Diving in Bali. Seeing Sharks and a Mola Mola! – April 8 & 10, 2011

From Bali I took a boat to the island of Nusa Lembongan. It’s tiny, only 8km2. There are no cars, only bicycles, motorbikes and small trucks for transporting goods. A fabulous place to spend a few days exploring, diving and relaxing in the sun. There are some great beaches tucked away in some secluded bays.

I went out for 4 dives, my first dives since getting my Open Water Certification on Koh Tao. On our way out to the first dive spot, we saw a manta swimming right near the surface. My instructor told me just to jump in with my mask to get a look, but I was too indecisive so by the time I got in the water it was too far away to see. Missed my chance.

During the first dive we got extremely lucky and saw a mola mola (sunfish), an absolutely bizarre looking creature. It’s not even the season for them, so we were definitely in the right place at the right time. I also saw my first turtle, which was pretty cool.  

I went out for a few more dives two days later, and the plan was to go to Manta Point, where we’d be able to swim with some mantas. The water was way too rough so we had to revise that plan and go somewhere else. I was disappointed, but on the second dive we saw some white tipped reef sharks! I know that there are obviously sharks in the water, but I hadn’t expected to see any during my dives. I thought it would be all coral and fish.  All of a sudden, there were just these sharks swimming not that far off. Definitely a highlight of my dives so far!

Trekking up Mt Agung – April 6, 2011

Despite getting very little exercise during the past few months of travel, I decided to sign up for a sunrise trek up Mt. Agung, an active volcano and at 3142 m the highest point on Bali. It last erupted in 1963.  The climb was described in the brochure as difficult, but I figured I’d be fine.

I was picked up at 10:30pm the evening of the 5^th, and we drove a couple hours from Ubud to the volcano. We started our climb around 1:00am, with an offering at the temple located at the base. The group was fairly small – a couple, another solo guy and girl and me. We were accompanied by a local guide and two other guides.

It started out easily enough in the jungle. There had been rain the past few nights, but we were lucky and had a beautiful clear night. We took numerous short breaks throughout, for everyone in the group to catch up. About halfway up we lost the couple, and one of the guides. The rest of us kept heading up. Two thirds of the way up, it got rocky and rather technical. The rocks were a bit slippery as well from all the rain. I scrambled around using my hands quite a bit. I’m glad that it was so dark and I couldn’t see how far down I’d fall if I slipped.

The ascent took about 4.5hrs, and we arrived just before sunrise at 6:00am. We got some beautiful views of the sunrise, Bali and the surrounding islands before the clouds rolled in and covered everything. We could also see down into a giant crater, but it just looked like normal rocks. No molten lava or anything. There was a small statue perched at the edge, and this was to make another religious offering. It was also absolutely freezing at the summit. I thought I’d be over dressed with all my layers, but I was wrong. We ate our breakfast quickly, and then started back down.

The descent took about as long as the ascent had. We took the same route down that we had going up, and it was worse going down I think. Our guide turned on the radio on his phone, and played all sorts of terrible music as we went down. He was smiling and singing the entire time, with some flowers tucked behind his ear. 

Everything is Better in Bali. Meeting Ketut Liyer, the Medicine Man from Eat Pray Love – April 5, 2011

Ubud is a beautiful place. A few main streets with nice shops and restaurants, and rice paddies everywhere. Touristy? Yes. But a welcome change of pace after everything that happened inThailand. Not filled with drunk 18 year old backpackers either. Landing in Bali, I had no idea really how I would spend my two weeks here. From what I found online, Ubud sounded like a nice central place to start things off. I had no idea that this was where Elizabeth Gilbert came in Eat Pray Love.

There are plenty of classes available in Ubud, and I took a Balinese cooking class. At the class, I got to talking with a Canadian woman in her 50’s who’d been in Bali for the past month. The topic of medicine men came up, and she said she’d gone to a really great one. I didn’t have any particular medical issue I wanted resolved, but it just seemed like while in Bali I should visit a medicine man because it was the thing to do.

Everything I’d read online about Ketut Liyer (Eat Pray Love) was that visiting him was a waste of money because he told everyone the same thing. I’d also heard that if I wanted to go, it was better to go really early, because people have to take a number and line up to see him. Part of me wanted to see Ketut just because I really enjoyed Eat Pray Love and he’s kind of a minor celebrity, and the other part of me wanted to visit a legitimate medicine man that came with a solid recommendation.

