Category: Indonesia (2000)

Amed was our best stop. This isolated place has no electricity after 11pm, and has no restaurants, shops or anything. It’s an area where farmers live, and there are only about 3 places you can stay>> Good Karma being one of them. The beaches were black, and the water absolutely gorgeous. We bargained for a hut on the beach. This humongous bungalow was made completely from woven material (like banana leaves I believe) and bamboo. The back porch was perched above the land and we had a little back yard that led to the ocean. There were two beds on the back porch, so you could listen to the ocean as you sleep. This was the most amazing place I could ever imagine. Paradise. Absolute paradise. We stayed there for a large amount of time. Then after our stay, made our way to the center of the island to see the volcano. That night we stayed in a hostel near the volcano to be ready to fly home the next day. We made our way tiredly back to Japan the next day.

We then made our way to the middle area of the Island, Ubud, and stayed in a hostel right in the middle of rice fields. We had to walk about 20 minutes through rice fields to get to any type of street. From here, we did lots of traveling throughout the area looking at all the cultural events, dances and such. Again visiting temples, and learning more about the Balinese culture. We also went to a cock fight, and bet on some of the “fighters”. Maya and I bet on the white chicken and Taka and Yoshi bet on the black one. We doubled our money (which was only about $1). It was a good experience though, to see this type of thing still going on today. We then moved to another are on the island more north again to Padangbai. Here, we had another cool hostel, but thought we had lost Maya when she went away with some random person on a motorcycle to find us a place to stay! Eventually we found her, and went to the area of different homestays on the beach. Ours was really cool, which had a shower and toilet outside. So nice. Here we swam in the ocean, watched dances too. This was the last place we’d stay before moving to Amed.

We got up the next morning to look at some nearby shops and beaches. We moved to another area from Kuta, to Sanur Beach a little bit more north. Here, we found an awesome homestay with amazing little rooms for a mere $3 a night. (again we were surprised at the cost). We became spoiled at the cost of living and forgot how much money we were actually talking about.

That afternoon we went to the beach and all rented some jetskis. This is the one even that changed our entire stay. During our fun in the sun in the ocean on our jetskis, one of our friends Keiko made a wrong turn and flipped off the jetski into the water. I was nearby, and didn’t know whether to laugh or be worried. She looked very hurt and couldn’t move well. So we brought her back to the beach, and sat her down to see if she could just get back to normal. But, as time went by, the whiter and whiter she got, and more discomfort she felt. We took her to the hospital nearby in an ambulance, which was scaring all of us to death, and the boys had to meet the girls at the hospital. Once we arrived at the hospital, my most feared sights was right in front of me. This was a 3rd world country I was in, and their hospital facilities were definitely not what I was used to. Stepping over puddles of blood into a huge room accommodating too many sick, injured people, we found Keiko. Xrays were done to try to find out what happened.

That evening, we went back to our homestay to get some of her stuff. Not only was this a scary event for Keiko, but it was for us too. A man at a nearby restaurant we ate at offered to drive us on his motorcycle and help us get back and forth to the hospital everyday. Best experiences come when you least expect them, and I now realize how amazing riding that motorcycle was. Riding in a crowd of a good 50 other cyclists, I felt like I was really free and living another life. With all of my travels, I feel that I am living. During Keiko’s stay in the hospital, we found that it was just that she couldn’t move due to a fractured pelvis. So, we toured during the day, and stayed with her at night for a while telling what we did and bringing her stuff>> mainly food–the food there was definitely not what you’d want to eat if you were sick to begin with! We toured the site of the world’s most beautiful sunset, and I lost my camera dropping it into the sea. This was my second camera, and I was totally bummed losing those pictures that were already on the film, PLUS having no camera for the rest of the trip.

Visiting temples and monkey forests, eating at small mom and pop restaurants, we began a small life evolution I believe. This was my first “raw” experience in life. Not having hot water, not depending on my car, living day by day, and not planning. This proved to be a great growing experience for me that I still take with me today in my life now.