Indo 'never a dull moment' nesia

Wow, it is hard to believe that it has been less then 48 hours since our last blog, as it feels like so much has happened. I suppose in traveller's time it is accelerated by weeks, as you are constantly cramming so much into each day, as not to miss a thing...and of course all the interesting and freaky people you meet along the way certainly makes the time fly and also makes for some very interesting stories we like to share with you here at the Mel/Al blog. Yesterday, we spent all day white water rafting down the Ayung River, which has attracted such celebrities/international personalities as Magician David Copperfield, Supermodel Claudia Schiffer and Hollywood Action Star Jean-Claude Van Damme...and have now added such international awesome duos as Mel and Al to add to that list...and one weird socially awkward Canadian named Corey. The day started with an 8:15am pick up where we met our rafting buddy, Corey. Not so much of a morning person is Corey and when I found out he was Canadian, well that just explained it all (just kidding Audrey and Natalia - our lovely Canadian friends)! Seriously, we think that he is just a bit autistic (Aspergers - ish) and does not blend well with others, which is a real shame, as he is travelling for 9 months all by himself, as his friend bailed on him last minute...or maybe he was just making up that he had a friend or it was his imaginary friend...hmmm...bless him. He did end up making friends with the two married retirees and I think it was because he felt safe with mom/dad like personalities. After a very fast (through crazy manic driving on behalf of our taxi driver) drive to the river, which is encased in a jungle, we made it to the rafting site where we were given some extremely sugary sweet diabetes in a cup coffee/tea and fitted for life vest and helmets...both of which had seen better days. I painstakingly spent the entire 15 minutes identifying the least damaged, least effected by lice helmet, while Alex just grabbed any old one...we collected our oars and were sat down to watch a DVD of white water rafting trips of yesteryear set the Shakira's FIFA World Cup This Time For Africa song that you can purchase at the end of your trip, as they video you during the entire 2 1/2 rafting experience from start to finish. We then walked down 137 stairs (yes we counted, as we have a race up 1,097 stairs in Bangkok and we like to get an idea of just how horrific that will really be) to where all the rafts were set up and being pumped full of air. There were about 35 people in total all revved up to raft, mostly from China and Australia. We were put into groups (ours was me, Al and ever happy, chatty, social butterfly Corey and a guide) and set up in some strategic pattern on the rafts and given some instructions about how to use the oars safely and effectively and how to bounce and lean back to avoid getting your head chopped off on low bamboo bridges or cut against jagged rocks that line the rivers edge. Then its go time baby and off we went down a quite vigorous Ayung River through some of the most intensely breathtaking and spectacular scenery we have viewed to date...it renders me speechless and we wish we could post pictures of some of the beauty that we beheld, but unfortunately we brought our disposable waterproof camera from Boots to ensure that our new camera did not suffer anymore water damage than it did during monsoon in India. This river runs through a deep canyon with waterfalls speckling each bend and tall plants with giant magenta coloured leaves atop them. The rapids are mild and usually only reach a Class 2 rapid ranking (out of 5), but the scenery and the sheer magnitude of beauty one gets to inhale is well worth the trip...plus we got a great deal, which is unheard of in Asia. We made a point to ask pretty much every single person there how much they spent on their rafting adventure and ours was cheapest by almost 100%...we are getting better at bargaining...a bit! Oh, and a little trivia for all you buffs out there (Matt), the Ayung River is the longest River on the Indonesian Island of Bali running 75km from the northern mountain ranges. So, we raft our little hearts out and finally make it to a giant waterfall and get to hike up a rocky and quite steep path to the base of the waterfall and we get to stand underneath it not only for the picture opportunity, but to feel the pounding of the fresh water on your head to cool off and have a sip. I noticed Alex had been fumbling with her helmet the whole time, no doubt the lack of time and focus in choosing a helmet proved to be an issue, as her helmet was missing a huge piece of foam in the front that makes it stay on ones head so after trying (in vain) to tighten it and maneuver the straps, we decided to take turns wearing it...the most uncomfortable and stress inducing helmet of all time. We climbed back down the pathway and got back to the river rafting, which took us around rocky corners, under bamboo bridges, through tree covered river corridors, through rice fields, through rushing white water waves surging over boulders hidden beneath, past more stunning baby and mommy waterfalls...tiny bat-like black birds and dragon/damsel flies joined us on some stints of our rafting expedition and then all of sudden our guide stopped and told us all to lie back and put our feet all the way on the top of the front of the boat, lift our mid-sections (which Alex loved, as it was a great core/abdominal workout) and pass him our oars to secure to the back of the raft. Why ever would he make us get into this funny position and pass him our oars you ask...well to get ready for the 10meter drop we