Scribbles Abroad

After Shaun departed we headed straight for Bingin. I hired a car and we packed up our gear. The driver didn’t want to put the boards on the roof because it makes you a red flag for the cops to pull you over for a bribe so we stuffed all the gear in a mini kijang. Louise sat shotgun and I tailed them on my Harley, ……….ok……moped.

The entire area of the Uluwatu peninsula is called the bukit (hill) but Louise likes to call it the chicken foot. If you look at a map of Bali it looks like a chicken dropping a deuce. Bingin is on the bukit and the road ends at the top with a good trek required to get down to the beach. With all our bags we figured it would take us two trips but a lovely lady offered to take our boards down for a small fee.
(click on the 3rd pic and check out the kid with the bucket on his head, he’s like “holy shit mama!”)

We decided to stay at Susies Warung and we believe we made a very wise decision. We scored the corner room. It had a large queen size bed with a mozzie net, fan, and a sitting deck outside overlooking Bingin, Impossibles, and Dreamland. The place was quite idealique, it was exactly what we were looking for. The Bingin set up is a group of decently priced places to stay right on the beach. They range from $2-$30 USD. $2 being sleeping outside on a cot and $30 being an AC room with your own western toilet.

My buddy Younez (Mohammed) was staying two Warungs over and we got to surf, chill, and talk story a bunch until he left. We went to Uluwatu, surfed Impossibles and Bingin, reminisced about our surf trip in Morocco and how its gonna be great when Louise and I make it there next year. Younez also became our newest addition to the shakeface society.

We fell in love with veggie noodle soup made by Made (Mah-day), actually had homemade noodle soup this morning made by Louise. Susies Warung is owned by Susie but we were taken care of by Made and Wayan. They cooked most of our meals and gave me massages. Those little caring hands make all the difference. I wish I had a pic of it, but on our way out, Made actually put my huge bag on her head and carried it up the fricken stairs! There is no OSHA out here so these stairs are not standardized. They are a haphazard collection of cobblestones and cement that result in an exhausting journey up or down. Now add the fact that Made is a bit vertically challenged and with a bag on her head. She pulled it off no problem, and Wayan had a surfboard bag on her head. The women were legends and I hope that some of you get the chance to meet them someday. We payed 70,000 rp a night for the room which comes to about $8.00 USD a night. But the beer was a bit pricey and if you know me you can imagine that my nightly bill on beer exceeded the room cost. I can understand why the beer is expensive, they have to carry it all the way down there and then take the bottles back up.

At Susies Warung we made great friends with a French guy named Roman, a cali-bro named Tyler, and a NY gangsta named Jazz. Good cats they were, Tyler crashed his moped bad (gotta look both ways twice here) and his boys took care of him. Tylers ok and hopefully will be back in the water soon.
The surf out front was great. Bingin has to be one of the most machine-like waves I’ve surfed. It’s a left that breaks in 2-3 feet of water and as long as you hold on you will be alright, but you have to pull off at the end or you ride up on dry reef. We wore booties because once the wave was over you were usually standing in 1 ft. of water.

Impossibles was the other spot we surfed and it is aptly named because it is almost impossible to ride a wave all the way through before it eventually closes out on you. It’s a long left that reels for 400 yards and you’re lucky if you get one that goes 50 before closing. On the peak of the swell, Louise and I paddled out our 6’6”s and got some amazing waves. We got some that went all the way through. From Padang Padang beach all the way to the end. Seriously exhausting but so exhilarating because you are pumping for most of the way to avoid being closed out. That session was definitely the best one I had out on the Bukit.

The sunsets were beautiful and would draw people out to the beach for the dramatic event with a cold Bintang in their hands.

One sunset evening we indulged and decided to partake in the Snapper dinner. For $8 USD we got a whole snapper along with rice and veggies served to us on the beach. The high tide came in towards the end and the waves began going under the table. A guy on the table next to us (there were only three tables) lost a slipper for a bit when a wave caught him by surprise. The fish was great, the ambiance was superb, and the wine? The wine was delicious (just joke, no wine here).

