Bali - Echo Beach & Canngu

So I spent a while hanging out on Echo Beach - a beach with construction work going on on it, and not the prettiest beach I've ever seen. But it had whopper waves! I met my gorgeous amazing Dutch roomie Sanne - who was a big bright bubble of boundless energy and enthusiasm. I loved her and wanted to be her instantly!
Sanne was hanging around Echo Beach to do a surfing camp on the 5th July. We arranged to meet later for drinks and dinner. Craig biked over to see me and we had some lunch at Echo Beach and then met Sanne and her 2 US dudes later for drinks and chats. The 2 US Guys were from California and had been looking after Sanne and bringing her out surfing with them. We had a grand auld chat and then myself and Sanne bid adieu to the lads and had another beer and some awesome chats on the rooftop of our hostel Echoland. Sanne was wise beyond her years and great fun.

Next day I rented a motorbike - my first time renting a moped/scooter/bike on my own. I was pretty nervous but once I figured out how to start the yoke (after sitting on it for 10 minutes and twisting keys and what not, I had to ask the guy in reception), I had a great time wobbling off up the road and out on the quieter roads of Echo Beach. It felt like THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE! It was awesome. Ok so I was only going about 10kph but it was still ace. I ''zoomed'' off around Canngu and biked to another beach 5 minutes down the road. I dumped the bike and then walked up and down a few deserted beaches for an hour and a half before biking back to the gaff.

Craig biked over to Echo and we went (me on the back of his bike as I didn't know if I was ready for the rambunctiousness that is the Bali Highways) to Tanah Lot (land in the sea) - a lovely old temple that sits on a large rock just off the shore. Tanah Lot is supposed to be the work of the 15th-century priest Nirartha. During his travels along the south coast he saw the rock-island's beautiful setting and rested there. Some fishermen saw him, and bought him gifts. Nirartha then spent the night on the little island. Later he spoke to the fishermen and told them to build a shrine on the rock for he felt it to be a holy place to worship the Balinese sea gods.

We crossed a small patch of sea to get over to the temple, paid the Holi Man and got blessed with rice and drippy stuff. Then we mosied around and sat watching the sea til it was dark. There was no sunset but it was pretty beautiful. We biked it back to Echoland and met Sanne who had arranged for us all to go to Seminyak to meet the 2 US Guys and their pals for dinner. So off we went -with not a clue as to where we were going. The blind leading the blind.
We nearly got there so many times but once we got to where we thought the lads were, it started lashing rain, so we camped out in a pizza joint for a while. Then grabbed some food in a cheaper place nearby. Unfortunately after another hour of biking around, we still hadn't found the lads and then Sanne got a text to say they had gone home! ARRRGH. It was a hilarious disaster of an evening but we had a good nighttime tour of Bali and then had a beer on our rooftop!

The following day Sanne moved to the gaff where the US lads were and I decided to rent a bike again and try moped myself across the highways of Bali to meet Craig in Sanur. I thought it was only fair to give him a day off scooting and so off I set. I was going ok actually, manouevering myself in and out of the crazy Bali traffic. (No easy feat!) Anywho I pulled in to check my GPS and make sure I was going the right way (I wasn't) and then when I started up the bike again, I accelerated and braked at the same time and lost control of the bike. The back wheel whizzed out from under me, I fell over, whacked my chin off the ground and the bike fell on top of me. OOOPS. It wasn't sore or anything. It was mostly my pride that was damaged as lots of little Balinese people had witnessed my incompetence!! A small woman came over to help me pick up the bike and I took a few minutes to calm myself and steel myself to get back on the bike again and head back into the highway traffic!
So off I went again on my journey - probably not the easiest place to learn how to use a moped really - the Bali Highways - but sure where's the fun in learning somewhere easy.

It took me bleedin ages to get to Sanur. On the way a policeman flagged me down and asked for my license and registration. I said I didn't have one. (I didn't) And he said I would have to pay a fine of 300,000. I said I only had 100,000 (I had this ready in a separate fining pocket - they fine foreigners so often, ye need a separate 'fine' purse) and paid the man. And off I went again. Another half an hour later, I found the Pineapple Backpackers joint at last. LOL. It was 4.20pm. I'd left at 2.30pm. BWAHAHAHAHAHA

Anyways I met Craig and we went for some nosh on the beach, before he had to chaperone me back across the Balinese Highways to Echo beach - IN THE DARK. It was certainly challenging. So much for giving poor Craig a day off motorbiking round the island.

FUNTIMES! :D