rainy reality
despite the fact that the rainy season is supposed to start in november, i've been incredibly lucky during the last month in indonesia. being essentially nothing more than a beach, kuta isn't great when it rains like today, but as i'm just relaxing i'm not bothered by the newly arrived monsoon. it drove me indoors to watch the cricket though: damn pakistan bastards.
as this is the last week when i'm going to be relatively affluent, i splashed out on a massage on the beach. $3 of heaven: none of this deep tissue madness that i've been used to, this was two old dears (the other one was bored so joined in for an extra dollar) rubbing my feet and shoulders, and generally doing no real good other than driving me to intense relaxation. bliss.
veni, vidi, bungy
i've been at nearly 5000m in the himalaya and looked down the precipices of various volcanoes without any vertiginous difficulties, but a 50m platform feels like the summit of everest when you're about to jump off it. i had actually been quite relaxed about the whole bungy jumping affair: all you need is a bit of elastic and an understanding of schoolboy physics (hooke's law is it?), and you should be good to go. still, looking down at the shimmering pool beneath me, i had my concerns.
i'm not one to hang about, and when my countdown got to 1 i jumped. it's a real rush: the first few seconds you are in absolute freefall, and as the ground hurtled towards me alarmingly quickly i began to think that this escapade might have been a fairly budget decision. then the cord kicks in and jolts you back upwards, which would be a relief if it weren't for the rip it gives your spine. it's the bouncing and swirling around afterwards that's actually the most painful, as your stomach juices get churned up to nausea inducing levels. the actual fall is an amazing sensation, a real sense of liberation from the banality of everyday, lateral, motion. when i came down i was on a real high, but i was shaking like an alzheimers patient for a good few minutes.
the second jump was a lot more enjoyable, you really appreciate the freefall without the doubts that there'd been some terrible mix up and you were about to create a bloody fresco on the floor. still got the shakes afterwards though, pure adrenaline i suppose. and that was it, bicrom does bungy. the excitement was still coursing through my veins, so i took the best cure i could think of: a cold beer and a few hours of test cricket... run an hour stuff, the perfect antidote.
so that was my bungy experience: i don't know if i'm hooked, but it's an amazing sensation and definitely worth doing at least one in your life.
ubud
the journey back west was simple enough, though inexplicably long: you can see the coast of bali from lombok, so quite how the ferry journey managed to last five hours is beyond me. i arrived in ubud in the late evening and was happy with what i saw.
ubud has long been the cultural centre of the island, and this fact immediately manifests itself in the various sculptures you see adorning the traditional red brick structures that pervade the town. temples, guesthouses, shops, all of them are bedecked with scowling gargoyles, delicate apsaras or lumbering elephants. nor are artistic laurels being rested on: the place abounds with galleries and shops from which modern craftsmen produce balinese arts and carvings, ranging from your standard tat to stuff the real collectors have come to see. all in all it's a pretty good place for a mincey soul to loiter.. or would be, bar one thing. dogs. crazed, stray dogs. indian strays are a good natured bunch, docile, unassuming, and generally avoiding human contact. here however they bark, growl, and actually scurry towards you, teeth bared, haunches raised. the locals laugh and say that people rarely actually get bitten, but i'd like to save any encounter with aggressive mutts for that final trip to hades. still, they might have rabies, but god knows what i've picked up in the last few months: if it comes to a bite off, i reckon it could be quite an even germ exchange.
gili trawangan
gili trawangan is a tiny, coral fringed, island off the north coast of lombok. it has a reputation as a bit of a party island, but in low season the numerous bars all look desolately empty, with nowhere near enough people around to fill them all. it's party to this aggravating price fixing that's prevalent in indonesia: a bottle of beer costs the same everywhere, so there are no budget options. at an obscene $2 a pint i was happy to stay right off it.
still, i had a cracking few days lazing on the beach, splashing around in the sea, watching dvds, and generally taking it easy. my limbs have stopped hurting, and all in all it was a pretty perfect place to recuperate.