Two times while in Bingin we were awaken by monkeys. The monkeys inhabit the Uluwatu cliffs and come down into Bingin every once in a while. They steal stuff and eat up the gardens. They’re kind of pests but they were definetly entertaining.

While we were in Bingin, the surf got pretty small, but we knew that on the other side of the island that the surf was pumping. A friend we met named John offered to show us the way to Keramas. This infamous wave is in all the new surf videos because it has a nice makeable barrel that then opens up to a super rippable face and then ends with a launch pad for an air if you can do that kind of stuff. John met us at Circle K by Dreamland and told us to follow him. He was on a Tiger (a fast motorcycle), we were on an automatic moped with two people and two boards. I admit that I kind of drive fast in Hawaii and that sometimes when people try to follow me they get a little miffed even though in my mind I’m driving slower for them. I guess I got a taste of my own medicine this time. We were trying to keep up with John but it wasn’t easy. My moped was maxed out at 105km while he was driving with one hand and his board under the other. Granted he lives here and knows how to drive Bali style.
We made it to Keramas without incident and scored the best waves we’ve gotten all trip. I’m sorry there are no pics but we were too busy surfing. I got some cavernous barrels (my friend Barret would call them life-changers) and Louise scored some great rides as well. We made friends with a local named Holly who was also the head of da Hui in Bali. Nice fellow, bugger ripped.

I was saying earlier in the month that I had never gotten vana (sea urchins) in my foot and of course, this day I got a bunch. The balinese guys get most of the waves and if you are lucky you get the leftovers. Luckily I look kinda balinese, so all the other tourists were confused and took me as one of the Balinese. But the balinese weren’t fooled. On one that a balinese guy missed, I turned and went, but then another balinese guy turned down the line and went as well. As I was in the barrel I saw him drop in and crumble my barrel. I was sent to the bottom and onto the reef. My foot hit and I came up with 5 spines and a good slice in my big toe. I wasn’t pissed.

When you think about it, in Hawaii, at our good spots only the locals get waves and the tourists get a few, but at least the tourists know etiquite and how to surf. Here in Bali its kind of a free for all. The tourists feel entitled because they’ve paid so much to get here, or they don’t know better, and therefore can be quite rude in the water. In Hawaii if a tourist acted like a tourist out in the water here, that individual would get a rude awakening. The balinese have to deal with a ton of tourists. You’ll have a great surf spot with 15 tourists and one local. The locals should get the waves they want and they deserve respect. Respect begets respect.
The urchin spines are a bitch to get out and when I came to the beach, one of the locals working at the Warung was fired up to help me out. The guy picked at my toe for a long time and got one out but was struggling on the others while Louise and John were giving me the look like, “hey this guy is butchering your toe!”

I eventually convinced him to let me do it since I knew my own pain tolerance. After some more digging I got 3 of the 5 out and saved the last two for the next day. We went back out and surfed with a couple of Haolewaiians from Maui. Two of them were the same blokes on our flight here. It was good to see them. They told us about another spot a few km’s south so we went to check it out. They told us that we’d know we were there when we saw the statue of a guy surfing a turtle.

The swell wasn’t hitting the spot but we did see this funny guy buried in the sand. The sight was hilarious. We were perplexed, why is this guy buried like that, but just yesterday we saw three other guys buried in the sand the same way. We figure they do it to keep cool since it’s so fricken hot out here.

The next day my toe was in pain and I had to get the last two out. With surgical tweezers, some picking, and Louises help we got the last guy out. I think. Urchin spines have been known to be lodged deep inside and then come to the surface months later when the body excretes the spine itself. I’ll keep you updated.

We departed Bingin after one full week and headed to meet up with my parents. They had always dreamed of coming to Bali and were actually headed here for their honeymoon. My mom was working for United so they were on standby. The flight was full to Bali so they found themselves instead headed for Reno. Talk about polar opposites. With Louise and my decision to go to Bali this was their chance to finally make it here.