Black Beaches of Bali

Andy is taking a well-earned blog break and has temporarily handed over his writer's quill to me. So, here goes ...

Every non-EU country that we have visited has required proof of exit at immigration; understandable maybe for Australia or New Zealand; less so perhaps for say Laos or Cambodia! Anyway, this is how we find ourselves in Bali - Australia's number one holiday-party destination.

Andy remembers having a great time here all those years' ago with Darran and was keen to revisit old haunts, explore previously unvisited ones, and generally see how the island and it's society had changed in all that time. It is a little disconcerting to think that, since 'the boys' were here last, a whole generation has been born, raised, married and is now bearing their own children.

I had visions of us strolling upon soft, white, sandy beaches, fringed with drooping coconut palms and lapped by sparkling, azure sea. Just like those evocative photos in holiday brochures. Right? Wrong!

This is where reading The Lonely Planet guide beforehand, beyond the usual practicalities of accommodation and transport, would have been useful.

Bali is a volcanic island. I knew that! And volcanic islands have black sand, black beaches and murky seas. Of course they do!

New Zealand is volcanic too. But unlike NZ's vast, glistening, coal-black beaches, great swathes of Bali's beaches seem to be more of a narrow strip of ugly, charcoal-grey sand, pebbles and rocks, liberally strewn with litter and dotted with fishing boats. In essence, they're places of work, albeit cleaned up here and there for the exclusive use of luxury hotels' guests.

 



White sand beaches do exist in areas of the island further away from the volcanoes, but being more heavily 'developed ' - or perhaps that should be 'spoiled' - for tourism, we have so far steered a wide berth. However, after two weeks here, we are running out of coastline (the island is small!); therefore, tomorrow, we catch a boat to one of Bali's own, tiny islands (you can walk around it in a day) - with picture-postcard, white sand beaches and blue sea. Yippee!

Snorkelling, diving and surfing are popular tourists' activities here. (It's far too hot and humid to do much beyond wallowing in water, lying under a tree, or remaining motionless in a fan-cooled room.) Andy was brave enough to hire goggles and fins and venture into the murky grey depths to spot tropical fish and coral. I was fortunate at the time to have a cold-cum-Delhi-belly combo, so was able to wriggle out of it. Instead, I watched from the comfort of a tree-shaded sun-lounger and supped on freshly-made watermelon-ice, hoping the un-lifeguarded sea didn't harbour anything of the Jaws variety.

Balinese people appear to use the beach and sea for fishing, ceremonies and rubbish disposal, rather than for recreation, although this is starting to change. It was amusing to watch a small group of boys from a traditional fishing village, frolicking in the sea with their surf boards - a possession of utmost luxury, no doubt.

Now a short bit about volcanoes. Bali has lots of them!

Soaring at 3142 m above sea level stands the great, often cloud-shrouded, Gunung Agung (Mother Mountain).


Close by, at just 1717 m lies the lively Gunung Batur, which is situated in the middle of two concentric calderas, with a large lake on one side. Batur has 3 vents, one of which, if you look closely, is steaming away nicely! She last erupted in 2000 and black, solidified lava is still clearly visible today. Villages hug her sides; the inhabitants maybe being optimistic, ignorant, or just desperate, as Bali's fertile land rapidly disappears under building and road development and the population grows.

Mount Batur, we were warned, is a tourist hot-spot and money-mint, and the vendors are fierce; visit if you must! There's not a great deal to do away from the coastline, so visit we did.

Firstly, we learned that to get close enough to view and photo, costs money. That's fine. Then came the market sellers, who worked us en masse, using a carefully devised strategy of 'divide and conquer'.

Balinese people can be quite small; I'm taller than a good number of the men! However, they can also be very strong - the women, anyway. One group lunged at me with their wares, tying sarongs and scarves around my body, forcing fruit and other items into my hands, whilst pulling my arms and torso in all directions is their desperate attempt to drag me to their stalls, all the while screeching demands for payment.

I looked around in panic for Andy, only to see him a little distance away, being equally mobbed, by what looked like munchkins. He (somehow also wearing a sarong!) was stooping down towards the women and smiling genially. Some hard haggling was going on. He had made the ultimate error of surreptitiously glancing at a T shirt and was now obliged to purchase it. The sizing was XL; fine for a Balinese man; not so for Andy. I now have a new T shirt with BALI emblazoned across the front - just what I've always wanted!

And finally ...

Nothing to do with beaches. Just a decorated statue made from local rock - seen everywhere.