Apologies for the last couple of days absence, but life has moved into a new phase now I’ve finally shaken off Covid. Yesterday morning I used the last of our latest batch of test kits and found (much to my relief) that I was clear – which meant that I could go shopping and interact with a clear conscience. I know most people don’t bother nowadays, but I know how vulnerable some folks still are, so the last thing I wanted to do was spread what’s still a nasty bug.
My first day of freedom coincided with lovely sunny weather – although the wind-chill made you appreciate we’re only just into spring. Even so, it was lovely to get out and about. Even supermarket shopping seemed a treat! What was an even bigger treat was being able to pop into my local pub for a pint and a natter with some of the regulars, early doors.
Today (Tuesday) has been much of the same apart from the fact I’ve been back and forth between home and a local charity shop. My office ‘spring cleaning’ has turned into something much bigger. I’m now having a complete clear-out of stuff from the cottage, especially stuff that’s sat in boxes ever since I moved here from London in January 2010. I’m ditching boxes and boxes of old sci-fi books, many of which I’ve had since I was a teenager. I’d always hoped that, one day when I’d retired, I’d have chance to re-read some of them. But it’s not to be. I have other plans now. Instead, the local Hospice will benefit from their sale. The clear-out is throwing up other memories too, some of the stuff (if I have time) will end up on eBay but right now I’m knee-deep in boxes and crates.
Right, time to go. I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which is from an album I’m hoping to finish scanning in the next couple of days.
A view of a coconut palm during a glorious sunset, taken as I walked back down the 44 harpin bends in the road down the volcanic crater of Lake Maninjau in Sumatra in August 1998.
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Today’s my last one where I’m stuck behind a desk all day – at least for a while. The weather’s deteriorated and we’ve had a few showers here in the Pennines but the temperature has still be way into double figures, which has been nice. Not that it’s made much difference to me but it’s always good to crack open the office window, get some fresh air and hear the birdsong outside.
I’ve finally caught up with all my picture editing. All the various SE Asia shots are now on my Zenfolio site, along with all the recent pictures from the UK and 90% of the Norway images. Here’s a link to the ‘recent’ section of my website where you can browse what’s been updated. I’ve just a few more Norway shots to caption before I can write a blog about what Siemens and Norwegian railways are up to when it comes to resignalling the entire country over the next few decades. It’s a fascinating project.
Tomorrow we’re off to Manchester for the awards I talked about yesterday, then home again later on Sunday. Right now I’ve no idea what I’ll be doing for the first part of next week as the weather forecast is predicting rain and snow! On Wednesday the pair of us will be heading to Newcastle (on Tyne) to prepare for Thursday’s Community Rail Awards. The city’s predicted to be slightly warmer, but just as wet! Ho hum…
Of course, whilst I’ve been trapped at home I’ve kept one eye on the political madness that’s enveloping the world – and the latest chapter. Trump is still as mad as a box of frogs, but it’s what’s happening in the UK today that’s made me reach for the popcorn! Reform, the PLC (majority shareholder N Farage) that masquerades as a political party is having a bit of a ‘mare.
Splits have been appearing for sometime as Elon Musk has suggested that the ‘Fagash Fuhrer’ isn’t fit to lead the party he formed (don’t you mean the company he owns? Ed) and endorsed the millionaire and racist Rupert Lowe instead. Lowe is one of the 5 MPs have and makes £1000s a week from Twitter by shit-posting inflammatory stuff about the colour of people’s skin – and Islamophobia. As a consequence, he has a hardcore following of Reform ‘members’ (as they like to pretend). Unsurprisingly – and predictably, as he has past form for this at UKIP, the ‘Fagash Fuhrer’ doesn’t take kindly to his gravy-train being threatened, so has shot back by getting the party chair and ‘whip’ – 30p Lee Anderson to release this little missive.
OK, I have to admit I had to laugh out loud at the hypocrisy of the last paragraph! Apparently, lying, race-baiting and Islamophobia area perfectly acceptable activities in Reform, but bullying female staff isn’t. Oh, hang on, wasn’t one of their MPs jailed for assaulting his girlfriend in the past? Apparently, that’s OK too, so James McMurdock remains a Reform MP. It seems the only thing that gets you into trouble in Reform is challenging the ‘Fagash Fuhrer’. Lowe denies all the accusations, so this saga is set to run and run. Fuel to the fire is already being added by Lowe’s supporters. I wonder if ‘Space Karen’ Musk will get involved again?
