It is yet another trip of solo travelling,
and as usual I did read up, researching and reading through forums on what to
expect and what to look forward to. As my initial trip is to Ho Chi Minh to
visit their Mekong Delta where they have the floating market as well as
villages on water, however due to the ‘Anti-China Riot’ there, it is not safe
at the moment to visit Vietnam.
As impromptu as is it, I postponed my Ho
Chi Minh flight to later dates and immediately book my flight to Bali, just 1
week before departure; I have to get my itinerary planned and hotel booked.
Administrations settled, and here comes the day!
Taken on flight with farway emerging from the clouds is a volcano crater. (Iphone 5)
27th May 2014, which is also the
same day a year ago I travelled to Bali with my wife, such coincidence; I woke
up at 6 am and prepare and started making my way to airport. A long way indeed,
taking Bus 960 to Bugis for breakfast and MRT to Changi Airport where I make it
there perfectly on time.
Flying alone always feels different as I
have no one to talks to, no one to look out for or anyone to look out for me
either, and of course that is what solo travelling is all about right? Living
in my own world and expose to the vast uncertainty of explorations.
I arrived at Bali (Denspasar) around 1330hrs,
and Bali airport looks totally different now from a year ago! It has been
renovated and looks much more spacious and most importantly less rowdy as
compared to a year ago. Walking through, I activated my Data roaming but had
set to the wrong network! Just a few Facebook newsfeed refresh and Whatsapp messages
cost me $77! M1 only work with XL for a max cap of $15 for data roaming, and I
am on Indosat network (FML, bad start).
Walking out of airport towards the taxi
stand, as usual these annoying and idiotic drivers just charge sky high prices,
quoting me 120,000 rupiah ($13.33sgd) just to nearby Kuta where I going to
stay. Tried bargaining with them with my limited edition of Malay language, I
paid 100,000 rupiah ($11.11sgd) unwillingly as I know the price should not even
be more than 50,000 rupiah! My return cab fare from Kuta to airport cost 35,000
rupiah ($3.89sgd)!
Lousy start, but just make do and will
definitely make the best out of it, I arrived at my hotel Kuta Sari House in
Jln Bunisari around 1430hrs. This is a super budget hotel that cost me only about
$20sgd (after tax) per night has no room service and no cupboard but they do
have fast Wi-fi! Promptly, I unloaded my stuffs and geared up to my photography
equipment and left the hotel at 1515hrs.
Super budget hotel room with no cupboard but with surprisingly fast Wi-fi
(EF-M 18-55mm f3.5 1/80 ISO 3200)
I was walking along the streets and peeped through a few tour agencies and noted the pricing that they offered and the places
that they are going to, they are all relatively pricey and also mostly
considered as group tours. Of course having those places that I wanted to visit
in my mind, and now with the approximate ‘market price’ of such tours, I
decided to walk and venture slightly more.
Bob approach me in a confident and friendly
way while I am strolling along the streets, he gave me some offers and places
that he can bring me to, speaks politely and so we chatted. I told him just 1
place that I want to go today and what he has to offer, whether he is fetching
me there and back and is there any time limitations. I know the distance from
my hotel to there and the approximate pricing that I will have to pay if I have
to join any tour group. He offered a few places but I did not agree to him, he
quoted 250,000 rupiah ($27.78sgd) for to and fro and no time limitations, he says timing,
is up to me and he is ok with it, as long as it is not different locations,
pricing will be as follows.
Looking at him in his eyes and seeing his
reply to a few of my questions, probably I can give it a try; no promises, I
will only want to go to Tanah Lot first and if were to visit other places, we
will decide as we go along. My objective for first day is to shoot sunset at
Tanah Lot as it has 1 of the nicest sunset and dinner and back to hotel for the
next day. Along the way, Bob asked me what is my profession back in Singapore,
and I told him that I am a full time photographer and I take pictures base on
my how I feels, *hahaha I know this sounds funny but this is a gateway to my
later explorations explanations.
Upon entering Tanah Lot
(EF-M 18-55mm f6.3 1/640 ISO 100)
Tanah Lot area
(EF-M 18-55mm f10 1/320 ISO 100)
EF-M 18-55mm f10 1/400 ISO 200
Upon reaching at Tanah Lot, Bob asked me
how long do I need and he will wait for me outside, and I told him probably an
hour, he replied saying that if is an hour then will not have enough time to
visit other places, but who cares I base on my feelings when I photo shoot, I
have time as it is only the first day. I stayed in Tanah Lot for 3 hours,
strolling around taking pictures, sitting on rocks staring blankly at the
gushing waves and a huge crowds walking around aimlessly.
