Where do I plan to visit?

Where do I plan to visit?

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

30 Days in Indo

Last day of April and I've been in Bali for one month now. Good first month! My second day here my buddy Nick text me saying he missed me and booked a flight straight to Indo. Fuck yeah! On my third day we hired a surf guide and this local guy Andy showed Nick and I some of the coolest surf breaks here! Have you ever paddled 200 yards straight before reaching the reef break (30min of swimming against the current)? Oh my God. It was the longest paddle ever but well worth it once we arrived. Four guys sharing the most perfect breaking wave! Spot was called Sugiani, located on Turtle Island.

Next we were told about this small beach town just outside Bali called Uluwatu. My second week we hired a driver who drove us one hour outside Bali and dropped us at Bingin Beach. Lots of surf breaks here but we picked Bingin and it was a good choice. Streets in Uluwatu are only wide enough for 1 car or 2 motor bikes and all the streets hang with banana leaves. You feel like you're in a jungle, probably because you are. Streets are pretty empty too, it's all country here and when you see another driver on the road they typically look like my photo below. Boardshorts + 1 surfboard strapped to your bike. I've been back 3 times now. Too much fun!





Bingin...it's like this magical place where you completely check out from reality. You arrive and think you've simply stumbled upon some local village. You continue and walk through this village where you'll notice many women knitting fabric or cooking fish or balancing large items on their head. You continue through this village maze until you reach this cliff with steps leading down the mountain. Tall banana leaves are everywhere and obstruct your view of the ocean but you gotta keep going. It's not a short walk but once you get closer to the bottom you find these small cottages built into the mountain. And directly in front of you is the most perfect reef break with maybe 8 guys sharing it. You can't help but smile. I paid $15 USD per night while I was here. NYOMAN & NYOMAN is the best resort here! The food costs about $3 per meal, all the rooms have ocean views, no hot water but each room comes with a very nice fan! Yes, $15 per night for an ocean view like the one above. I almost didn't share and was going to keep this one to myself but decided against that. Bingin is epic!

Back in Bali I'm currently renting a place for $500 USD per month, renting a motorbike for $60 USD per month, and I've been eating lunch and dinner at these local restaurants where I pay a low of $1.50 or high of $4 USD. Counting my housing, motorbike, and food expenses I'm living on $25 per day. Quite proud of that compared to what I was spending in Sydney or San Francisco. And the biggest bonus here is Bali fucking rocks! Beers for $1.50 and the night life blows away anything you've seen before! The Indonesian people surf all day and party all night! Biggest concern is me having to leave in 90 days. Why would anyone leave?

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Surf Trip in Byron Bay

Quit my job and had 9 days left before I head to Bali. Where do you go? I wanted sunshine, surf, fun beach bars, and accommodations at $30 per night. One ticket to Byron Bay! If your from Australia you know about Byron but if your not then here's what a typical week looks like in this hippy beach town.

Arrived on Saturday at Aquarius Backpackers. My hostel had 16 rooms, each room is double-level and sleeps 10 per room. I claim a bed, put on board shorts, and begin screwing my fins into my board. I'm greeted by 3 girls traveling together who want to go surfing too but they have job interviews today at a local pub and can't go. I walk out the door and 5 minutes later I'm on the beach! The sun is blazing, the waves are pumping, and the beach is scattered with a mix of surfers, stoned hippies, and travelers from all over the world. It's exactly what I wanted! I paddle out and spend the next 3 hours taking wave after wave until I'm completely surfed out and starving for a burger.



Walking back to Aquarius I run into the girls from my hostel. They got the job at Cocomangas! The girls give me a few cookies and I promise to meet them at Cocomangas later. Back at my hostel I grab a beer and a burger and meet a guy named Rafael traveling from Brazil. The bar in my hostel is sweet! Yes a bit over the top and later I learned it use to be ranked the #1 bar in Byron with all day $3.80 beers! Slowly the bar fills up and moves into an aggressive bar crawl through town. And yes we always ended our night at Cocomangas!

Wake up at 7:30am with a pounding headache. Eat a banana, chug some water, grab my surfboard and run to Rafael's room. This guy is so hungover all he can do is give me a fist pound and mumble the words 'I met a girl. She was crème de la crème.' I laugh at him and he goes back to sleep. Day 2 is very similar to Day 1 with an earlier start time. Here is what Day 2 all the following days looked like:

8am Morning Surf
11am Nap on Beach
12pm Chicken Burger or Burrito lunch
2pm Beer in hostel bar/meet new people
3pm Afternoon surf with Rafael and Jenny
5pm Swap stories on the beach about why we left home
7pm Beer in hostel bar/meet new people
9pm-3am Bar crawl, dancing, karaoke, pizza, etc.
(wake up, rinse & repeat...)

My buddy Nick showed up on Day 3 which meant things escalated even further. Nick quit his job the same week as me and this was our week to party, surf, and escape reality. By the end of the week our surfing group expanded to: Nick, David, Rafael, Jenny, and myself! Solid group! We did nothing but surf, eat, and party at Cocomangas! If you ever go to Byron please take my advice and stay at Aquarius Backpackers, you'll have the best week of your life!