Matahari Tulamben Resort Bali

... for me to go snorkelling today. One thing I noticed about Tulamben today was the change in the weather, the whole of the south is feeling the effects of the rainy season, whereas because Tulamben is located behind Gunung Agung the rainclouds cannot get to Tulamben, meaning within 30 minutes you can go from miserable drizzle to gorgeous,scorching hot sun and clear blue skies. The thing I love about Tulamben is how it is like the real Bali as I imagined it ...

... had another banana pancake- There is another theme developing! I saved a canadian girl from here stalker who followed her off the boat. Georgia and I jung out for the enxt 4 days on the islands. She is only 18 and so we dont have much in common but most travelers here are in couples or groupes so it was just nice to have someone to dive with, to walk with and drink with :-) I did 2 dives. The 1st was ok but I ...

... arm twisting needed given the good company they were. I'd no food in me which was a disaster. We decided to sample some of the local speciality cocktails - which proved to be too lethal for me (and Sindre). We were both without food. After fertilising a local pineapple tree I did my usual and made my way home knowing I'd regret my first night on the tear in the morning. I'd left the guys without saying goodbye much like I do at home when I've had ...

... up shop for the night. I found a very uncomfortable bench inside the air-conditioned departures terminal. I sat there & read, iPod'ed & just about anything I could do to occupy time. I returned to the café to see my new friend & told her to come find me at my new house once her shift was down. Around 9:30pm, she found me trying to stay busy. Feeling sorry for me (I think anyways) she sat & talked for a few hours with me. She turned out to be ...

... yup-different) to get the sweet spot. Done, I grab Lynn, settle, and am chillin on the balcony with-in 20 minutes. I can't believe we got "The Bungalow", nice. Getting acclimated to a small (all Muslim) island paradise during Ramadan was new to us. The call to prayer over the loudspeakers during the day were cool but the one, that was the sleep-killer, was the morning rousting that got people up to eat before fasting around 4:00 AM, doughhh ...

... place, a bit manky but it was only for one night. We walked to the bombing memorial Ground Zero, so sad, so many people died there, 50% of them were Australians! We enjoyed some of the nightlife in Kuta, you could buy a cocktail bucket for about 2euro.. mad! All tourists were taking full advantage of the offer and singing Karaoke...badly!! We enjoyed a relaxing day at the surfers beach before catching a flight to Perth in Australia.

... trip to Gili Trawangan in order to complete a visa transaction and took the public ferry for the first time. Once I arrived on the island I realized I had paid too much for transport. But when I came back to Lombok I bought my ticket directly from the ferry office and found that it was only RM7,000 which translates to about $7. Either way it was an inexpensive journey and the public ferry, while a bit crowded and splashy, was not that bad ...

... him, we could hardly see him! We saw a couple of bumphead parrot fish which are these huge grey things with bumps on their heads and white 'beaks' which, from far away look like a massive row of white teeth! Luckily they are harmless but it was enough to make my heart race!! There were quite a few other divers around on this dive which was actually a bit offputting - I thought it would put my mind at ease to be surrounded by other people but I kept catching sight of them in the ...

... right down to the floor (about three meters) and the instructor hurried over to pick me up. His name was Darta, and he was very teachery, but also fun, so we all had a good time. He really liked big fish. As Travis was navigating a line, he spotted a huge barracuda. We swam right over it a couple times. The remainder of the dive we explored the wall, which was very beautiful and full of pretty fish and corals and some odd clams that I ...

... temples, elephant cave, spring water a great view of the volcano and lake and the most important temple in Bali, in reality a collection of about 20 beautiful temples almost on top of the mountain. By 6 pm we were in Tulamben, half sleep since it was a long journey not as much for the distance but it is all mountain terrain with narrow curves left and right which makes the trip take quite some time. Once at the guesthouse which was very ...