I made plans with an Irish woman Polly (also in the class), to try and find this legitimate medicine man the next day. The only information we had was that he lived in a village near the Bali zoo. We left bright and early at 7am. Our driver had to ask around a bit, but at 8am we arrived at the home of a medicine man. Whether it was the same one that our friend from the cooking class recommended, I have no idea. Both of us felt a bit silly about the whole thing, because these men must see a steady stream of women in their 20’s and 30’s who have read Eat Pray Love and are looking for answers.

He came out, looked us over rather quizzically, and asked us “Why you here? You young.” Meaning what possible medical issues did we have that needed his expertise? He also told us we were too early, and if we wanted to see him to come back in 2 hours. Neither of us wanted to sit around and wait, and our driver suggested we visit another medicine man nearby, one who read palms.

We pulled up, and as soon as I saw the name on the sign, a light bulb went off. Our driver had totally taken us to Ketut Liyer, despite our attempts to avoid seeing him. But really, if I were him, I would’ve taken us to the same place. We fit the demographic perfectly.

Since we were there, I figured “Why not?” It would be fun to see the character brought to life. It was only 8:15am, and we were the first people there. We grabbed numbers 1 and 2, and then waited until 9am. There was a poster from the movie up on one wall, and in a corner water and snacks for sale. A regular tourist attraction. Three other women showed up before 9am.

Ketut came out of his room at 9am, and I was lucky number 1. He invited me to sit on his porch with him. He looked exactly as described in the book. A single tooth poking in front of his gummy smile, and some crazy long eyebrows. He’s also quite small. He was wearing a polo t-shirt with a wrap around his waist. He was all smiles, and very happy to see me. We chatted a bit, and he told me he would read my palm.

“I see good, I tell you good. I see bad, I tell you bad.”

Before starting, I noticed his copy of Eat Pray Love, which I knew had been autographed. I asked to see it, and he read me the message written inside. Then he pulled out an envelope tucked in the pages. It was a note from Liz Gilbert, on official “Elizabeth Gilbert” stationary (simple, cream coloured with her name embossed across the top). He asked me to read it to him, and I’m sure I’m not the first person to do that. It basically said that she’d heard he was feeling sick and hoped that he felt better soon, and that she was very grateful for everything he had done for her. He asked me to explain the word ‘grateful’. The envelope looked a bit worn, and he said he’d received it about 2 months earlier. Even if I’m not the first person to have this conversation with him, it felt nice that he was trying to make it special and unique.

The palm reading actually started with my face. He looked at my ears, then nose, mouth, cheeks and eyes, all the while saying that I’m “very pretty” and “very happy”. When he got to my mouth, he said “Your lips are sweet like sugar” which I had read in another blog that he said to everyone. He took my left palm in his, and proceeded to predict my future. I’ll live to be 100, and have 3 kids. I’ll have a very successful career and good relationships. He did say that if I got divorced, not to cry because I would find love again. So I guess he did predict some bad, but mostly good. The squeezed the tip of each finger, each representing a different organ, all the while saying “good, good, good” so I guess that means I’m healthy!

He also looked at my back, at the base of my neck. I’m not sure exactly why, but he said he saw lotus flowers which I think is a good thing. Then he looked at my mosquito bitten legs, poked and my knees and predicted good health.

The whole reading was peppered with numerous “very good, very pretty, very lucky.” After saying certain things, he looked at me and asked “you understand?” His english was really good – I’m sure with all the visitors he’s received in the past few years he’s gotten plenty of practice. He said that he’s “96 years old, but then again not actually sure.”

I got a couple of photos with him, and some of just him. He asked me to mail him a copy of our photo together. At the end of it all he asked for a donation of 250,000Rp, about $28.00 CAD. In a day he said that he sees up to 50 people! 50 people x 250,000Rp = 12,500,000Rp = $1,400.00CAD/day. I’d say he’s doing pretty well for himself.  It may have been expensive, but I found it fun and worth if just for the opportunity to meet him. 

Evacuation by the Thai Navy – March 30, 2011 (Koh Tao)

The day I was evacuated from Koh Tao by the Thai Navy was probably the most epic part of the trip that I didn’t have to pay for. I can now say that I’ve ridden in a military helicopter and aircraft carrier. Hopefully an experience that I won’t be repeating any time soon.

Molly had a Thai friend, Prai, on Koh Phangan that was keeping us updated with all the latest news about when we might actually be able to get off Koh Tao. We had originally planned on leaving on Sunday, March 27^th (the day of the flood), and it was already Wednesday the 30^th. Molly and I both had flights scheduled to leave Bangkok on Friday, April 1^st. It looked like we weren’t going to make it back in time. We booked tickets for a ferry to Koh Phangan leaving Koh Tao on the 31^st, since it was a bigger island and we thought we might be able to make it back to the mainland easier.

