Woke up at 4am and met Rama in the taxi. We set off into the darkness towards Tulamben, far on the Eastern side of Bali. In the early morning there was hardly any traffic and Rama was able to go flat stick. We drifted back to sleep and only woke up a short distance from our destination. In the dawn light we could just make out mount Agung, an extinct volcano towering above us and some beautiful valleys and rice paddies.
A while later we arrived at the dive center with two sleepy looking characters standing in front who turned out to be our dive masters. They introduced themselves as Wayan and Made. They set about getting us organised with gear. Soon it was time for the dive briefing and then we put on our gear and walked 100m down the road to the sea front. The low hanging sun cast a golden glow over the sea as we waded in and put on our fins. A final ok and we descended gradually down to the wreck of the USAT Liberty.
The visibility was excellent and we worked our way around the wreck taking in the sights. The wreck is covered in corals and sea life and not much is left of the structure, but there is still a portion that offers an exciting swim through. We saw a leaf fish, some enormous hump head parrot fish and Pygmy seahorse. It was the first time using a go-pro camera and we hoped to get some interesting footage of the wreck. We completed our dive and had a breakfast of delicious banana pancakes and Balinese coffee. Soon it was time for our next dive along the 'wall'. This time we traveled a short distance in the back of their Bakkie, past accommodation and many other dive centers in the otherwise boring town. Again we entered from the sea shore and descended along the sandy slope until we reached the drop off. There were beautiful corals, and the warm water was a pleasure to swim in. We saw a moray eel and some cuttlefish towards the end of our dive. After the dive we didn't hang around as we needed to get to Ubud to join the rest of the gang. We paid for the dives and thanked our dive masters.
The visibility was excellent and we worked our way around the wreck taking in the sights. The wreck is covered in corals and sea life and not much is left of the structure, but there is still a portion that offers an exciting swim through. We saw a leaf fish, some enormous hump head parrot fish and Pygmy seahorse. It was the first time using a go-pro camera and we hoped to get some interesting footage of the wreck. We completed our dive and had a breakfast of delicious banana pancakes and Balinese coffee. Soon it was time for our next dive along the 'wall'. This time we traveled a short distance in the back of their Bakkie, past accommodation and many other dive centers in the otherwise boring town. Again we entered from the sea shore and descended along the sandy slope until we reached the drop off. There were beautiful corals, and the warm water was a pleasure to swim in. We saw a moray eel and some cuttlefish towards the end of our dive. After the dive we didn't hang around as we needed to get to Ubud to join the rest of the gang. We paid for the dives and thanked our dive masters.
The drive to Ubud was uneventful and we passed the time with conversations about current affairs. Around 13h30 we arrived in Ubud and met up with the others. We strolled around looking for a place to eat and soon found a small Indonesian restaurant and ordered some nasi goreng and other dishes. After lunch we wondered back out into the heat and did some shopping for an hour. Bought some t-shirts, a blue Bintang wife beater for myself and a classy white T for Nix at Rp 200k. Haggled for a small carved surfboard with Bali written on it, but just couldn't get my price. Furthermore we just soaked up the market atmosphere.
We met up with our driver and made the short trip to the rice paddies. We paid our Rs 10k each at the parking lot and wondered up the road to the entry of the rice paddies. The verdant fields cascaded down the valley slopes. We followed the path and soon reached a little shed where a woman was selling curios. As we passed she jumped onto the path in front of me blocking the way forward, and pointed at the basket of notes in front of the shed. It was obvious she wanted a donation but in principle I didn't like the way she was asking so I insisted that I didn't understand what she wanted and switched to Afrikaans but she didn't budge. In the end Nicki and Laura slipped in some coins and she begrudgingly let us pass. We carried on our tour of the rice terraces circumnavigating toll shacks. Hot and and sweaty we finally tired of the rice terraces and made our way back to the road. Nix found a cafe and ordered a kopi luwak, the fabled coffee made from beans recovered from the excrement of civets as made famous in the movie the 'bucket list'.
For dinner we ordered pizzas and fries from a local restaurant near the villa. The pizzas were a hit and in no time at all we had demolished the lot. Tummies full we chatted a while an eventually called it a day.
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