Saturday, September 10, 2016
Bali, Indonesia
23 August ~ 29 August 2016
This Bali trip is the 3rd time in 3 consecutive years that I visited the paradise island of Indonesia. The draw has always been the alluring village route of the Bali Marathon and the lively and authentic atmosphere created by the Balinese.
After a good Bali Trip last year in 2015, the concert-going group had planned for a return for an encore run in 2016. But things did not go the most ideal way – one by one they dropped out of the trip, and it was just WL and I that eventually made the trip.
A ‘boot-camp’ as what WL described, this trip’s main highlights were physically-demanding activities like a hike up the tallest mountain in Bali, as well as the marathon itself. But looking deeper into these strenuous activities, we are really cultivating our own minds – how we tackled challenges and overcame pain, and then emerged from them with a smile.
Day 1 - Canggu
On Day 1, we reached Bali in the afternoon and were driven up to Canggu, a relatively quiet area outside the bustle of Denpasar and away from the surfers of Kuta and Seminyak. We checked into a nice villa with a private pool (The Canggu Boutique Villas and Spa), and had really tasty local food at a nearby, unsuspecting random food stall. After the quick late lunch, we finally got our hands onto our own Data SIM cards (so we could also play Pokemon Go with), and we were taxi-ed for Rp 200k to Tanah Lot.
Tanah Lot is an interesting Hindu temple that sits on a large rock that is only accessible during low tides, at a short distance from the coastline. I’ve heard about the stunning sunsets here and so suggested visiting this place. When we reached Tanah Lot, we were not only greeted by quite a large crowd, but also a setting sun that is slowly residing into some clouds just above the horizon. We quickly snapped photos on the beach, carefully not stepping into the deep potholes that are everywhere. The waves around Tanah Lot must have been quite strong to create such dramatic potholes drilling into the rocky beach. It’s interesting how some fish had been trapped inside these deep potholes, only to be freed when the next high tide comes. We did not actually tour Tanah Lot as the sky was turning dark.
We hailed a private car to Seminyak Square for Rp 200k at around 7pm. Getting a taxi (or Grab) here was pretty hard, and I guess we had no choice but to pay this amount to get into and out of Tanah Lot. Along a small road near Seminyak Square, we randomly passed by a Mexican bar restaurant (Motel Mexicola) and were very attracted to the lively atmosphere inside. There was quite a queue here, and it would be pretty hard to get yourselves seats if you hadn’t reserved beforehand. We did have to wait for quite a while at the seats outside. But once you’ve gotten seats inside, you’d be electrified by the DJ’s music, the spontaneously dancing angmohs near the stage and the very bubbly bar crew. Do visit if you happen to be near Seminyak Square!
Day 2 - Seminyak/ Canggu/ Mount Agung
Day 2’s breakfast was served in the room of the Canggu villa. We took the free transfer provided by the villa to Seminyak Square. We are not the shopper type of tourists, so we ended up at the Seminyak beach after a while. The weather was fine and sunny, and I really loved the coastline with not many ships like Singapore’s. Waves were strong here and there were surfers practising. We spent some time cam-whoring and walking along the coast towards Kuta direction.
We exited at around Legian beach and headed for lunch at a random restaurant that served pretty tasty Indonesian food. To prepare ourselves for the impending Mount Agung hike at night, we headed for a 2-hour spa session near the area, to get our muscles loosened. We tried to hire a GrabCar back to Canggu, but it wasn’t easy, considering that the area was still largely controlled by the taxi community and there was quite a jam in the late afternoon. We eventually got a GrabCar, and it was really cheap! The trip from Legian area to Canngu cost just about S$4.50. Taking a taxi would easily be twice that!
We took a nap at the villa and had late dinner at The Butcher, the restaurant at our villa. We were picked up at 10pm to the starting point of Mount Agung, where we finally began our hike at around 1am from the Pasar Agung Temple. We had opted for the Summit hike.
Day 3 - Mount Agung / Canggu
The night sky was dazzling. It was clear and so it was filled with stars. WL even saw a shooting star. Our guide, Botak, said that the weather up at the mountain was dynamic, but the lack of clouds meant that a good sunrise would await us!
The hike that started from Pasar Agung Temple basically consisted of 2 main terrains: the vegetated area with soil at the lower half of the mountain, as well as the non-vegetated area with rocks and gravel. The hike was generally steep for both terrains, and the hiking pole was quite an essential support. At the vegetated half of the trek, it was pretty humid and we had broken out into perspiration. We were advised not to wear too many layers at this stage, as it’s wiser to keep ourselves dryer to protect us against the cold winds at the top. After what seemed like an hour, we reached the rocky part of the mountain.
We’ve reached a high-enough level to admire the night view of surrounding Bali. After another short rest, we embarked on the more challenging half of the hike, where at times we had to rely on all fours to climb up the boulders. During this part of the hike, it did feel like I was climbing up a rock wall, though of course it wasn’t a fully vertical one.