Prai called Molly and told her that the Navy were evacuating people, but we had to sign up on some list to get out of Koh Tao.  Molly jumped on that information and checked with the staff at the resort (who also did all travel bookings) and they confirmed it, but said we had to go to the pier to sign up.

We decided to go for it, so we headed up to our room for a hasty pack. Both our bags were completely empty since we had washed them out from the flood, so we had to repack absolutely everything.

At around 12pm we caught a taxi to the main pier. The weather was dismal and rainy. We got in the line for destination Bangkok, and just happened to meet a really kind man who told us we were at the wrong side of the island for the navy boats, but that he could take us there. About 15 minutes later we ended up at some resort, signed up for the evacuation, got purple stickers indicating we were Bangkok bound, and sat and waited. We expected to board the boat in a few hours.

After about an hour the staff announced there would be helicopters for the old, sick, pregnant women and families with children. Half an hour later they announced that women could go to, so we got loaded up in another taxi and taken to the helicopter launch pad, to wait in another line. Luckily we were fairly close to the front of the line, and only had to wait about 45 minutes for our turn. We had to crouch on the ground and cover our faces when the helicopter landed, because the force from the blades sprayed us with gravel. They had us run into the helicopter to get us loaded as quickly as possible.

During our short helicopter ride everyone was taking pictures and smiling, just enjoying the experience. It was fun and exciting because we didn’t feel like we were in any serious danger.

Disembarking on the aircraft carrier was awesome. There was a line of Navy men waiting leading the way to the entrance to the ship, all in matching blue sweatshirts. They had us jump out and run to the entrance, and as I passed each officer he patted my shoulder. They passed our backpacks down the line  and into the ship. All the bags were loaded into an elevator and we were sent down some narrow, steep stairs. We ended up in what looked like a giant cargo bay, it reminded me of a school gym.

The whole process was very organized and efficient. Once on the boat we had to register our names, nationality and destination, and drop off our big bags in a holding area. There was an area with beds designated for the sick and older people, with an attached medical centre. I think some rooms were actually provided to families with babies. Molly and I were given pieces of cardboard to sleep on, and picked a spot on the ground and make ourselves comfortable. It was about 3:30pm.

A food station served food for most of the afternoon and evening (basic rice with some meat/veg/egg) and bottled water was readily available. There was even a snack bar where we could purchase chips and candy.

We slept for a few hours in the afternoon, and were woken up and instructed to move because they needed the space to store two helicopters. It was neat watching them bring the helicopters in. We had to find another spot to sleep which was a bit tougher with more people, but we moved some mats together and squeezed in. As far as I know, there were about 1200 people evacuated on the boat.

We didn’t leave Koh Tao until about 8pm, scheduled to arrive at about 7am. We headed north all along the coast, to dock somewhere a couple hours from Bangkok. They couldn’t take us to the nearer Chumpon or Surat Thani because the mainland was too flooded.

I read and slept. Around 9:30pm they turned off the main lights, and turned on these red bedtime lights. I woke up around 6:00am. Sometime during the night someone had made a PowerPoint presentation, and it was playing on the wall. Slides pointed out where the bathroom and smoking areas were, what time we could expect breakfast (6:30am), and when we should arrive (7:30am). There was even one apologising for the inconvenience and reminding everyone to “KEEP SMILING J”. In the bathroom, I saw a girl putting on makeup. Maybe to look good for the cameras?

There were14 buses heading to Bangkok/the airport. Everyone was surprisingly relaxed and orderly when it came time to get off. Outside, there were cameramen filming us as we walked out. There were some stands set up, selling Navy baseball hats (of course)! The officers on the boat waved down at us. All the Thai Navy officers were so nice. The whole time smiling and trying to be helpful. Even they were taking pictures throughout. They seemed excited to be part of the evacuation.

The bus ride seemed long. They dropped us at Khao San Road. There were some booths with water and snacks, and when we took some we had about 5 people take our picture. I’d like to know what happened to all these photos.

Overall, my evacuation experience was more an exciting adventure than a disastrous hassle. Apparently it wasn't so easy for everyone. I heard stories about people waiting all day and unable to get on the boat. We were actually pretty lucky. 

