Motorcycle explorations

Peguyangan Waterfall

We wanted to have an early start today so that we would avoid as much of the heat as possible during our motorbike explorations.  It seemed like a good day to do land-based activities as being Nyepi Laut, no one (or boats) is allowed to be in the water or even on the beach.  We set off around 0815 after breakfast.

First up was Peguyangan Waterfall.  The route took us inland through good and bad patches of road.  A lot of it was windy and steep.  The Honda Vario bike handled most of it very well, said Kim.  Just when you expect it to conk out on the steep ascent, it always comes up with the power when we needed it.

We parked at the entrance to the falls and rented sarongs as the site also has a temple.  No temple sash was required here for some reason.  Soon after we passed through the gate, the steep blue metal stairs began.  They went on and on varying between steep and ladder-like.

The cantilevered stairs were an engineering marvel.  For those not into that, the view of the surrounding cliffs and water were spectacular.

After about 30 minutes we arrived at the waterfalls.  The trouble is there wasn’t a really a waterfall but some flowing water.  It seemed to have been siphoned off for the area’s water supply as well.  The Indonesian name seemed to suggest it to be a spring of a water source but  somehow in English it was a waterfall!

This was a perfect example of the journey being more spectacular than the destination.  The hike up was a soaking drenching experienced.  We would have paid a lot of money for cold drinks at the top but it was only marginally more expensive than elsewhere.

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Kelingking Beach

After a rest, we continued on the road Kelingking Beach, again guided by Google Maps on my phone. The day wouldn’t have been possible without some form of navigation as roads weren’t straight forward and there was little in terms of sign-posts.

The journey took around 45 minutes with bad potholed roads again.  As with other places, we paid for parking before taking a short walk to the cliff where we could look down at Kelingking Beach.

Looking down, to my surprise, were people on the beach and in the water.  This was completely against the prohibitions of Nyepi Laut which had been explained to me.  A local in the tourist industry tried to tell me that prohibitions only apply to believers.

We took a look at the path down.  I had set my mind on not attempting it and after the walk down to the “waterfall” and back earlier, the decision had been strongly reinforced.  Plus it would be disrespectful to locals to be on the beach and swimming there today … and it would be pointless to be down there without swimming!

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It was scorching hot and we needed to cool off.  Lunch was also timely for me but Kim wasn’t hungry.  I had a capcai and a drink while he only had a drink.  There were a couple of American women back from the climb walking around in their bikini tops and g-strings and then sitting down for lunch.  We both thought it was a little under-dressed for the conservative local culture.

Riding off from the parking area, the bike didn’t feel right.  Taking a look, the rear tyre was flat.  We asked the parking wardens if anyone could help.  Fortunately, one of them had a tyre workshop.  He rode off with the flat tyre and was back within 20 minutes with it fixed.  He showed us how the area surrounding the valve had leaked.   All done for IDR60K (NZD6).

We continued to the Broken Beach and Angel’s Billabong area.  It was meant to be a 30 minute ride.  As we got closer the road got worse.  With 4km to go, Kim didn’t feel comfortable.  It would be a total of 8km of potholes that would put the bike, tyre and ourselves at risk. Perhaps we are getting too old and think too much about the consequence of things.

He turned the bike around to head back but accidentally turned the handle/accelerator, propelling the bike into the padi field with him in tow.  Fortunately all he suffered was a slightly cut small toe.  The both of us pulled hard to retrieve the bike back out of the padi field.  We were glad he wasn’t injured and the bike wasn’t damaged.

Travelling back to our hotel, we took a slightly different route, also through the inland area.  We stopped for a drink once we reached the coast again at a nice bar overlooking the sea and Bali.

We had a mid-afternoon cool-off in the pool followed by air-con time in the room.  It was rather needed after the hot and rough exploration.  I don’t know how the Europeans can handle so much sun … I suppose they don’t get much of it during their winter.

After dinner nearby, we rode the bike back to return it.  It didn’t feel right.  Stopping for a look, the rear tyre was flat again.  We knocked on the door where we had picked it up.  No one answered.  We left the bike, key and helmet plus the part that was replaced  (valve).

We had been very lucky that both punctures didn’t leave us stranded.  Time to call it a day!