We reached a diversion point at 2400m where we had to make a decision – whether to push on for the summit climb (roughly another 700m in altitude) or to head to the crater view (roughly another 500m in altitude). We were encouraged to go for the crater view for practical reasons: firstly, to ensure that we could still reach there in time for the sunrise; and secondly, it would be slightly less taxing due to the shorter route up. We chose the crater view, though I was a little disappointed that we couldn’t reach the top, but being able to see the sunrise would still be a good achievement.
As we continued to ascend upwards, the cold winds blew. The rocky terrain was steep at times and it certainly would be challenging for some people. Personally, I felt that it was still doable, but I began to experience shortness of breath.
At about 30 minutes to the crater view, I couldn’t take it. I signaled my discomfort and told the guide that I ‘couldn’t breathe’. At this point, I was breathing, of course, but I felt there was just not enough air inside my cold lungs. The more deep breaths I took in, the colder my lungs were, and the more I felt I might die of suffocation. I was fully conscious, but I was scared shit. I told myself that I had to regulate my breathing no matter what, and not to succumb to a panic attack and hyperventilate. I attempted to cup my hands over my nose to breathe, so as to minimize the cold air transfer, hoping to make myself feel more comfortable inside. It took me 5-10 minutes there to slowly acclimatize to the surroundings, before I told the guide that I could continue slowly.
It was another 15 minutes before the panting sensation came back. I started to worry again, as I tried to calm my mind and regulate my own breathing. It was a very scary feeling, with very morbid thoughts running through my head – I even imagined myself being carried down the volcano. It was another 5-10 minutes of inactivity before I regained some strength. The guide told me that it was just another 10 minutes to the crater view. He told me to consider if I wanted to continue upwards, and he recounted a previous experience with a hiker who fainted. I told him I am conscious, just very cold inside. For the final 10 minutes, he was holding on to my hand and guiding me up to the top. I was relieved to finally reached there, but I was still in discomfort.
I sat down on a rock. It was fine for the first 5 minutes. But soon after, altitude sickness struck again. I told WL that I was ‘not ok’. I continued to regulate breathing, but my heart was also beating hard, as I felt worried about perishing up there. The other guides around brought me hot coffee and tea, which were thankfully a godsend, as I regained some warmth. I realized I was shivering. WL was trying her best to help me with my breathing, by counting. Some cups of coffee after, the shivers stopped, the panting subsided, and I was finally able to take in the spectacular sunrise that was before me.
I was really relieved to be able to recover from the scary ordeal. I hadn’t recovered my appetite at the top, but I was happy enough to have ‘survived’ those symptoms. But the hike was only halfway done – there was still the coming down to brace myself for.
The altitude sickness didn’t strike again during the descend, probably because I’d sufficiently hydrated myself by then, or because the sun was up and it wasn’t that cold anymore, or because I had rested enough. Nevertheless, it wasn’t easy as the pressure began to work on the knees and the hiking poles were heavily relied on to break the impact. We took quite some time descending as we were quite beat from the climb, and were only back at Pasar Agung Temple close to 11am.
You can imagine us both exhausted and sleeping on the car ride back to Canggu.
Back inside our room, we dipped ourselves in the plunge pool. Having a personal pool inside your own room is really luxurious and convenient, but we didn’t really utilize it as much as we had thought.
After a late dim-sum lunch and a short nap in the room, we went for a really good in-house massage at the villa. Among the 3 massages that we eventually had during this trip, this one at Canggu was the best. During the 90-minute session, the masseurs pressed on the right points from the back, the shoulders to the calves and thighs. It gave us a really good treatment after a challenging hike, and we were very thankful for that.
A nice dinner near the villa completed our day 3, and we headed back for a good sleep.
Day 4 - Nusa Dua / Jimbaran Bay
We had breakfast in the room again, before checking out and transferring to our next accommodation at Nusa Dua. Along the way to Nusa Dua, we requested for the driver to bring us to a place to eat Babi Guling, the local suckling pig delicacy. The serving was huge and we were really full from that meal.
The Balé Villa and Spa is our most luxurious stay to date, at S$456 per night. It’s a really huge villa for 2, including a large lap pool and dedicated butler services. Given that we would only spend less than 22 hours inside this perfect place to stay, we wasted no time in enjoying the space, before heading out to Jimbaran Bay for sunset.
At Jimbaran, we headed to the Rock Bar, located inside Ayana Resort. Rock Bar is probably highly recommended and mentioned in social media, hence attracting long queues just before sunset. We waited for quite a while before getting ourselves a small table. The sunset wasn’t as spectacular on the day we went, due to layers of clouds just above the horizon. We probably had caught the best moments even before landing ourselves the table.
Dinner was at a beachside seafood restaurant, a short distance away. We dined under the stars, with good food, a roaming live band, random fireworks, sounds of waves, candlelight, and locally produced white wine. It was one good dinner that we would remember.
