Indo - Bkk 2015 Day 5: Bali, Indonesia

DAY 5: 19 MAY 2015

 It's whitewater rafting day!
This has been something which I looked forward to ever since we decided to
extend our trip to Bali.
Initially, we intended to book the rafting session when we arrive in Bali.
However, our driver mentioned that he could book it for us at Rp300,000 per person
for Telaga Waja River rafting.
That included a return transfer, buffet lunch and the necessary equipment.
This was a good deal and hassle free, so we decided to book it!

We got ready by 8am as the pick up timing was between 8 and 8.30am.
We didn't get to choose which company we wanted to join and we only got to know when
the van arrived, which was BMW rafting.
From Kuta to the Telaga Waja rafting spot, it took close to 1.5 hours.

Upon arrival, we left our bags in the van, taking only our valuables with us.
There was a booth selling t-shirts and rafting sandals.
But most of us just wore slippers, which was fine.
We were given a plastic bag and a waterproof bag to be tied to our raft during the session.
Thereafter, we had to put on our life jacket and helmet and were given our oars....and off we went!

Getting ready to get to our raft

Once we got into the raft, we had a briefing on the two types of paddle techniques and what

should be done when our raft gets stuck on the rocks.

I did dragon boating  and kayaking courses before so I was familiar with forward and back paddles.

After the briefing, we started our 2 hours ride down the Telaga Waja river!

Telaga Waja river is actually a class III rapids and it is 17km long.

For those who prefer something less intense, you can choose the Ayung river instead,

which is a class I-II rapids.

The river had lots of rocks and the rapids were quite fast.

There was a difficult section during the first half of the course and our raft started filling

up with water and tipped till it was almost vertical.

I was the safest amongst all five of us and I only got the sense of urgency when Amanda

came running to my side.

The instructor actually told the couple to move to the front, where I was seated,

so as to stop the raft from filling too much water.

In the end, because of us, the next raft that came along capsized.

And the couple in our raft got scolded by another instructor. 

After that incident, I was more careful and listened to every single instruction given.

But I enjoyed myself a lot as the rapids were really thrilling and the scenery was just gorgeous.

There was a rest stop which had a waterfall after an hour of rafting.
And coincidentally, I met a friend of mine from Ngee Ann!

We continued with the second half of the course after a short rest.
The rapids were slightly calmer compared to the first half but it was still fun!
Towards the end of the course, there was a 4 metres drop.
I was feeling a little panicky as I hated the feeling of free fall which explains why I dislike
rollercoaster rides.
The instructor gave really concise instructions as to where we were supposed to sit and
where should we hold.
Then off we went!
The drop was not as scary as I had expected and it all happened really quickly.
The only scary part was the part when the raft was about to drop because I was seated
right at the front of the raft.

After paddling for another 1km, we have arrived at the end of the course.

We tipped our instructor with Rp50,000 since he did bring us back safely.

It was an interesting sight to see how the ladies carried the deflated rafts back to the 

starting point by balancing them on their heads.

It must have been very exhausting too, given the fact that they had to climb at least 100 steps up!

 Once we reached the top, we washed up before heading to the buffet table for our lunch.
The lunch was good and it was nice dining beside nature.

After a 1.5 hour drive back to Kuta, we headed for the beach!
Initially we planned to visit the Discovery Mall, but we wanted to watch the sunset.
So, we spent an hour at Kuta beach, waiting for the sun to set and watching the numerous
surfers out in the waters.

Evenings at Kuta beach

Kuta beach

A surfer riding the waves

The hour on the beach actually didn't feel that long.

Many mentioned how populated the beach is, but I thought that the crowd was not

too bad and it kind of made the beach more lively.

Watching the surfers riding the waves also made me want to learn how to surf in future!

Once the sun had set, we headed to a restaurant called Bamboo Corner,

conveniently located in Poppies Lane 1.

This restaurant serves affordable Indonesian cuisines and there were many

good reviews online as well.

Crab curry

Amanda and I ordered two dishes to share and two bintang beers.
The crab curry was surprisingly quite good!
It had a lot of meat despite its tiny size, and it went rather well with the curry.
However, if I were to choose between black pepper crab and this...I will choose black
pepper crab without any hesitation.
Definitely one of my favourites in Singapore.

After dinner, we headed back to Spa by Sole for a massage and the masseurs
recognised us right away.
Either because of the conversations we had yesterday or they remembered the generous tip.
But we really needed the massage today because my arms were sore from all
the paddling (the couple did not paddle most of the time).

So, that was the end of our day 5!