Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Mecca


Bali is the mecca of waves and we are the pilgrims. 

Map of Bali Surf Spots
Bali contains 3% of the world’s top 100 waves according to a recent edition of Surfer magazine.  That is an amazing statistic considering the amount of coastline the world has to offer and the small size of Bali’s coastline in comparison. 

If you wonder why we have such a fascination with waves, consider our backgrounds.  We all have taken various dynamic courses that rigorously detail the formulas of waves including their amplitude, type, and dispersion relationships.  Oceanic waves are the only waves that are of comparable size to humans and of a substance that allows such intimate interactions like surfing (as opposed to sound waves, gravity waves, seismic waves, etc.). Surfing is the ultimate hands on science experiment for those interested in fluid dynamics, and Bali is one of the best surfing destinations. 


Echo Beach / Canggu

After arriving at Denpasar airport, we took a taxi ride to the hotel that was more thrilling than most amusement park rides.  The roads are beyond congested, and it is not frowned upon to have several generations of family from infants to elderly riding the same moped through town.  Under the cover of night we were dropped at Echoland Bed and Breakfast on the western coast of Bali.  The next morning we had breakfast on the rooftop patio with a view of the ocean.  It doesn’t cost much to live like a highroller in Bali.

The waves at Echo Beach were mildly disappointing given the reputation.  As faithful pilgrims though, we remained strong and relished every wave the ocean offered.  Most nights we lounged at restaurants overlooking the beach and enjoyed the local dishes of Nasi Goreng (fried rice) and Satay (grilled pork, steak, and chicken).  If you want a more detailed review of the food, James would be happy to inform you. 


Aside from the lacking waves, we met Harris at the hotel.  Harris has lived in Perth, Australia for 8 years but is from Florida.  Owen also joined us on the second night at the bed and breakfast and enlightened us with his Australian accented “Owenisms”. They both happily joined our search for the 3%.


Uluwatu

Echo Beach was hard to leave but the pilgrimage for waves took precedent over the lap of luxury.  We journeyed to Uluwatu, Bali (southern tip).  We stayed at a hotel called The Gong that is equidistant from the surf breaks of Uluwatu and Nyang Nyang. 

The Gong

 Our wave pilgrimage would not be without trials.  Like Echo Beach, Uluwatu was also starved for waves and Harris cracked his head in the pool.  He opted out of stitches in favor of more natural healing means, the glorious water of Bali well-known for it’s ability to produce staff infections.  Dirt roads, mud pits, and live coral were traversed to no avail.  No waves. No fluid dynamic interactions.  Nothing.  But as pilgrimages go, persistence is key.  The walk to Uluwatu to check the break was encouraging even though the waves were lackluster.



Legian

After being skunked for waves, we drowned our sorrows in the tourist culture around Kuta.  Legian beach, near Kuta, is not particularly known for its waves.   So instead of surfing, James, Gavin, Harris, and Owen all bungee jumped while I occupied the videographer position. In fact, one bungee jump was not enough.  They each did it twice. 


We managed our depression regarding mediocre waves by haggling with the locals for bags, t-shirts, jewelry, etc.  Because it was currently the off/rainy season in Bali, we got a resort style hotel room for less than half the normal rate.  Yes, you can even haggle with resorts. EVERYTHING is negotiable in Bali.  The last morning we got up at six in desperate hopes that our pilgrimage would not end in despair.  Surely, our patience would be rewarded.  We begrudgingly walked to the nearest beach break in desperate hopes of waves before our flight at noon.  This is what we found……

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Final Leg

Adam is working on an epic post from our time spent in Bali. We are back at the Crowne Plaza hotel in the Singapore airport, awaiting departure back to the states tomorrow morning. About to head to bed. Our itinerary for the final leg today (was) and tomorrow (is):

Thursday, November 10, 2011, 12:55pm Bali time: Flight Denpasar -> Singapore, arriving 3:30pm same time zone
Friday, November 11, 2011, 7:20am Singapore time: United Airlines Singapore -> Tokyo, arriving 2:50pm Tokyo time, one hour ahead of current (6 hour 30 minute flight time)
Friday, November 11, 2011, 5:00pm Tokyo time: United Airlines Tokyo -> San Francisco, arriving 8:55am PST (same day... weird!), 9 hour flight time
Friday, November 11, 2011, 10:41am PST: United Airlines San Fran -> Denver, arriving 2:15pm MST, 2 hour 30 minute flight time

11/11/11 will last 39 hours for us in our own relative time. Fun date for that to happen! I suppose we'll technically get to make three mega-wishes, two 11:11am ones and one nightcap. Better start brainstorming.

We are exhausted but happy. Morale high, but the onset of the "travel blur" as Adam put it is looming. Pray for expediency (thanks Kads)!

-Gavin

The Band is finally heading home

Friday, November 4, 2011

Hostel Living in Kuala Lumpur

View from KL Tower

US Dollars to Malaysian Ringgits, barracks to hostels, one road to thousands, and English to…well, a bunch of languages that we don’t understand.

Quite a photogenic pair of towers

We were thrown from militaristic structure and 25-mph-or-less onto streets where traffic lights are suggestions and crossing the road as a pedestrian is strikingly similar to the game of Frogger (it turns out we’re all natural champions of the game). It was quite a jolt of a transition, but it was an exciting arrival in Kuala Lumpur, and even more so once we got to the long-awaited Reggae Mansion, our hostel located just outside of Chinatown, which Gavin fortunately stumbled upon online. Everything there was brand spanking new, as it had only opened a month or so prior, and the amenities were luxurious as far as hostels go.

Our office at the Reggae Mansion

Getting some dinner with Josh of New Zealand

We quickly made some acquaintances in the 16-person dorm room we stayed in, and the friendly folks running the hostel were throwing a couple parties over the weekend to celebrate Halloween where we had some good fun and made a couple more bi/tri/quadrilingual friends. They threw the Halloween parties in an upstairs lounge that was complete with apple bobbing and shots and ladders – the usual American party games.

The Orchid Garden

People we met included Aussies, Danish, Kiwis, and a fellow American from Cali. Most of them were wandering the world for months, often coming from or heading off to places like Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, or some island in Indonesia. Most had amazing stories of the wild sights they had seen across Southeast Asia, but we tried to compete by telling our stories of launching weather balloons on an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean where they probably filmed Lost.


One discovery just across the street from our hostel was a great little antique bookstore (think old, creaky attics) in which each of us ended up grabbing at least one item. It was as clustered as anything, with seemingly random stacks of books everywhere. But the lady working there could lead you right to what you wanted. The store was called Junk Bookstore (probably a translation error), which was a bit of irony considering that it had rare and probably high-demand items if brought back to the US.


During the days we explored the streets of KL, attempting to catch as many of the big sights as possible. Though trips up to the sky bridge of the Petronas Towers were closed for renovations, we were able get a panoramic sky view from the KL Tower, wander the national park, peruse an Orchid garden, and check out the national Mosque. Particularly interesting was hearing the daily Islamic prayers come out on loud speakers over the otherwise white noise of the city, which we heard very clearly while walking through the orchid garden. That was definitely a new experience for us.

Getting ready for our first sleeper train ride

Our KL trip ended with our very first sleeper train ride, which was a pretty novel experience. Following another day in Singapore, we began our next leg of the journey with a flight out to Bali, Indonesia, where we’ve heard only great things from the travelers we’ve run into. Julia Roberts also tells us it’s a great time (we watched Eat, Pray, Love to prep ourselves for Bali). Standby for updates on the final leg of the trip.

Onward to Indo

-james