Day 5 - Race Pack Collection / Ubud
Breakfast was served at the outdoor area by the pool inside the villa. It was an ala carte menu, so we could order as much as we could eat. We couldn’t extend our check-out time due to another booking after us, so we could only make use of whatever time we had left before noon, to dip in the inviting pool once again.
The villa owns a small part of nearby Geger Beach, reserved exclusively for its guests. We headed there for half an hour of cam-whoring fun, before leaving this perfect luxurious accommodation.
After leaving The Balé, we headed first to collect our Bali Marathon Race pack, which was the main reason why we decided to spend time at Nusa Dua in the first place. Long queues were formed and we made the wrong decision to queue at the Group Collection line, instead of the Individual Collection line, which was served by more counters.
After a late lunch, we reached our next accommodation at Ubud in the evening. One thing about Bali’s traffic jams is that there wasn’t road planning with foresight. Some of the main road arteries, on which cars use to travel to and fro the main city area, airport and the main touristy towns, are just one-lane roads. That is why a seemingly short distance can take a really long time.
At Ubud, we stayed at Desak Putu Putera Hidden Home Stay, a quaint little place surrounded by other homes, at just a 15-minute walk from the main street in Ubud. We headed out for a late dinner and went back to prepare for the next day. We would only have less than 3 hours of sleep before having to wake up for the morning shuttle bus to the start point of the Bali Marathon.
Day 6 - Bali Marathon / Ubud
The Maybank Bali Marathon 2016 was the main reason why this trip took place. It was supposed to be an encore run for the concert group, but eventually ended with 4 of them having work commitments. Having not trained to the desired level prior to this run, I wasn’t expecting to do anything close to a PB timing, but I had hoped not to have a repeat of what happened last year – a bad stomachache.
I was careful of what I ate the night before, as well as the morning of the run. Nothing out of the extraordinary, I thought. I was, however, a little nervous about the run, as with all marathon runs that I’d taken part in. It must be the pre-race jitters.
My marathon race flagged off as planned at 5am, together with thousands of locals and runners from around the region. My pace was comfortable, the route was spacious as usual, and the atmosphere was great.
I did the first 10km within an hour, which was desired. At around 12km, the day broke and I was looking forward to seeing the sunrise. Between 14km and 15km, the sun was slowly rising. I took a couple of photos of the sun coming up from padi fields or beside a mountain, enjoying this what-could-be my last Bali Marathon. I took videos of the lovely kids who lined up at both sides of the road to cheer us on and to give us encouraging hi-fives. Everything was just perfect.
I reached the 20km mark in 2 hours. This was still a good pace and the same strategy that I had become used to. But the pace was slightly slower for the next hour, which was expected for me.
And then, it happened again. My stomach started to feel funny.
I barely crossed the 30km mark at about 3 hours 5 mins, and I had to make a dash to a petrol station toilet. I spent some 10 minutes squatting in the toilet, but the pain didn’t get relieved much. It was the exact same feeling as last year again, but now that I was watching what I ate and drink, I couldn’t understand what the cause was.
From about 34km onwards to the end of the marathon, I was mostly walking. The pain in my stomach was alternating between somewhat bearable, to unbearable. During unbearable times, it was impossible to even run and pound, and I would be strolling along the route. During somewhat bearable times, I could still manage short 100m jogs, before having to walk again. I made a second trip to another toilet at a convenience store, but the 10-minute squat didn’t help much again.
The hours got hotter and hotter, and I had also been drinking quite a lot of Pocari Sweat by now. I finally completed the race in 5:06:35 -- definitely not a decent timing, but was glad to have completed it nevertheless! The fact that I managed to still complete the first 30km in about 3 hours, was in itself quite a happy thing. I guess I can still look forward to pushing my PB timing in the coming races to come.
Back at Ubud in the afternoon, we headed for a relaxing 5-hour spa package at Putri Bali Spa. The package price was only at about S$70 per person, which included massage, scrub, flower bath, head/hair, facial, manicure and pedicure.
After yet another decent dinner at Ubud, we walked back to the homestay and had a good sleep after a really long day.
Day 7 - Heading home
It’s the final day of the trip. Breakfast was served at the small table outside our room. I could squeeze in a short half-hour dip at the common pool of the homestay. The pool was decent, but was a little smaller than the private one we had at our The Balé villa.
We checked out and the driver brought us to a nearby coffee plantation, where we tried out some 10 kinds of different flavoured coffee and tea, as well as the expensive Kopi Luwak. The trip ended with a stopover lunch at Kuta area, before we did the flight check-ins.
It was a great trip, I must say. Looking back, we really didn't do much touristy stuff or visited the main Bali attractions that other visitors would have. But we had our great doses of fun and memories, and the other mainstream tourist activities can probably wait for another time. It's the 3rd trip that WL and I did together in a year, and we'd definitely be looking forward to more trips in the future.
人生是黑白的.
11:33 PM <3
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