Reform are already feeling the pressure due to their support for the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. This is just adding more pressure on them, along with their poor showing in local elections. 9 seats were up for grabs on Thursday and Reform failed to win a single one. In fact, out of the 218 seats that have become vacant since the last general election Reform have only won 12. Hardly the ‘Tsunami’ that ’30p Lee’ Anderson keeps boasting of.
Who will win? There’s only one possible outcome. The majority shareholder will win. Reform are a PLC, not a genuine political party. The mugs persuaded to cough up £25 for ‘membership’ are about to find out the reality of what that buys them. Nothing. The money is trousered by Farage. It’s impossible for Farage to be deposed. As the majority shareholder he owns Reform!
Still, I’ll invest in some popcorn, as this saga is going to run and run. There’s nothing like a bit of right-wing political infighting. It rivals blood sports! Meanwhile, not all is well in the White House either….
Now it’s time to knock off and leave you with a picture to brighten your day, which comes from…Bali. I posted a picture of an unknown bird the other week. Thanks to readers it was identified as a female olive-backed Sunbird. That allowed me to ID this one as the male olive-backed sunbird.
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Today has been another where I’ve hardly moved from Bigland towers as I’ve been determined to crack on with editing the hundreds of pictures I have in the queue from all my travels. Mind you, whilst the weather’s slowly picking up as spring approaches, it’s still chilly enough to keep me indoors. I’ve managed to get all sorts of images done today. The straight travel shots are the easiest. The ones that take time are the shipping and aircraft shots as I need to look up the technical details of each one. Here’s the galleries that have had pictures added today;
Whilst doing this I’ve been keeping one eye on the news and the unfolding story of the European summit on Ukraine which has been held in the UK today. After the American debacle (which shows every sign of backfiring on Trump and Vance) it’s been refreshing to see the levels of international support for Ukraine – even from some right-wing governments like Italy and Turkey. What was also great to see was the UK centre-stage with the adults back in charge again. I don’t agree with everything Sir Keir Starmer and his government is doing, but – by God! – what a difference to the past few clowns we’ve had as PM! Contrast Starmer in the thick of it with other European leaders who are engaging with him and respect him with the past scenes of Boris Johnson at summits where he was ignored and wandered around (hands in pockets) like ‘Billy no-mates’. The UK is finally starting to shake off the disgrace of Brexit and the Tory shit-show to regain some credibility in the world.
How things will pan out in the long run is open to question, but there’s no doubt that the majority of the UK supports Ukraine – despite what bots, trolls and Russia apologists on social media are trying to project.
One of the interesting things about the situation is how it’s almost impossible to fit a fag paper between the hard-left and the far-right on so many policies (like Starmer and Ukraine). The poor ‘tankies’ of the hard-left still can’t get over the fall of the Soviet Union, or the fact Jeremy Corbyn turned out to be a failure. They still hanker after both which leaves them irrelevant to politics in the modern age. Mind you, Farage and ‘Reform’ are also struggling. Having nailed their flag to the Trump (and Putin) mast their populist politics are looking increasingly hollow. It’s too early to say with certainty, but this does show every sign of being a seismic shift in world politics and alliances. I’ll blog more about this another time, but for now it’s time to go.
I did see one comment on social media that made me laugh today. Someone posted (in reference to the apocryphal Chinese curse) ‘I think I’ve had enough of living in interesting times’. I can’t but agree…
I’ll leave you with a picture, which is from my Jakarta sojourn. Streetlife in the Indonesian capital’s never boring as there’s always something to see – and traffic to negotiate. Here’s an example.
Food outlets line Jalan Lontar Raya whilst an endless procession of scooters and other forms of transport add to the noise and chaos.
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I’ve decided to have a lazy last day here in Jakarta. After all the running around i’ve been doing, it’s time to savour a last day of soaking up some sunshine up on the hotel roof (which I have to myself). It offers some great views across this part of the city and the streets below where I can watch folk go about their daily lives whilst the multitude of local cats wash themselves or doze in the heat.
Besides, life will be full on when I get back and I’ve learned the value of peaceful solitude over the years. Now’s the opportunity to enjoy it for a couple of hours!
16:30 (Jakarta time).