Candid shots of passer-bys
(EF-S 55-250mm f5.6 1/1000 ISO 200)
The aged handicraft worker
(EF-S 55-250mm f5.6 1/640 ISO 200)
Man that are passionately at work
(EF-S 55-250mm f6.3 1/60 ISO 100)
As dusk falls, I
manage to grab a location to shoot the sunset.
Tanah Lot Sunset
(EF-M 18-55mm f10, 1/640 ISO 200 Wide Angle Zoom Lens)
Satisfied with Tanah Lot, I
slowly make my way out to his motor bike, I am not worried that he will leave
without me as I have not pay him a single cent yet, he does gives an elder
brotherly feeling, the nature of taking care of others. So, I saw him and walk
over to him and he says that it is too late for other places, I replied; it is
ok Bob, let’s go for dinner, I want to try street local food. He recommended
Mutton Satay, Mutton soup and rice with Sambal Bali, deliciously spicy!
Mutton Satay with Mutton soup and Rice with Sambal Bali
(EF-M 18-55mm f3.5 1/40 ISO 3200 with software filter)
Well, he has been honest and patience
enough, I told him; dinner on me and let’s arrange for tomorrows program, his
eyes brighten up and immediately started back his confident sales talking, but
all these doesn’t work on me because I know what I wants. We had a discussion
on the plans that we are going to have and agreed on a timing, same thing no
time limitations, just more place more cost; first location tomorrow will be
Mount Batur for sunrise. His Malay is too ‘chim’ for me to understand and my
English is too ‘chim’ for him to understand, and so most of the time I speaks
Malay to him and he replies in English (what an irony).
Tired for the whole day of travelling but
yet feeling accomplished and satisfied for my itinerary fulfilled, I retired
the night at 2100hrs.
0330hrs, waking up time for 2nd
day Bali itinerary; Bob is picking me up at 0400hrs where we will proceed to a
highland for Mount Batur sunrise shoot. Mount Batur is about 32km from where I
am staying and the ride took about 1hour 30mins, as we need to go through
winding hilly villages’ road. It is getting colder as we are riding up to
higher altitude, and I am only wearing a running shorts and a singlet with
running t-shirt! Packed Milk and Snicker in my backpack for breakfast, we arrived at the
location, overlooking to the crater of Mount Batur and the valley and villages
below.
Pre-dawn high ISO test shoot (actual sky is still very dark)
(EF-M 22mm f10 10s ISO 12800)
Setting up my tripod and adjusting my camera settings to accustom to the
lightings and environment, I am shivering from the chilling cold morning wind! Thanks
to Canon Eos-M live view screen with touch shutter functions, that I do not
need to press the shutter manually, I bet the images will be blur if I do not
have the touch shutter function because my hands are trembling!
Mount Batur sunrise
(EF-M 18-55mm f14 1/200 ISO 100)
Sunrise picture with me!
(EF-M 18-55mm f3.5 1/320 ISO 100)
Camera at work (Iphone 5)
Done with morning shoot, we proceeded
downhill for breakfast where we had Mie Goreng and authentic Indonesian hot
coffee, the place has nice view but the food sucks, we were charged 120,000
rupiah ($13.33sgd) as we speaks English
and argh sucks!
Mie Goreng that doesn't taste good (Iphone 5)
Cloudy misty path
(EF-M 18-55mm f8 1/50 ISO 100)
Misty path beside Mount Batur crater.
(EF-M 18-55mm f8 1/400 ISO 200)
Next location that I am going to is Gunung
Kawi, It is a place where the President will go to meditate and relax, as the
place was ran by ‘different’ organization, so everyone there just want to get a
piece of me. I am the first person there at 0815hrs, paid entrance fee and went
in to take a look.
The staggered fields
(EF-M 18-55mm f6.3 1/125 ISO 200)
The stone stairs down
(EF-M 18-55mm f6.3 1/60 ISO 200)
The carved monuments
(EF-M 18-55mm f6.3 1/125 ISO 200)
Hidden water runway
(EF-M 18-55mm f6.3 1/100 ISO 800)
Hidden Shrine
(EF-M 18-55mm f6.3 1/100 ISO 200)
Selfie with the carved monuments
(EF-M 18-55mm f5.6 1/125 ISO 400)
Nothing very much fantastic, no harm giving it a missed,
not really worth going. Next location is Goa Gajah, which is also another place
like Gunung Kawi, everyone just wants to make business; can’t really bothered
with them, I just do and follows what I feels for.