The Day our Hostel Flooded - March 27, 2011 (Koh Tao, Thailand)

At 5am, the 8 of us in our dorm room were woken up by loud, frantic banging on the door. A guy outside yelled something about getting sandbags. I was groggy and slow to wake up, and my first thought was that the other girls must’ve slept in and missed their boat. Usually when I’ve woken up in a panic it’s because I’m late for an early morning flight. My Thailand travel buddy Molly was on the lower bunk next to mine, and the first thing I clearly heard was her realization of what was going on.

 “Ohhhhh F*#$, ohhhh f*&#, the room is FLOODED! All our stuff!”

That woke me up quick. Sure enough, the floor was covered in about 4” of dirty brown water that smelled of sewage. Crap. Literally. We were all quick to spring into action and try and salvage our stuff. Someone suggested we sacrifice one of the beds to put all our backpacks, and within minutes the bags were piled on a top bunk, in case the water got really high.

Considering the circumstances, I was lucky. My most valuable stuff (passport, laptop, etc.) were in a locker high off the ground and spared any water damage. My bag wasn’t horribly hit either. The way it was positioned on the ground kept my clothes dry, although a few books were sacrificed. The entire backside (shoulder and hip straps) were completely saturated with the dirty water.

One guy in our room had his laptop packed up in his suitcase under the bed, since he was going to be leaving in the early morning. His laptop was pretty much ruined. Everyone else just had a lot of wet clothes to deal with.

Once we got all our bags off the ground, we weren’t really sure what to do. The electricity was off, and it was still dark out so there wasn’t much we could do other than wait. So we sat on the beds and waited. All the while talking about how we couldn’t believe this had actually happened. The night before while we were hanging out, we had jokingly talked about the hostel getting flooded, but none of us actually thought it would happen. Before going to bed a few of the girls brought our flip flops in from outside, and that saved them from getting washed away. I found mine floating in the lobby.

Before the flood, we’d already gotten tons of rain. Our hostel was on a side street jutting off the main road, and had been a giant puddle for the past few days. The door to the hostel was a few feet off the ground though, so we figured even with all the rain we’d be ok. However, the main road was extremely flooded, and sandbags were set up blocking off our street from the main road. Sometime between 3am and 5am, the sandbags broke and our street became a river. I have an idea on the time because one of the girls had woken up at 3am to use the bathroom, and our room was fine.

As the sun came up, the water levels were also slowly receding, even though it was still raining. Soon there were just muddy puddles all over the floor. Everyone went outside on the steps to get some photos, since the water outside was still about a foot deep. The Thai man working at the hostel was great. He answered our questions as best he could, set to work mopping up the water. Six of us had been planning on catching a ferry off Koh Tao that day, and he called around to see if any boats were still running as scheduled. None were. So our next step was finding another place to stay, this time on higher ground.

Molly and I opted to leave our bags behind as we hunted for another place. We waded out in the water, our flip flops sticking in the mud. The small pedestrian/motorbike road running parallel to the main road at the opposite end of our street was actually ok for walking. Along the way, we came across an entire section that had been washed away. There was just a narrow concrete beam on either side of where the road had been, and a pile of paving stones underneath.  In the water, fishermen were trying to salvage boats that were almost completely sunk.

We did find another place, a really nice diving resort that was twice the price of what we were paying at the hostel. It was on higher ground though, and keeping dry was our main concern! We had to walk all the way back, and this time we tried the main road. For entire 10ft sections there were just massive deep puddles. Some people were trying to motorbike through them, and it didn’t look like much fun.

Once we got settled in at our new place, the clean up began. Molly and I completely emptied our bags out on the balcony, and sorted through the damage. We washed everything in the shower. First up was a thorough scrub of the back packs (to give them ample time to dry) and then our clothes. By the time everything was cleaned and we’d had showers, it was already about 1:30pm. We’d been up for over 8 hours, and hadn’t stopped to eat. That was a really long day.

Final Thoughts on India – March 9, 2011

-          India is not as difficult, scary or intimidating to travel as I expected, and this was a very pleasant surprise. There are a lot of people who travel India solo, and the majority I met were women. That might have been because all the women solo travelers just sort of naturally find each other.

-           It is a beautiful country with so much variety and so much to see and experience. I’m so happy I got to spend some time in the North and South, just to get a taste for both.

-          The noise and crowds weren’t as hard to get used to as I expected. Even all the honking and crazy driving seemed normal.

-          I found that being stared at on a regular basis was a bit overwhelming and towards the end rather tiresome, but all the Indian people I met were generally just curious and very friendly, kind and helpful.

-          I will not miss all the men chewing tobacco and spitting/hoarking it everywhere. It was never ending and I never could get over how disgusting I thought it was.