In fact I enjoyed the sun for all that time – and dried a shirt that I wanted to travel back in. I even managed to nip out for a wander and chance to get a last few shots of street-life before it was time to leave. Asia fascinates me. I love the way so much of people’s lives is lived on the streets and how many people make their living there. It makes for such a vibrant and interesting place, so far removed form life in the UK. It’s also a photographer’s dream! Jakarta’s a mad place, but I must admit – I’ve rather enjoyed it. It must be the masochist in me. It reminds me of some Indian cities, only with added massive Singapore style shopping centers full of international brands. The only things I won’t miss are the pollution – and smoking. Indonesians are inveterate smokers and it’s a habit that seems to be catching on with more and more women – as is vaping.
Having run out of time I packed, showered and ordered a taxi to the airport. Navigating Jakarta’s mad traffic took way over an hour but as I had plenty of time before my flight it wasn’t an issue. Now I’m airside having checked in easily enough. My first flight to Doha is with Garuda Indonesia whom I don’t remember having flown with long-haul before. At Doha I transfer back to Qatar so this is chance to make a comparison.
Terminal 3 at Sukarano Hatta airport is much like any other. You could be almost anywhere in the world if it wasn’t for the people passing through that give it its identity. Here there’s still people off on the pilgrimage to Mecca as well as international travelers of all sorts. In the queue to check in I ended up in conversation with an Indonesian woman from Java who was on her way back to Singapore where her and her husband live. Her English (or rather West coast American, where she studied) was excellent. We chatted about Indonesia and language all the way to check-in. I love impromptu meetings like that.
Right, almost time to go as my chariot awaits. I doubt I’ll have time to blog en-route so the next time you’ll hear from me I’ll be back in the UK.
00:00 (Qatar time).
I’ve time to kill between flights here in Doha so here’s a quick update. My Garuda Indonesia flight wasn’t bad but the Boeing 777 wasn’t the most modern of aircraft. The entertainment system was outdated, and the headphones suffered the classic problem of ill-fitting sockets leaving to sound cutting out unless you jiggled them. Plus, the most modern film was at least 5 years old! Still, the food was good and the legroom wasn’t bad.
Beef with fragrant rice.
I even managed an hour or so’s sleep. Bonus!
Security at Doha is tight. I had my bag x-rayed once, and I was frisked twice – the last time at the gate. All the staff (not one of whom are local) were polite and efficient, so the whole thing was stress free so I was at my new gate within 15 mins of my plane landing. I wonder what Manchester will be like?
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Today was my last full day here in Asia and it’s been a good one, despite the wet start. I’d set my alarm for 07:00, but it wasn’t needed, thanks to thin walls and noisy neighbours – the only drawback to where I’m staying.
My plan had been to head out before 09:00 but the drizzle and gloomy skies persuaded me to delay my departure for an hour. That worked out well as I ended up seeing part of the school run, Jakarta-style – which includes how many people you can fit on a scooter! I still haven’t beaten five – although I still have time tomorrow!
I retraced yesterday’s steps to Tanah Abang railway station only this time I took a different route where I finished up at the end of the line at Tanjung Priok. The Dutch built the port in the late 1800s and they rebuilt the railway station into a rather magnificent edifice in 1925. Nowadays, only one platform under the huge trains he’d roof is used by passenger trains (a shuttle service from Jakarta Kota). The rest is used for stabling intermodal wagons and locos for freight services out of the docks.
The station’s still well worth visiting as a relic of the Dutch era and as a piece of railway architecture.
My next stop was Jakarta Kota, the more well-known example of Dutch stations on Java. I managed a range of pictures there before moving on to something more modern by catching the train to Manggarai. This station’s changed out of all recognition since my last visit in 2017. Now, it possesses an upper level as the trains to Bogor run on elevated tracks at this point. There’s plenty of empty platforms in the trainshed on the same level – just waiting to be plugged into the network when new elevated tracks are completed.
This snd Jatinigara station further up the line are great examples of modern Javanese stations. I’d go as far as to say they’re world-class when it comes to facilities on offer. In fact, they could teach us a thing or two – like this, seen at Jatinigara (another station which has been heavily rebuilt and modernised).
A ‘co-working’ space on the main concourse above the tracks which is used by young and old. I think the plants are a really nice touch.
I visited several other stations on the network but there’s far to many pictures to sort out now. Hopefully I’ll have time to write up my about my rail trips around Jakarta tomorrow as the system’s an excellent one. Having got home I had grabbed a shower then headed out to eat in one of the lack backstreet food stalls. Here’s today’s meal.
Rice, fish and loads of veggies (plus a potato cake). Oh, and that red blotch is chilis!
