We arrived in sunny Bali and were soon on our way. The drive to Tulamben is a bit of a wild ride as the roads are chaotic with scooters weaving in and out of traffic and our driver also weaving in and out of traffic even faster. We made it out of the city traffic in one piece but now it was time for the small roads winding along through lush green volcanic hills and small villages. It was a very nerve-racking ride as the roads were very winding, it was getting dark, there were people walking by the roadside and worst of all our driver passing at high speed. After a short stop for dinner we finally arrived in Tulamben Wreck Divers Resort close to the wreck of the Liberty.
The next day it was time to dive, but not for me as I was still having problems with my sinuses, so Jorunn decided she would dive without me as she had not dived here before and I have. The Liberty wreck lays pretty shallow and starts at about 8 meters and down to 30 and bit more. There is always stuff to see on this wreck and it usually takes several dives to see it all, another good thing about the wreck is that is so shallow that mostly you can snorkle and see quite a bit of the wreck. Some of the things that you can find are; Pygmy seahorses, large schools of jackfish (up to 300), humphead parrotfish, leaf fish, lot's of nudibranch and much, much more. For the rest of the week we spent a lot of time diving places like Coral Garden, the Wall, Seraya Secret (This is were you find the small and strange things like boxer crabs, harlequin shrimps, Coleman shrimps, tiger shrimps, pygmy seahorse, ghostpipefish). Just a quick note: for the dive industry to help more of the locals the dive tanks are transported by the locals and they are being paid for this to help the local economy, at one time it was only women, now it's men and women, some carry two to three tanks, two on their heads.
Tulamben was very wet and more than once there were large streams running down the main street, but probably the worst part were the thunder storms late at night. The worst night was when awoke by a very loud bang and all the windows were shaking, after the first boom there was a bright light that lit up the whole room and then a load bang that shook the room. What an exciting half hour, the rest of the stay was spent mostly eating, diving and sleeping (for Jorunn it was mostly eating that was important). We had decided earlier that we would see more of Bali so it was time for a road trip.
We took off the in the same direction that we came (nice to see the road during the day light) and now we could see the Gunung Agung volcano (over 3124 meters high and active) that towers over the countryside, as we passed through the lush green countryside there were many small villages and hills covered in rice fields. Our first stop was the Tirta Gangga water temple. When we arrived we decided not to have a guide and entered through the front gate and gazed upon the beautiful pools, fountains and statues. On our right we saw a large pool where you can walk on stepping stones around the pool around fountains as if you were walking on water. This was a very pretty and well-kept temple and you felt a quiet peacefulness here but it was time to move on as we had a long drive and lot's to see.
Driving up steep and winding sloops we reach our next stop, The Mother Temple. This a very old temple and a bit tricky to visit but well worth it. The Tricky part: Our driver told us that to get into the temple you have to wear a sarong with a colour sash and men had to wear a traditional head wear, so we were taken to a shop to get these items (the driver probably has a deal so he gets commission and things were very overpriced). We were dressed to impress or be laughed at and we went to pay to get into the temple. They insisted that we need a guide (the Lonely Planet Guide and the driver also said we did not need a guide), so after a short discussion that was getting nowhere we just walked on in without a problem and started the walk uphill to the temple.
We walked up passing shops with lot's of souvenirs and of course sarongs, we finally made it to the temple entrance and were met by more guides and kids and grownups trying to sell us anything from postcards to large wooden carvings and continued all the steps up throughout the temple. The temple is built on a hillside with a fantastic view over the lowlands that look like green carpet. I will not spend too much time on the temple itself as it will take to long and we will post some pictures. Walking back we met a group of men, women and children on their way to some kind of ceremony and they were very happy and most of them smiled and greeted us as they went on their way and strangely enough after that no one bothered us.
Once back at the car we returned my hat (no refund) and set off through the hills and up to the ridge of the Gunung Batur crate . What a site, this was fantastic, when standing at the lookout to see a large crater with a large lake on the right side and on the left an active volcano that does erupt from time to time and see how the lava has flowed down the side. You can actually take tours and hike up the sides of the volcano and have a look but only in the quiet periods. As we drove further we were met by many buses(this a very popular place to visit) and large restaurants packed with visitors and once again where our driver tried to make some extra cash for stopping at the right place, so we joined the crowds and got a table overlooking the lake and volcano before heading back the windy mountain roads back to the hotel.
The following day we were thinking of diving the one last time but I was having sinus problems and Jorunn had caught a cold so we put our things out to dry as we would be leaving the next day. Sadly we found out afterwards that the group diving that morning had seen a sunfish or Mola Mola which are hard to find and usually live very deep in the ocean. This was a bit sad but that's life!
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