most interesting people I have met on this trip.
I headed off to G-Land on an overnight bus that had some of the worst seats in it and we drove along the worst roads I have seen yet. I didnt know what to expect. When we got there, the waves didnt resemble the perfect barrels I seen in the videos. The camp was just being set up for the year an me and a friend of mine from Holland were the first guests of the year! It was a really cool camp, called Bobby's Surf Camp, located right in the Jungle about 40km from any civilization. We would wake up in the morning and have gibbon monkeys all over the place. I also had a dog that would follow me everywhere I went. The camp had great food and cold beer. The waves were not working like they normally do because it was too early in the year. Apparently June July is the best time and when the wave gets really big and hollow. I surfed a few times on a break called Speedies but the current was so strong that one wave an I would have to paddle in and walk back down the beach to get in position again, I tired of this quick. I liked the local staff there who would tell me stories about guys like Kelly Slater showing up there in a helicopter last year, and stories about other surfing greats.I left the camp early to go see some Volcanos on Java.
I booked a tour to a volcano called Mt Bromo from a town called Probolingo. It was a rainy ride up the mountain in a small van that had me stuffed in with my big backpack small daypack and my guitar. Along the road we picked up everyone. All locals who were coming home from the marketplaces and school or just anyone walking along the road. I found out how many people you can fit in a mini bus....one more! ha it was nuts I think I counted 15 or 16 at one point. Then the little old lady beside me decided she wants to have smoke, and about 6 others and no one would open a window cause it was raining. It was a great ride to say the least! The town was right on the lip of the caldera and had 2 more volcano's inside the big caldera. In the early morning we took a nice Jeep up the side of the volcano through the big caldera and to the top peak, to watch the sun rise! It was cool to see the big caldera filled completely with cloud then as the sun came up it slowly ran down the mountain side and cleared right up. We rode horses up the side of one of the inner volcano's and could see the sulfurous gas coming out of the center of it! Very beautiful landscapes and ever 20 min a distant volcano would give off a Puff of smoke high in the sky. My horse farted the whole way up and gave me a good gallop across the sand covered caldera at the bottom!
Next I went to Mt Ijen another volcano on eastern Java. It was a bit differrent from Bromo. We arrived there and hiked up the 3 1/2km trail to the top. The air was very heavy with the smell of sulfer, and burned the lungs on the way up. I seen monkeys on the way up and some trees and plants that I have only seen in movies. The center of the caldera was mined for its sulfur. The mining is run by a chinese company who pays the miners 5 dollars a day and makes them pay if they need a gas mask. It is a rough life for these men. They carry up to 100kg or more of sulfur blocks, in two baskets hanging from a piece of bamboo, that is hung over their shoulders. They carry it from the center of the caldera up the trecharus steep slopes, that are instable and slippery with small loose rocks (where a French tourist woman died last year while on this same tour). Then they have to walk down 3 1/2 km with the 100kg of sulfur on their backs then do it all over again, all the while breathing in the sulfur laden air. I seen some of the men without shirts on and the deep bruises they have on their shoulders is a terrible sight. They can only do this 2 times daily ad they work for two weeks straight then 1 week off. Our guide has been doing this trip for 10 years and he says that his lungs are starting to develop athesma. I walked to the top and decided to walk with the miners down into the caldera. Inside the caldera is a huge crater lake. The water in the lake has a PH of .5 which is like battery acid.
The miners spray water on the sulfurous steam comming out of the volcano to cool it and make it into solid form then they chip it off and haul it up. It is so dangerous they work right beside this crater lake and can only work from 5am till 11am cause the lake can emit a bubble of gas from inside the volcano after this time of day, that will kill you with one whiff. We seen a worker fall and they said that he will never work again because his injurys ae too bad. It was kind of bitter sweet, cause the volcano was so amazing but the miners plight was hard to see. They worked under hard circumstances for their family's, and have been doing things this way for almost 20 years. They didnt have any modern technology like even a pulley system to bring the rocks up with, just manual labour. Really glad we have organizations back home that prevent these poor working conditions. A couple that I climbed the volcano with are now putting together a website back in the UK that will tell about the miners exploitation by this Chinese company, and will hopefully get some support and change the situation. It was a beautiful display of nature and sad display of human exploitation. I wont soon forget it.
I left Java after this and returned to Bali for one last Indo surf. I went to Medewi a little surf spot halfway up the west coast. It is the longest left hand wave in Bali. It had lots of size and didnt break too fast, perfect for my level of riding. I was in the water twice a day here for 2 or 3 days. Really liked this break, met people who spent 2 weeks just riding this wave. After Medewi I took a local bus to the ferry station. To get the local bus you just stand on the side of the road with all your gear and wave one down, they will always pick you up...even if they don't completely stop while they do it. I took the ferry to Java and started a 10hr journey on local transports from Gilimanuk to Surabaya. I had to change buses 4 or 5 times and had locals taking my picture with their phones and wanting me to be in it with them sometimes. It is the greatest way to experience Indonesia is by these buses ...you see all types of people. I remember one old skinny guy who got on one bus, half way through the trip, (he was blind Im sure), he wore some ceramic type looking hat dark sunglasses and would shake a shaker and blow a soccer whistle clenched between gums (there were no teeth), and this was his form of music. I did not expect this so the whole time I couldn't help but laugh and I couldn't stop till he finished and was collecting money. I felt so bad but the other locals were laughing at me and patting me on the back, the guy was doing his best good on ya mate! Anyway I arrived in Surabaya and caught my flight to Singapore the next day, I did have 2 more bowls of noodle soup from a street vendor that night for one last taste of Indo! Indonesia has been one the best countries I have visited, I hope to be back soon! Selamat Jalan Indonesia!
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