Whilst I was eating there the heavens opened which delayed me somewhat but then wet streets at night are so photogenic.
The backstreets where I’m staying are a maze, and on every corner there’s a place to eat.
Now I’m back at home getting ready for the off. My flight’s not until tomorrow evening, so I’m hoping to make the most of the morning. Let’s see…
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The only problem with sleeping in a windowless room is that you get some very good sleep! Well, once all your neighbours have crashed out anyway as the soundproofing of the internal walls in this hotel was the one thing they scrimped on! I’d forgotten to set an alarm so I slept soundly until 07:30 which is unusual for me. I’d already decided that today was going to be home-based for the morning as I’ve a massive backlog of pictures to edit and I’ve stuff to sort out as I’m only a few days from returning back to the UK. As usual, something’s got to give. In this case it’s going to be having a trip on the high-speed line out to Benteng and back. It’s a bit of a logistical pig and there’s too many other things to do nearer ‘home’.
The first part of the day was spent in my hotel getting dozens of pictures ready for captioning before they appear on my Zenfolio website. That’s when having a desk (but no window) is rather useful. My only break was to nip out for breakfast (which is included in the price of my hotel) at the communal space I ate at last night. Breakfast was a buffet affair of traditional Asian (friend rice or noodles) plus Western – which meant sandwiches!
Having been fed and watered I returned to the hotel to spend another few hours editing, then thought ‘bugger it’ – let’s go exploring. My plan was to walk the half a km to the nearest railway station, Tanah Abang, then take a few trips on the suburban rail network. That walk turned into quite an experience as it was through a maze of narrow local lanes which tourists don’t normally explore, especially on foot! Nor that I was worried as the reception I got was universally friendly with several people asking for me to take their picture. The journey was fascinating as I got to see backstreet life, which consists of mad traffic and more small businesses than you can shake a stick at – and many of them are transient, based on little carts like this.
I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts! (but not much else)…
Finally, I made to Tanah Abang station, which has changed completely since 2017. The old locomotive depot has vanished. In its place a brand new station is appearing. The old low level platforms have all been rebuilt to the correct height for the imported Japanese trains – which have all been refurbished internally.
What hasn’t changed is the friendliness of the rail staff or the internal cleanliness of the trains, which are kept spotless by an army of cleaners. There’s also white gloved guards and security patrols throughout each train. The staff are all impeccably turned out, with (from what I could see) a very high number of female employees at all levels that would put the UK to shame. Here’s a few pictures from today.
Thumbs up from a young guard on the suburban line. Staff are impeccably turned out – including white gloves. A cheery wave from a young lady guard who say me taking a picture of her train as it departed. After I waved back she even flashed the trains headlights!
Remember I mentioned how mad the traffic is in those narrow streets? Have a watch of this…
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The time’s just after 11:00 here in Malaysia and I’m at Kuala Lumpur airport waiting for my Air Asia flight back to Jakarta. To be honest, I’m sad to leave. There are so many exciting rail projects that I didn’t get chance to look at, I barely had a day in one of my happy places (Georgetown) – and I could hear a beach calling my name. But it wasn’t to be…
As usual in Asia, I was up early, but I didn’t have a great night’s sleep (too many things going around in my head), so I was having my last roti canai breakfast at 07:30 this morning.
My last one for a while…
Sitting in a local eating hose watching the world go by is quite educational. The place I chose I know of old but it was interesting seeing the old men coming in who obviously all knew each other, picking up a breakfast to take to work (or take home). Suitably replete I returned home, showered, finished my packing and said goodbye to what’s been my home for the past three nights. It’s been fine but next time I think I’ll go back to where I stayed in 2023. I missed having a big window to storm-watch from!
Getting out to the airport was easy. There’s a direct rail-link that runs every 20 mins and takes 33 mins to get to Terminal 2. Arriving is a bit confusing as you have to walk through a huge shopping centre before you find the actual airport! There was a melee around check-in but I got through quickly enough. security and immigration were just as much a breeze. Now I’m sat plane-watching as I’ve time to kill before my flight leaves. Nicholas Lim (a Singaporean friend) has texted me to say the Jakarta airport rail-link is up the spout, so things may be a little slower at the other end!
I’ll update this blog later. Right now here’s a few pictures for you.
Aboard one of the new Chinese built KLIA trains en-route to the airport.The view from the outdoor smokers area’s best for plane-watching!I’m forever blowing puddles…An Air Asia flight creates waves as it passes through the remains of last night’s torrential rain.
