Getting high on breath in Ubud

Ubud, Bali’s cultural capital with its unique mix of Balinese traditions and Western alternative thinking, is that sort of place that, upon arriving, makes you instantly think “what have I been waiting all this time for?”

The apprentice on the road – an odyssey on purpose

Clemens and Martin are waiting in front of the Grande Palace in Bangkok, one of the city’s main attractions. While most tourists try to wear as little as possible in this humid and hot climate, these two young men are both dressed in heavy corduroy clothes and wear long sleeves, heavy boots and black hats. They are definitely not the average travellers. They have been on the road for two years already, and they’ve got one more to go.

A diver’s sore ear

This week I have to “stay dry” for a few days due to an annoying ear infection, something that I really didn’t expect. In fact, since last year I have spent weeks learning on PADI manuals for scuba diving, a First Aid certification and recently went through three SSI manuals for Freediving, learning about all possible complications, risks and illnesses connected to diving. The quizzes are not too hard to pass, yet it’s a lot of stuff to study about physics, physiology, medicine and safety. After so much studying, you’d expect to know everything about any possible malady that may occur to you while diving, right? Well, surprise: you might be wrong. Because actually, I found out yesterday that the so-called “swimmer’s ear” or ear infection is the most common ailment among divers, not decompression sickness, nitrogen narcosis, shallow water blackout or whatever else they teach you in the books!

A fairy tale land on the German-Czech border

“Hikers are more likely to die than rock climbers”

These are Carsten’s encouraging words before we start our hike around the oddly shaped mountains and rocks of the German part of the Sandstone Highlands, also known as Saxon Switzerland.

Cost of Living in Amed, East Bali

As most travellers ending up here quickly realize, Amed is radically different from most areas in Bali, especially those in the South of the island where most of the party people hang out and thrash themselves. Everything here is back to basics – there wasn’t even a road until 2000. The Western-looking (and often owned) shops, bars, eateries, boutique hotels and villas are here almost unknown, although there are some timid signs of approaching development. To make things clear, Amed is not immune from mass tourism, yet it’s a different kind of tourism, centred on diving, which is generally respectful of the local’s way of life and even transmits to the local people a sense of how important it is to protect and preserve the environment.

Mastercourse started!

So, I happen to be in the third week of my stay here in Amed, and of course (we’ve all been there, haven’t we?) I am slowly starting to fancy moving here permanently, after meeting all these expats and having a sample of their transplanted life in Bali.

Training our inner dolphin

It’s Saturday and everyone seems to be asleep today, it’s midday and I even felt bad about going to a restaurant and having literally to wake up the owners! Internet doesn’t seem to be working anywhere, and I just found out that most restaurants and homestays here actually buy credit, so when the credit is all used up, you can say goodbye to the other, still asleep, half of the world. Hopefully I will find a place later this afternoon where I can publish this post!
It’s been a really intense week, starting with a scuba trip to the sea corridor between Bali and Nusa Penida, to two places called Manta Point and Manta Bay, to see, quite obviously, manta rays.

Life is good

Here I am at the end of my first 9 days in Indonesia. I am sitting at one of my favourite warung (Indonesian restaurant/eatery) with a plate of lovely nasi goreng (fried rice) with barbecued minced fish and coconut on a skewer. Life is good, especially after the stress I experienced during my freediving course is gone. After the course I took two extra training sessions where I improved my duck-diving and finning technique, and successfully climbed 20m down the line without any stress!

Getting started in freediving

Finally, yesterday I’ve been scuba diving here in Amed, and today I started my Freediving Course Level 1, i.e. learning how to dive without any scuba equipment, by simply holding your breath. Apneista, the freediving school in front of and affiliated to my homestay is the main reason why I came here, because here I can combine yoga with diving, and there is a thriving community of people who are not only interested in «going down there to see the fishes» but who also take diving as a sport and as a challenge. This is the main difference between scuba and free diving: the latter is an actual sport, i.e. a competition first and foremost with yourself and your limits, the first is more like going for a walk in the (coral) park.

When I first started diving last year in Thailand and Cambodia I realized one crucial fact: if I wanted to continue diving, I would have had to pick my dive schools carefully.

Awaken in Paradise

It’s October, 5th. I am still jetlagged, and the roosters starting around 5AM didn’t quite help get me all the sleep I had really wished. I cannot really sleep with either the aircon or the fan on either, it’st too noisy! But I know it’s just a matter of getting used to it, just like getting used to the heat. It’s insanely hot and humid here on Bali, with an average (!) temperature around 31°C, but luckily there is a nice fresh breeze coming from the sea here in the Northeast of the island, making the adjustment a little easier.

I landed two days ago at around midnight, after an excruciating 24h journey on 4 different flights (Milan-Cairo-Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur-Bali Denpasar) and at least 10 security screenings (I lost count after a while).