Volcano mafia
After Ubud, we made our way to Penelokan - a town on the edge of a huge old volcano crater that is so large it now contains a lake and its own smaller 7000' volcano within it.
We were planing on climbing this peak, Gunung Batur, but first we had to find a hotel. The ridge was lined with massive restaurants, all padlocked and silent. We eventually persuaded a hotel that was basically shut for construction to take us in. The view from our balcony was spectacular.
We knew that the locals in the village with access to the mountain insist that you must have a guide to climb the volcano, but I had not realised how expensive this would be or how militant the operation had become. They were expecting tourists to pay $15 per person to for the benefit of a guide for a 3 hour hike. And that didn't include any transportation to the village or food (our hotel was asking $35 per person for a one-day 'package'). Bear in mind that in Thailand we payed $25 each for a 3-day hill-trek including guide, transportation, and basic meals). There were enough stories of hikers attempting to circumvent this system being threatened with violence or robbed, that we decided not to risk it, and we decided to boycott the climb instead.
We went for a walk down to the lake, but we were pestered continuously by almost everyone, all desperate to make some money giving a ride, selling a painting or necklace. The interactions would start friendly, and then turn plaintive, sometimes ending quite tense and resentful.
With the area so badly affected by the decline in tourism it seemed ridiculous that one village could be charging such extortionate rates and driving away tourists.
After our slightly disheartening experience in Penelokan we headed down along the coast to Tulamben, one of Bali's most famous dive sites - the shipwreck of the U.S.S Liberty (a cargo ship torpedoed during WWII).
The wreck is just offshore, so you can do the dives from the beach. The dive companies hire local porters to carry your tanks down to the beach for you.
Unfortunately, I developed an ear-infection just before we arrived, accompanied by a high fever which confined me to my bed for 2 days and didn't clear up enough after 5 days to allow me to do a dive before we left.
At least I had a nice hotel to convalesce in, and Katie did do 4 dives, which she says were some of the best she has done - so it will remain on my list of places to come back to.
Then it was back to Kuta for a day before heading on to Hong Kong for a short visit.
We were planing on climbing this peak, Gunung Batur, but first we had to find a hotel. The ridge was lined with massive restaurants, all padlocked and silent. We eventually persuaded a hotel that was basically shut for construction to take us in. The view from our balcony was spectacular.
We knew that the locals in the village with access to the mountain insist that you must have a guide to climb the volcano, but I had not realised how expensive this would be or how militant the operation had become. They were expecting tourists to pay $15 per person to for the benefit of a guide for a 3 hour hike. And that didn't include any transportation to the village or food (our hotel was asking $35 per person for a one-day 'package'). Bear in mind that in Thailand we payed $25 each for a 3-day hill-trek including guide, transportation, and basic meals). There were enough stories of hikers attempting to circumvent this system being threatened with violence or robbed, that we decided not to risk it, and we decided to boycott the climb instead.
We went for a walk down to the lake, but we were pestered continuously by almost everyone, all desperate to make some money giving a ride, selling a painting or necklace. The interactions would start friendly, and then turn plaintive, sometimes ending quite tense and resentful.
With the area so badly affected by the decline in tourism it seemed ridiculous that one village could be charging such extortionate rates and driving away tourists.
After our slightly disheartening experience in Penelokan we headed down along the coast to Tulamben, one of Bali's most famous dive sites - the shipwreck of the U.S.S Liberty (a cargo ship torpedoed during WWII).
The wreck is just offshore, so you can do the dives from the beach. The dive companies hire local porters to carry your tanks down to the beach for you.
Unfortunately, I developed an ear-infection just before we arrived, accompanied by a high fever which confined me to my bed for 2 days and didn't clear up enough after 5 days to allow me to do a dive before we left.
At least I had a nice hotel to convalesce in, and Katie did do 4 dives, which she says were some of the best she has done - so it will remain on my list of places to come back to.
Then it was back to Kuta for a day before heading on to Hong Kong for a short visit.
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