Day 2 – Driving up to Tulamben
Climbed out of bed at around 5am! Not sure why but I was probably a little excited at getting to dive again after a long hiatus. After preparing the underwater camera (have to smear a layer of gel on the o-ring to keep a tight seal) and making sure everything was packed and ready to go, I roused Yh from her slumber. We had our breakfast at the lovely seaside cafe on Kuta Beach near the hotel lobby. There was even a great looking pool right next to the cafe but there wasn’t time to enjoy it.
At about 0745, our driver (Pucaksana) came to pick us up from the hotel lobby. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that my dive buddy was a lady from Germany, Pamela Bauer. Over the 2 hour+ journey to Tulamben, we drove to Denpasar, Sanur and along the eastern coast.
We also learnt that Pamela was actually a doctor who was currently taking her specialty in Gynecology in Frankfurt, Germany. Was quite interesting to hear about how she had traveled to various parts of the world practicing medicine as part of her training and also her wish to specialize in emergency medicine so she could travel for her job. She had also took her rescue diver course with Bali Hai diving (our dive operator for the day) whilst on a 3 week trip to Indonesia to attend a friend’s wedding.
The drive was pretty uneventful as we enjoyed the scenery of endless padi fields and the coast. I remarked that the main roads were very well maintained and that the drivers in Bali seemed very good since there was little in way of bad-driving. Also learnt from Pucak that he was in the hotel industry in Kuta before becoming a tour driver. His main concerns these days were that petrol prices were increasing, making it hard to sustain the business. Just days before we came, a petrol tanker had been late in its delivery to Bali (from Singapore) and had caused a bit of a shortage issue.
The last part of the journey went through some mountainous roads that were a little bit too windy for Yh and Pam and both didn’t feel too great. Luckily, we were soon turning into Seraya Resort and the sight of Tulamben beach was worth the bus journey.
As we got prepared to head out to our first dive at Drop Off, we also met another couple from England who had been staying at the resort. The lucky folks had been diving for the past week and even had been to the Gili Islands.
Travel Notes:
Aqua Mineral Water 1.5 L Bottle = RP $3000
1 x Day Diving + 1 x Snorkel = US $145
Day 1 – Flying to Bali and staying at Kuta Seaview Cottages
After days of rushing to finish work, we were finally off to Changi Airport to catch our flight to Bali. I had earlier gone to purchase the underwater casing from Canon at Harborfront and also to get a good tripod for any night photography (Thanks MS Color near AMK Central S11!). We reached Changi early but had a slight problem as Yh had forgotten to bring her credit card that was used to book the tickets and we had to make an ad-hoc booking. Luckily, the service staff from SIA was quite helpful and we made it on to the plane with about half hour to spare. The flight took about 2 hours 15 min and soon we found ourselves at Ngurah Rai Airport. The luggage claim area seemed a little slow but we did manage to get out of customs in 20 minutes.
The arrival hall gave us quite a surprise as there were drivers from almost every resort, villa and hotel imaginable waiting for their guests. Was a pity we didn’t catch a photo of this since there were just drivers, no relatives or friends!
The drive to Kuta Seaview took us through Kuta Square, Hard Rock and along the beach. Was quite a short drive (about 25 minutes). The hotel was pretty nice (but no lift) and since our room was 318, we had to climb the 3 flights of stairs up. The next day being a dive day for me, we decided to take a good night’s rest for the day.
Travel Notes:
Transfer US $10
2 Nights RP $826260
Flying out to Bali. What a rush!
Has been a pretty rushed day as I had finish work and slept around 3. Woke up and went through mails before heading out to meeting at office. Yh also had to run some errands before our flight. After picking up the underwater housing at Canon, i rushed back to get a hair cut and got home with half hour to spare for a quick shower before parents drove us to Changi. Well with an hour to go, the checkin counter told us that without the credit card used to book the tickets, we had to rebook them! Weird policy but luckily no queue was around and we managed to check in ourselves. Got finally to the boarding gate and we’re on board. Lift off in 5 min. We’re on way to Bali!
18 hours to our trip to Bali
We’re finally counting down towards our flight to Bali for a short getaway before Yh starts here new job next Monday. Just managed to pack up our clothing and stuff to bring (2 cameras – 1 for land, 1 for underwater, etc etc.).
Thanks to some great advice from Seraphim after my last post, I’ve decided to head to Tulamben for a day’s dive (yah, short but at least I get to dive!). However, couldn’t quite follow his suggested itinerary since need to cater to wife’s interests also so we’ll be staying in Kuta for the first two nights to enjoy some activities there before moving to lovely Akhyati Villa. Erni at Bali Safaris helped quite a lot after Yh coordinated with them.
Well, I’ve still got to rush through some work, make sure emails are sent to customers etc before I can start relaxing for the trip. (Note to self: taking 3 days of leave in the middle of the week is hazard to mental well-being 
)