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Deeper Diving posted Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Rice, rice, rice. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I did a diving trip to the east coast of Bali island to a shipwreck from World War II. This only being my 5th dive I'm still very much an amateur. With my basic open water PADI license I can dive down to 18m. Without being able to afford any decent diving trips in Australia I've only reached 15m. Either way, this dive I reached a mind numbing 28m at the ship wreak. After time submerged I handled it well but after exiting the water my body wasn't so well. With my slight problems with the pressure and equalizing the air inside my head, it gave me a 2 hr. migraine. With my buoyancy issues not remaining at the same level, floating and sinking left me later blowing my nose and finding some blood mixed with my nose goblins. Thankfully it was temporary and nothing to worry about.
Before fleeing the dirty, noisy , congested town of Kuta. I haggled and bargained the market shop owners so I could prolong my mini shopping spree. I didn't do bad but I wouldn't say I did particularly good either. My $10 Kmart watch didn't hold up well in 28m underwater, so a imitation Adidas watch replaced it at 50000Rupiahs($8.50), of course after buying it, the guy 10 stalls past says he would've sold it for Rp35000. Granted a lesson learned. If I act like I just bought one, they'll try harder to sell me another one cheaper.
8hrs by bus and boat ferry is how long it took to reach the neighboring island of Lombok, just east of Bali island. Through a travel company is how I booked it. The service I thought was brilliant when 2 men confirmed that I was getting on the ferry with the bags near my feet they were quick to throw my luggage on their back, and insisted I follow them to the massive rusty vessel. Between 3 other guys my heavy sac was shifted around. I was dumbfounded when they concluded their 600m trek and sat my bags down lightly expecting Rp50000($8.50) Of course I would've carried them myself if I'd known better. But that answer didn't suffice in lieu of payment. Realizing when the haggling escalated that being cornered by 5 porters on the quiet top deck of the ferry wasn't the most advantageous position, I moved. I picked up my bags and forced my way past the men, down to the busy main level. It seems my constant Rp5000 offer was an insult, so he threw it back at me. Roughly 10-15mins had passed when I knew someone had to break it off. I gave in and said Rp10000 was all he'd see. It wasn't a second that he grabbed it, cursed something in Indonesian and fled. Lesson learned, people don't do favours for tourist over here and nothing is free especially when they tell you it is. I'm told there's a big difference between Lombok and Bali.
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