It’s early evening after a ‘fun’ arrival. The flight from Malaysia was great. It took 2 hours to get to Jakarta, where the weather’s just as wet as KL only with more overcast skies. The fun started at immigration. Getting my visa on arrival was simple. It was the biometric gates that were the hassle as my arrival co-incided with several hundred people from all over Indonesia who’d just flown back from the Haj to Mecca! The queues would have been bad at a European airport, but watching elderly village women (who’d probably never flown before) trying to come to grips with the gates was a sight to behold! It was almost worth the delay. Everyone was patient with everyone else, but it did take some time!
Ordering a Grab’ taxi at the airport I travelled into Jakarta by road. The trip wasn’t bad until we got close to where my hotel is. The main roads were jammed with all manner of vehicles going in different directions but we made it through in good time until we turned into a narrow one-way street. We got caught in a jam coming up to a crossroads and moved about 100 meters in half an hour. It was so rammed with scooters, cars, and parked vehicles it was almost impassible to pedestrians, who had to try and weave their way through the gaps in the traffic. I’ve not seen anything like it for a long time. We ended up getting to my hotel 45 mins later than planned, but hey – I’m not going anywhere else tonight. The Choska Residence where I’m staying is rather plush. Impressive from the outside, it’s got some great public spaces. The rooms are fine too, with a fridge, desk and big TV as well as plenty of wardrobe space and a nice bathroom. It’s in a mixed area that seems in some ways to be quite affluent but in others not, with lots of street stalls and the usual detritus of Asian big city life. Just across the road is an interesting place that has links to my hotel. It’s billed as a communal living space. In a new building is a cafe, several different eateries – and a laundrette! Like my hotel, it seems popular with young Muslim women.
Yes, that is a row of washing machines along the back wall! Nice place, isn’t it? The exterior. – and the lobby of my hotel…
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What happened to day 18 you may ask? A good question. It was one where I didn’t have time to blog because of ‘stuff’ (lots of stuff). That said, it was nice to be back in Ubud once more.
Now we’re on the last day here in Bali as we fly back to Jakarta early in the morning. Dawn head back to the UK and I head to Bangkok. As it was our last day much of it was spent soaking up the sun around the pool. The weather’s slowly improving here as we move out of the rainy season. In fact we’ve not seen a spot all day – which makes a change. Whilst Dee spent most of her day around the pool I broke away early afternoon in order to have a wander and say my goodbyes (or more realistically au revoir) to various friends I have here. Sadly, I didn’t get to see them all – on this trip, anyway.
Despite the fact I’ve not been here since 2017 I still feel very much at home here. Of course Bali’s changed but in some ways that’s been for the better. I’m fascinated to see how the tourist demographic has morphed. Nowadays there’s so many visitors from India, China, Japan and other ASEAN nations – some of which I can’t work out. Asian women with tattoo’s won’t be from Japan, but there’s quite few here, so where are they from? It’s not a question I can ask directly. I love sitting in a busy market to people watch, trying to guess nationalities. One of the things that amuses me is how Westerners are desperate to get a tan, whilst Asians are desperate to maintain a fair skin – hence looks like this.
The old market’s changed a bit. I remember when it was a collection of small shops and a proper ‘pasir malam’ (night market) of food stalls that were set up on muddy ground. Now there’s this.
Still, some things haven’t changed, like these old wagons which have been ferrying people and goods for decades. The beauty of them? They’re not monsters.
Tomorrow involves a lot of travelling, so my next blog may be a hybrid between Indonesia and Thailand. Plus, I’ll be travelling solo which means my blogs will be more illuminating as I’ll have more time to write. As plans (which are fluid) go – I’ll be back in Java around the 15th February, but there’s going to be a lot of ground covered before then.
See you tomorrow…
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Today we left our luxurious accommodation in Padangbai to return to Ubud and the final leg of Dawn’s trip to Indonesia. Still, it was an interesting day. Alison wasn’t picking us up until the afternoon so we had time to kill between then and checking out. It wasn’t a problem. Our gracious Danish host was happy for us to laze around the pool and watch the world go by until our lift arrived. As the day was overcast we didn’t get fried by the sun, instead we spent our time catching some filtered rays and enjoyed a warm shower courtesy of mother nature!
