Jason Lunn.com/ Surfing and life in Indonesia

I have been in Lombok for 3 days now, started to sort a few things out with the land I am buying, 5 of us chopped down a whole bunch of trees and bamboo today and nearly started a forrest fire halfway up the hill.

FINALLY Managed to contain it though,.. just!! everything is sooo dry as we are approaching the end of the wet season. Today the wind picked up when somebody I employed decided to burn some of the old bamboo and palm fronds… then whoosh, it shot all the way up the hill. Now I am covered in scratches and small cuts and a few burns  all up my shins from wearing shorts.

Today was chainsaw day…

For the first time I finally surfed Impossibles today, It is the left hand point break between Dreamlands and Padang Padang. Swell still pumping, winds off shore, good size waves all afternoon. Me and Johan both got a few lengthy high spped waves to day so that was great. We went in at 2pmish mid tide 1.5m and came out at low .5m it worked really well at around 1.2m ish good size and shape, reef super sharp here and now I have a whole bunch of scrapes again all over my feet and a few on my hands.

So here we go more sea ulcers on the way. We both had to walk bare foot back over the reef on the way out. I got dragged accross the reef today whilst swimming  back to shore trying to recover my escaping surfboard after my leash snapped!! Then, Aghhh!! a damn piece of coral gets broken and lodged in the ball of my right foot so in the Warung I  had to dig it out with my thumbnail so that it does not get infected, live coral is really infectous and now this small hole is really sore now..

Impossibles Stats– needs a good size swell 6 ft + @ 14 seconds or more bigger the better. A 1.5m tide seemed perfect to get in and out of the break as reef covered enough to paddle freely over without scraping fins on the coral. Surfable at a .5m tide but super painful getting in and out without reef boots. Reef really sharp so rising tide better to come back in. Dry season wave, and the trade winds from south east blow offshore all day. Gets pretty crowded, called Impossibles as  it runs really fast and can be difficult to make the sections, expect to be dropped in on by surfers with no faith that your making them. Lots of take off points down the line, shallow on the inside but a great wave,..

Ok, Alexa is at work this week and I have about 6 days to fill without surf whilst I am visiting Bandung, I have arrived in the evening and been introduced to a place with a very different feel and vibe to Bali, Bandung feels like a ghetto that is transforming block by block into a modern metropolis. It is very high in contrast architecturally. Rusty corrugated rooftop shanty towns fill the spaces between the newish large supermalls, Carrefour, Makro etc. so whilst online in Bandung Super Mall I decide to type into Google “Bandung tourist attractions” to see what is on offer for me to occupy the next 6 days whilst Alexa is working. This was basically the information that came up.

” Bandung has very little to offer the tourist traveling through Indonesia, apart from Shopping Malls and factory fashion outlets which are popular with the local surrounding communities. Its basic infrastructure is not tourist friendly, the public transport comprises of cramped mini vans, the pavements are appauling and dangerous to walk along, there is a distinct lack of understanding of the English language amongst the local businesses and their workforce. Apart from the volcano 1hr away there is little on offer that compares to other Indonesian destinations, most tourists sidestep Bandung and head directly to Jakarta, Jogyakarta or the increasingly popular destination Bali so called “The island of the gods”

So here I am having just read what I quickly found out to be true, horrendous traffic, lots of shiny shopping malls and ghettos in between, I am staying in the top floor loft room at a hotel/motel “Kos” next to a busy dual carriage way and a Mosque that turns on its loudspeakers for a prayer broadcast at 5am in the morning. Bottom line; It has been great to see Alexa, she has been visiting me before and after her work, the times we have shared have been truly wonderful, I like her a lot and care for her dearly, but I have decided to change my initial plans of staying for 6 days and blowout my prepaid airfares having concluded that 2 days here , a trip to a park, a shopping mall and a museum is enough. So back to sit in the sea in Bali, Johan’s back andthe swell is pumping

So below are some photos of Bandung Super Mall, housing world renowned brands, which to be fair reminded me of being back in the UK at Cribbs Causeway in Bristol. KFC, Honda, Toyota, Mothercare, La Senza, Hugo Boss etc. standard western stuff. The mall also had a small western style fairground which I am sure all the screaming young Indo children from Bandung love, My experience was of their screams as i tried to take advantage of the free wifi, as their screams seemed to get louder with every coffee refill that I drank. Also included below are a few photos taken of the surrounding road conditions travelled along in the minivan on the way. There are  also many cycle taxis in Bandung which are personally and elaborately decorated which is an interesting sight to see,,,

Jakarta Airport again;