were about to encounter of course. It came and went so fast we almost could not even prepare...slowly slowly slowly then whoosh...down the drop we went flipping our legs over our head behind us and bouncing back up from underneath the water. What a rush! It was awesome! Then we sat and watched the other rafts do the same thing...all the faces on the rafters...priceless. We then calmly rafted the last 15 minutes taking in all the beautiful surroundings and having a quick dip in bit of the river that had a massively strong current that took you down the river, despite your best efforts to swim against it...we all took turns racing each other to no avail...the river always won, as Mother Nature usually does! We then parked the raft at the base of the 137 steps and began walking up, though it didn't really even seem that long, as we were beaming from the spectacular 2/ and 1/2 hour rafting adventure and the fact that I did not get injured once, did not fly out off the raft once, despite being bumped a few times and catapulting forward a few times...what a success story after the mountain biking incident. At the tippy top of the mountain was a buffet lunch waiting for us all with a panoramic view of the mountain and the Ayung River...what a treat. Of course, Alex and I are selective vegetarians throughout Asia and the vegetarian selection of food was less than desirable, but we managed to make a delectable plate of white rice, salad and chips (french fries) with some corn soup on the side and a bit of fruit for dessert and then we were taken back home in the racing taxi at which time Corey had perked up a bit, but not too much and we learned that he works as an electrician on oil rigs making good money and that his mother calls him every Monday night like clock work. He supported me in my DVD obsession, which I appreciated, as Alex thinks it is a problem that I need to seek help about. We made it home in one piece and got dressed to have dinner in a pub-like restaurant and watch the Arsenal/Blackburn football (soccer) game and drank our 1 Bintang beer. Then, we went to sleep and at about 3:00am, a naked extremely drunk man/boy was trying to break into our room and was banging on the door. We think he also was going to urinate on the clothing we had laid outside to dry so we yelled at him through the window and monitored his erratic behaviour for about 4 hours until he passed out on the floor...at which time we raced outside, grabbed our clothing and gathered some pictorial evidence just in case the police became involved for some reason (Matt would appreciate and understand this)! He then woke up again and looked through the trash over and over again, pacing up and down the porch area yelling out, "Erica, Erica," and then disappeared into the early hours of the morning. At about 10:00am when we left our room, we saw him downstairs talking to the hostel staff (who could not understand what he was saying, as he was still drunk and they do not speak English). We talked to him and learned that his name was Stuart, he is Australian, Erica is a mate's American girlfriend that he clearly fancies, he spent the night drinking something called Jungle Juice that actually has hallucinogenic properties, he cannot remember anything about last night, he has some random girl's scooter, he cannot find his wallet or hostel room key, he has been travelling for 2 months of a year long trip (of which he has only spent time here in Bali...lame) and he is a complete tool! So, we left him to try and sort himself out, though something tells us this ain't his first rodeo if you know what I mean and we left for an amazing day at the Waterbon Water Park located right smack dab in the middle of millions of shops and across the street from a mall...such a strange place for a water park, but what a fun day we had. Alex forced me to ride the Climax, which I described a bit through pictures on the photo stream and it is literally unlike any ride I have ever been on. You stand in a clear plastic coffin like box awaiting the 3...2...1...countdown at which time the floor drops from beneath you and you literally free fall for about 3 seconds (a very long time when free falling) and get swooshed around an uphill curve down another slight hill into a stream of water that goes right up your nose along with your bathing suit that goes right up your ass...and yes, people go on this ride over and over and over again. We then made our way around to the remaining 12 tube/slide rides and then I needed a throw up break, as I was feeling very nauseous and unwell so we scammed some lounger chairs in the shade and watched a family of four forget to pack away their very expensive and full bottle of sun block when they left for the day (of which we stole) and made some really nice/normal Australia and English friends named Larissa, Sheree and Tom. Can you guess which one is English...you guessed it...Tom. Tom was backpacking in Australia about 3 years ago and met and fell in love with Sheree and he has now relocated to Australia and Larissa is their friend. They are holidaying in Bali for about 10 days, as pretty much every single Australia does, and will be leaving in about a week's time. They live in Perth and gave us some great tips for where to travel in Australia and were just generally lovely normal people...we closed down the park returning to each ride one last time and then ate a delicious and not too expensive sushi dinner (as we needed our drug fix) and now we are sitting in the hottest internet cafe in the history of the world. We leave tomorrow for some new adventures on the island of Java, but will miss Bali (I did misjudge it initially) and all it has to offer.