Goa Gajah Entrance
(EF-M 18-55mm f5.6 1/320 ISO 400)
Monkey faced rocks
(EF-M 18-55mm f4.5 1/100 ISO 400)
A family of carved rocks
(EF-M 18-55mm f4 1/100 ISO 400)
Goa Gajah has 2 big basins
that many other places in Bali also have, ladies and men will shower there
early in the morning or late in the afternoon, I missed it!
Water flows down the hill thru the rock statues hands to act as shower head.
(EF-M 18-55mm f5.6 1/125 ISO 100)
After Goa Gajah is
about 1030hrs, and we discussed if we should go to Ayung River Valley or other
places, as I wanted to see the ladies working in the river as this can bring
more life story to my photo shoot. However I was deeply disappointed that they
doesn’t work there every day, and it is actually based on projects, if there is
projects, they work, if there isn't then the place will just be forest and
normal river.
Ok, visit one of their temples instead, Pura
Puseh is along the way and I decided to drop by to take a look. Pura means
temple as explained by Bob and there are a lot of Pura in Bali in different
locations, so next time if I wants to go to a specific Pura, I will need to
have the proper address.
Entrance to Pura Puseh
(EF-M 18-55mm f7.1 1/320 ISO 100)
Altar
(EF-M 18-55mm f5 1/320 ISO 100)
Pura Puseh main hall
(EF-M 18-55mm f6.3 1/400 ISO 100)
Childrens playing
(EF-m 18-55mm f5.6 1/160 ISO 100)
one of the shrines
(EF-M 18-55mm f4.5 1/250 ISO 100)
Against the clear blue sky
(EF-M 18-55mm f4 1/2000 ISO 100)
After Pura Puseh, it is about 1130hrs, and
I have decided to go to the last place on my itinerary which is supposed to be
the 3rd day itinerary; Pura Luhur in Uluwatu. Along the way it
started drizzling and the rain starts pouring, I decided that we should just
pull over and break for lunch instead.
The real local roadside stores(Iphone 5)
Lunch selfies (Iphone 5)
There at the roadside store, we ordered 2
nasi goreng and 2 drinks, Bob then advise me to speak Malay and not speak any English.
As we are eating at a local store, he claims that some people in Bali is still
fanatic and if speaks Malay; though sound different from Bali locals, they will
still at least thinks that I am from other islands of Indonesia.
He talk about
black magic in Bali and ask if I have heard about it, also asked if Singapore
food stores vendor does black magic to their food to keep customers coming
back. I replied; I don’t think so and never really heard of in Singapore, I ask
him do Indonesian shops do those? He kept quiet and just laughed. Heeded his
advice, I ask the store owner how much does our meal cost in Malay language and
she did reply in Malay as well, so we communicated a few sentence and she said
the meal cost 27,000 rupiah ($3sgd). That is hell lots of difference compared
to our breakfast where we speak English!
After the rain, we head towards the
southern tip of Bali where the Uluwatu Temple is located. There I saw very
scenic view of high cliffs and clear blue waters and having the temple situated
right at the top of the cliff. Many says the place is blessed as despite of all
harsh weather conditions over 10 centuries, cliffs falling apart and rocks
tumbling down, the temple stays and remains strong on the cliff top.
Mandara Toll Road (Iphone 5)
Mandara Toll Road (Iphone 5)
Hot and
continuous walking and travelling and experiencing different climate and
weather conditions in a day, I have decided to make Uluwatu Temple my last
destination of my Bali cultural tour. I will want
to try something totally
different for my 3rd day in Bali.
Uluwatu overview
(EF-M 18-55mm f11 1/400 ISO 100)
Selfie with Uluwatu
(EF-M 18-55mm f7.1 1/500 ISO 100)
Uluwatu Temple
(EF-S 55-250mm f4 1/2500 ISO 100)
The cliff coastline
(EF-M 18-55mm f10 1/500 ISO 100)
Returning back to hotel around 1630hrs, I
drop all my stuffs and just lay flat on bed with air con full blast, so
fulfilling, 5 places around Bali in 12.5hrs at 600,000 rupiah ($66.67sgd); I
will consider quite worth it. Rolling on bed and literally slacking until
1800hrs, I took a good shower and headed out for dinner. Dinner is at Joker
Restaurant with good hospitality from the staffs along Jln Legian (club
street), after which I decided to pamper myself and visited a massage centre
for a full relaxation, Body Massage, Body Scrub, Ear candling and Facial for
2hrs 15mins at the price of 240,000 rupiah ($26.67sgd), worth it la!