The birdlife around the pool was amazing. Various species were attracted by the plants so I managed a couple of decent shots using my new Nikon S series 100-400m lens which is proving to be a really useful bit of kit – even at very silly slow shutter speeds that you’d never have got away with in the past.
Nope, I’ve no idea what this one is either…UPDATE: Mystery solved, a Malaysian friend (Alan Bligh) has identified it as a female olive sunbird.
Part of me would have enjoyed staying longer as the hotel was fabulous and the location was so peaceful but there’s just too much to see and do – and ground to cover. On the way back Alison introduced us to another different world. We stopped at a natural sea salt farm in Kusamba, where a lovely old chap called Nyoman Warta and his family produce sea salt by traditional (and rather labour intensive) methods by harvesting sea water off the beach, Nyoman takes it through several natural processes to refine and dry it before it’s bagged and sold. Here’s a few pictures.
Having filled his bags with sea water from the sea behind me, Nyoman scatters the water on the volcanic black sand beach as the first part of the process. The second part of the process takes place inside his wicker building, where the volcanic soil is washed and the salt separated. The final part of the process takes place outdoors where the salt is washed in these long troughs, then the water is allowed to evaporate, leaving behind the pure sea salt which is then dried and bagged up. Inside his workshop, with equipment that hasn’t changed in generations.
Needless to say, we couldn’t resist buying a couple of bags to take home with us. This isn’t something you get to see everyday. We get to see something different on Saturday too, as we’ve been invited to a local family ceremony – but more of that tomorrow…
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Well, that was the plan. Sadly (like many plans) it didn’t quite go the way expected. When we woke up this morning after a night of torrential rain we found the day was dull and overcast. That wouldn’t have been a show-stopper, but Dawn’s digestion decided to interject (or in her case eject). A grumbly tummy isn’t the most ideal thing to have when you’re well away from sensible sanitation, so Dee decided to have a day lounging around our luxurious accommodation. I opted to stay with her in order to be around if needed and also sort out some work and travel stuff.
I’ve now altered my flight so that I’ll be staying on in Asia after Dawn flies back. I’ll be here until the 20th February in order to have a look at various rail projects in this part of the world – including the high-speed line between Jakarta and Bandung on Java. I’ve not planned all my trip yet but the intention is to visit Thailand and Malaysia to catch up with progress on rail schemes there as well. It’ll be a bit of a whirlwind tour but doing it solo means I can separate the trip into first having a holiday with Dee before exploring in more ‘backpacker’ mode (and covering a lot of ground). This means you’ll be getting insights into Asian life, travel (and railways) for some weeks yet.
I had considered staying even longer but I received an invitation to go on a press trip to Norway on the 25th February which was too good to miss. So, I’ll be flying back to the UK and swapping singlets and shorts for something slightly warmer!
As I’d sorted out some business and Dawn was happy to relax at the hotel I ventured out to visit an old haunt – Bias Tugel Beach, which is hidden behind a headland not far from where we’re staying. I’ve fond memories of spending time here back in the 1990s but I’ve not visited since 2003. Getting there involves a trek as there’s no road access, you have to use steep footpaths through forest. Now the locals charge 10,000 rupiah (around 50p) admission in order to keep the beach clean, which it is (just don’t look too hard at the condition of the footpaths). There used to be a couple of ramshackle warungs (eating houses) at the back of the beach. Those have now multiplied and they’ve added sun-loungers and umbrellas, but it’s still a lovely little beach on a gorgeous sea where you can watch ferries and small boats to-ing and fro-ing from Padangbai harbour whilst sipping a cold beer or basking in the sun. Here’s how the beach looked in January 1995…
Here’s a similar view that I took today. Sadly, the dull skies don’t show off the clear waters.
As I was on my own I stayed long enough to have a beer and a bite to eat whilst reminiscing about past times here and watching the ferries ply their trade. Otis Redding eat your heart out!
One of the Lombok – Bali ferries passes a local outrigger canoe taking people on a diving trip.
Before long I headed back to check on the ‘patient’ who’d recovered enough that we managed to grab some time together in the pool. Where we’re staying is very quiet so you’re surrounded by birdsong. I’ve managed to grab a couple of long-lens shots of some of the local feathered-friends, although for the life of me I couldn’t tell you what this one’s called!
Tomorrow we take our leave of Padangbai to head back to Ubud. I’d liked to have stayed longer, but this trip was very much a taster for Dawn – who’s never been to Bali before, so it’s a bit of a whistlestop tour.
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Paul Bigland 