-          With the wide variety of animals on the roads, from dogs to cows to goats, I’m amazed there isn’t more poo everywhere. I’m not sure where it goes, or if it just disappears under the garbage.

-          I don’t know what the actual numbers are, but it felt like there were WAY more men than women everywhere. Like 3:1 as opposed to 1:1. I don’t know if it’s just because the men are more out in the public than the women, but it was definitely noticeable. 

The Mystical Allure of Aladdin Pants

They go by many names. Ali Baba, Aladdin, Harlem and even Drop-Crotch. There’s something about these loose, baggy pants that seems to draw travellers in India to them like magnets. It seems everyone, both girls and guys, abandon their normal clothes in favour of Ali Baba pants and transform their style during their time in India. The shopkeepers understand this mystery and stock a ready supply of one size fits all pants in a variety of colours, prints and textures. It’s a phenomenon I saw all across India as I travelled, from the north down to the south.

Now, I definitely understand the appeal of these pants from a comfort perspective. India is hot, especially in the south. Loose baggy cotton pants are definitely a way to stay cool and comfortable.  India also generally seems to attract a different type of traveller, and plenty of hippies. I just never understood the universal appeal that made them THE must have item for surviving India.

I saw many people succumb to the trend over my couple months in India. Walking through the markets the shops brimmed with these pants, and the shopkeepers would call out “Ali Baba pants! I give you good price!” They saw me walking around in my plain black capris, and assumed I was an easy target, ready to part with my cash for a pair of these magical pants.

In the end I never did buy a pair. I ignored the pleas from the shopkeepers and the underlying pressure to fit in with all the other trendy travellers. This was just one trend I didn’t see myself fitting into, not in India or at home.

Visit to the Dharavi Slum, Mumbai – March 8, 2011

During my final full day in India, I took a tour of the Dharavi Slum in Mumbai, the largest slum in Asia. More than 1 million people live there. I was been a bit hesitant to do a slum tour, after doing the township tour in Namibia. Mieke really wanted to check it out though, and I’m so happy that I went with her. It was such an interesting experience.

According to Lonely Planet, approximately 60% of Mumbai’s population live in slums, the largest being Dharavi. It really is a city-within-a-city. There is an entire economy that is flourishing. Numerous businesses export their wares, and the turnover from business is estimated to be US$650 million.

We met our guide in the morning, and took the train to the slum. We got to travel in the women’s compartment, a much more relaxed experienced compared to the more crowded men’s compartments.

Walking towards the slum, there were some little kids running around the street buck naked. One little boy without pants popped a squat right there on the road and pooed. Nobody walking by batted an eye. It is really sad that this just seemed normal to everyone passing by.

Where we entered the slum the word ‘WELCOME’ was painted brightly on some corrugated steel. Our guide took us through the streets, and everyone was very curious and seemed happy to see us, not at all bothered by the tourists exploring their neighbourhood. Lots of kids shouted “Hello!” at us. During the tour we got to see how a great variety of the businesses functioned. The economy really is amazing.

We saw plastic being refurbished and transformed into pellets to be used in the manufacture of toys, cardboard boxes being recycled and repaired, oil cans being recycled and a bakery churning out pasteries. I bought some of the plain pastries from this bakery that was tucked just below street level, and we could see the men working. Mieke was the only one who would try one. The other three in our group seemed freaked out at the prospect of eating one. Two of them had just arrived in India though, so I understand their squeamishness at sampling street food. However, some of the best food I ate in India was from street vendors, selling it for a fraction of what restaurants charged.

People in the slums either rent or own their homes, and they pay utility bills for electricity and water. There are public hospitals so that people have access to general healthcare, although more expensive medications and procedures aren’t covered. There are fire trucks and ambulances, though how they get through the crowded streets I have no idea. There are schools, some free or subsidized by the government. The government has also been involved in redevelopment, some high rise apartments with peeling paint the result.

Hindus, Muslims and Christians all live together in the slum. Temples and mosques and churches, all within close proximity to each other, with everyone seeming to get along.

We walked through some really dark narrow side streets, with low overhangs jutting out from the buildings, and it was like being in a maze. We came across a wedding celebration in full swing, all these women in brightly coloured saris, covered in jewels, singing and dancing in a circle. They seemed so happy and joyful, dressed up in the middle of a crowded, dirty road on a hot day. I was lucky to witness their celebration.


For more information on the slum, this is the website of the company that toured us though:
http://realitytoursandtravel.com/