Sweet and Sour Fish to reward myself after a long day (Iphone 5)
Fulfilling and very long day, I make my way back to hotel with 2 cans of Bintang beer from their 24hrs minimart to slack and watch television and edit some photos in my cosy cheap hotel room. Fainted after a while.
Things anyhow throw... (Iphone 5)
Waking up at 0845hrs on my third day of
Solo Travelling in Bali, Jeremey whatsapp me and asked if I want to join him
and his friends for water sports; of course! That definitely will be fun, and I
will walk over (2km from my hotel) and meet them at 1030hrs. (coincidentally they were in Bali Kuta too!)
Along the way I change some more rupiah as
I feels is better to have more cash on hand (remember to change at stores that indicates that they don't earn commission, those are the ones that gives better rates although they display lower rates outside) and also have my breakfast before
reaching his hotel.
Mie Goreng Breakfast (Iphone 5)
We had self-introduction with his friends Nicole, Grace and Leos, and get to know
that Leos is a surfing instructor there, woo! Leos fetches us to Bali Dolphins, which is a watersports place where we
played Banana Boat and Flying fish at a discounted price.
Some selfies first! (Iphone 5)
Seems like Nicole marketing her GoPro Camera *hahaha (Iphone 5)
Jeremey wasn't really
keen on flying nor been drag around on a banana but he is still spontaneous
enough to join us, Thumbs up! So eventually all of us got wet and slacked for
awhile at Bali Dolphins where I started having my Bintang beer (*grins).
Selfie on Banana boat.! (Iphone 5)
Selfie with Jeremey before flying fish (Iphone 5)
Nicole and Grace on flying fish setting off (Iphone 5)
Flying Flying..!!!! (Iphone 5)
Our Group photo before going for lunch
(EF-M 18-55mm f11 1/250 ISO 100)
Next destination is roadside store for Ayam
Bakar/Goreng and Ikan Bakar/Goreng! Favourite, I loves food and I am so glad
that I have them to recommend the good stuffs! I ate Ikan Goreng with rice add
Ayam Bakar (drum and thigh), shiok maximum! A very heartwarming lunch, chatting
and laughing and occasionally lost in my own world of food indulgence (*oops).
All in cost around 240,000 rupiah ($26.67sgd) for 5 people, good price!
Ibu Sri Kedai
(EF-M 18-55mm f4.5 1/2000 ISO 200)
Take photo first then can eat!
(EF-M 22mm f2 1/125 ISO 200)
My Nasi Ikan Goreng
(EF-M 22mm f2 1/50 ISO 200)
Next, we took a stroll along the alleys to
cut through to Kuta beach where we are going to surf! I had never tried surfing
in my whole life and has always wanted to try but was a bit disappointed when I see
the sea is so peaceful when I reach, nevertheless just whack la., same slogan;
make the best out of it!
Back alleys shop of kuta
(EF-M 18-55mm f3.5 1/400 ISO 200)
Poppies 1 Road
(EF-M 18-55mm f7.1 1/500 ISO 200)
Horse cart
(EF-M 18-55mm f5.6 1/250 ISO 200)
Surfing wasn’t that easy as seen, and it requires some balancing nature and techniques to get the hang of it. I tried on the sand (literally dry practice) and head towards the wave next! the coast is getting its momentum now, waves are coming in they are quite high, probably around 2 meters high as I was engulfed by it a few times while trying to balance and got toss and thrown underwater and engulfed again when I surfaced. Very good experience and I love it; I am going to surf more!
Instructor guiding me the correct posture
Climbing up...!!
Im balancing.....don't distract me..!!
I can stand already..!!!
Trying some movement on the surfboard
Good things doesn’t last forever, and so do
bad things of course, sun is setting and surfing comes to an end, and beer-ing
is accelerating! Went back for a shower and all re-gather at the roof top
restaurant of their hotel for a night of songs and quiet relaxation…
Quiet Rooftop Restaurant at The 101 Legian hotel.
EF-M 18-55mm f3.5 f1/10 ISO 1600)
My favourite Fish and Chips
(EF-M 18-55mm f4 1/125 ISO 400 Flash Auto)
Trying out our camera flash
(EF-M 18-55mm f3.5 1/200 ISO 400 Flash Manual)
Till we meet again:) Biggest Thank You..!!!
(EF-M 18-55mm f3.5 1/200 ISO 800 Flash Auto)
For more photos:
