Maikogi!!

Just arrived home from kampung after an emergency trip back. Traffic was quite slow after Pedas, but that's normal la kan. At least there were no major accidents and jams. Am quite tired since I also just came back from my break in Bali...

The famous Uluwatu temple which is located on the edge of a cliff. Look below and see breathtakingly beautiful foam where the sea breaks on the cliff edge.


Had no real plans for this trip which was booked months ago. Only managed to flip through Sali's Discovery book on the flight out. We were kind of expecting a real girlie holiday, just reading and massages and facials and such.

So I was quite amused to find myself in a raft with 3 Japanese boys on the 3rd day - we had been coaxed to go white-water rafting down the Telaga Waja river! Due to logistics, I was separated from Aizan who was in another raft with 3 Emirates cabin crew, including a very cute boy. He he.. rugi, rugi... Since I was outnumbered on my raft, I had to take a crash course in Japanese la. "Maikogi" means to paddle forward, "Usyiro kogi" is paddle backwards and "stopu" means to stop and get ready for a rough ride. Sometimes we had to bend over backwards - literally - to pass under low bridges. There were 2 exciting drops - a 3m and a 4m fall. All in all, it was quite fun. The boatman did all the hard work, though; so all we had to do was hold on and make sure we don't fall out. Only sometimes we had to help him out by paddling.

It was the first time I ever did whitewater rafting, and this was grade 3-4 rapids. Luckily we had a good boatman and there were no unfortunate incidences. One raft flipped while going down a 3 metre fall and another guy was bounced out of his raft as we went along. Apparently this is a very popular activity since the river traffic was quite congested with rafts. For me, it was the price that pushed me to try. It's much cheaper than a Malaysian trip, and we managed to get "harga nusantara" which was slightly cheaper than the "bule" price. It cost us about RM100 including pickup and transfer, equipment, boatman/ guides and lunch.

The beautiful pool at Matahari bungalow. It's filled with spring water, cool in the day and deliciously warm at night.

We had 'surveyed' our street on the 1st day - Legian Rd is the main street in the Kuta tourist district. Hired a car on the 2nd day and went around to Uluwatu, Kintamani and Ubud for sightseeing, shopping and watching a 'kecak' show. 3rd day was rafting. 4th day was pampering and some additional shopping. 5th day was swim, pack, check out and read. Apart from some minor glitches and stuff, it was a very good trip. And thankfully, no bombs. Our hotel is just a few minutes away from the previous bombed club!

A memorial at the site of the previous bomb blast which killed 200 tourists and locals. Just a few minutes away from our hotel.

The Balinese are really nice people. I'm glad we went :-)

p/s - More photos and videos on the Vox site. Watch this space.