Indonesia #2 – Uluwatu

Bali is shaped like a mutated fish. The southern bit (Uluwatu) looks like said fish made a poop, or has a funny fin flopping around down there, depending on your philosophical standpoint.

I rented a scooter for the morning and did a lovely self-guided tour of the floppy fin. This included a visit to a kiff cliff where monkeys like to hang out. In fact, the whole Uluwatu coastline is cliff territory. You need at least two legs that are both in good working order to get around on foot!

I visited three popular/highly-reviewed beaches, which involved having to descend at least 5,000 kilometers down steep stony steps. I was so happy to have the pair of goggles (mask) that I found on the ocean floor during my one scuba dive off Phi Phi Island in Thailand, as well as the second-hand snorkel that I bought for about R10.

There is ALWAYS so much to see in the shallows if you take the time to look. A highlight was discovering a Trigger Fish nursery. There was one big bugger guarding a large coral that had lots of hidey holes, which were full of babies! I also sighted many Butterfly Fish, Emperor Angel Fish, Moorish Idols, many colourful Wrasse, and Christmas Tree Worms. It’s a shame that those wallowing on the surface didn’t know what was right beneath their tanned butts.

The Balinese love an opportunity to get some Rupiah for absolutely anything. A little makeshift roof and hammock is set up in the middle of the road 200 meters from the one beach. I scooted past the first time and heard a “hey!” but thought nothing of it. The second time around, the guy was more awake and charging people 50,000 Rupiah to go through. I parked my bike nearby and simply walked the rest of the way to Uluwatu Beach.

Another public beach had two local chaps chilling by the entrance with a massive piggy bank box. “Hallo my man! We accept donations of any kind here.” I added a couple of smallish notes and said, “I hope this supports keeping the beach clean?” To be fair, I have been impressed by how trash-free this part of Bali is.

However, this is not high-tech land. There are few streetlights compared to Thailand, or the Vegas-looking signs in Vietnam. If you are on foot at night, then a phone torch is your anti-get-hit-by-a-scooter defense. It’s also clever to flash it backwards with a simple wrist movement when walking down a dark road and hearing someone coming from behind.

I just have to mention the ongoing construction work again. After my long bike ride, I would estimate that 30-40% of Uluwatu is still being constructed, with cranes, trucks, jack hammers, and human labour working around the clock. I considered that most of these projects probably went on hold during the Covid times. I passed a wedding venue at one point after riding through the rubble. I’m sure that might get used fairly often.

Uluwatu is also an area that is marketed to surfers. There are boards for hire everywhere, as well as signs made from retired surfboards. The names of many things are also surfer-related. The family-run home stay that I was staying at was even called a “Surf Camp”, but there are also loads of actual surfers, so all that marketing makes sense.

It’s really fun travelling without much of a plan, but I need to contemplate my next move. I wanted to extend my stay at the surf camp, but they are already fully booked, so I’m going to slum it for two nights at another nearby homestay that has a 6 out of 10 rating on Booking dot com. This gets labelled as “passable”. The negative reviewers complain about ants and chickens, while others say that it was an amazing experience. It’s only for two nights and balls-cheap, so why not give it a go!

What could possibly go wrong…?

Next: Indonesia #3 – Surfer’s Wet Dream

Previously: Indonesia #1 – Back to Bali