So now I am sitting in Jakarta International Airport having sat on a cramped coach for 3 and a half hours waiting to board a Lion Air domestic flight back to Bali. The 6 days I had planned in Bandung were beyond my Indonesian tolerance threshhold. Hot, cloudy, humid and no waves or ocean nearby. Hellish traffic, pollution, smog shopping malls and the Mosque on loudspeaker at 5am. That is my limit, Alexa is a busy girl, If she was more available this week no doubt I would have stayed the full 6 days but she is not, so I have decided to get out of here… However to Bandung’s credit, I spent one afternoon in a big National Park called Dago Pakar, which had some of the tallest trees I have seen, beautiful fauna, some caves and a beautiful meandering river through it that unfortunately housed more plastic bags than the average supermarket. Biodegradeable is not yet in the Indonesian daily thought and action patterns. Apparently years of throwing the palm leaves and coconut husks on the floor that their food is wrapped in, have yet to be broken and the understanding that plastic bags behave differently in the environment is yet to be learned and embraced.. So yet again I am sitting in Jakarta Airport  (4th time in the last 10 months) and my plane is delayed so I am writing this..

A few pics of the leaves, trees, caves and caverns..a breath of fresh air from a chaotic city

Surfed Kuta reefs Airport left with my friend Richard Solana today, Yesterday he set up a wordpress blog so I will link to it here soon. As far as Kuta Reefs went today the swell is still here and the waves pumping. I met a few English surfers in the sea looks like the winter is on its way there and everyone is heading out here for warmer weather.

Tomorrow I will fly to Bandung in Java Indonesia to see my friend Alexa for a week or so, we have still been keeping in touch and seem to get on really well on the phone and in each others company. She is really informative and always stays in touch, especially to let me know when she is coming. It is always a pleasure to hear her voice, which I do most days, she speaks fluent English so we communicate well compared to the conversations I have with most Indonesians. No waves in Bandung so it will be Blog photo update time..

Here are a few photographs I took of her from her recent time in Bali when she came with her mother and sister, a very elegant and fun young woman,.

Johan Pontell from Sweden has also returned back in Bali as has my friend Vince from Holland so we should be able to go for a surf or a skate together soon..

Some Great skateboard footage found online Bucky Laseks new backyard concrete bowl

5  Star swell according to www.magicseaweed .com approx 8.5ft at 16 second period for the next 3 days. I surfed Canggu, Tugu beach the other day a bit fat but and best suited to a longboard, also super crowded with beginners (including myself) the occasional long left and odd right, then Ku De ta in the afternoon at low tide.

Low Tide in Bali,.. places to surf,

so far from my experience this year when the dry season trade winds are in full effect Dreamlands (Pecatu Indah Resort) works great on an 8ft+ swell from a 0.1 to a 0.9m tide. Ku de ta also works good but gets blown out with the trade winds coming in cross shore so low tide and no wind is a good one there. Also it is a sand bottom beach break so good for learning on. I prefer Dreamlands anyday though.

Surfed Dreamlands this morning super clean and about 6ft to 8ft on the sets only about 5-10 guys out great fun. Lefts running fast then closing out, the rights were a bit more manageable. Definitely got worked and smashed around like a human washing machine by a few of the large clean up sets.  Then surfed Uluwatu in the afternoon on the Bombie. Not so much fun took 2 very large waves in about 3 hrs of paddling against a horrendous rip current, sore shoulders now.

Surfed Sarangan on the east coast yesterday as the wind turned then they turned back again today so I surfed possibly for the last time this year Dreamland.. Swell not as powerful long wait for waves. Afterwards I sat in the infinity swimming pool and watched the sunset,..great vibe at Dreamlands upstairs lounge/pool bar. Infinity edged swimming pools seem all the fashion but this really i the only one I have witnessed that captures that idylic lost horizon moment.

have really noisy neighbours in Mekar Jaya hotel at the moment, a whole group of Iranians seem to have group booked and taken over the place, really irritatingly loud, brash, noisy and inconsiderate of all the other guests, If they do not leave soon I will, not a good crowd to be near, seem to be like a whole bunch of real life Ali G’s without the yellow jumpsuits..

Globe concrete skatepark, sick smooth cement concrete coping 4 good bowled out corners, free floodlights until 8pm, Set in a backdrop of palm trees. New Zealand skateboard legend Gregor Rankin has been living in Bali the last 18/19 years surfing and has hooked up with Globe to produce this sick little skatepark! I skated last night for about 3hrs on various peoples skateboards, It felt good to smith grind some concrete coping again. I haven t skated in over a year so my legs are weak and my knees are sore today. Concrete hurts just as much as it ever did, shoulder took a hit yesterday but all the same its worth the pain. Pictures to follow…

If you want to skate there its located in Tuban, drive down the Ngurah Rai Bypass towards Jimbaran Mc Donalds when you pass surfers Paradise on the right hand side you are nearly there, keep an eye out for the big Hindu temple next on the right when you pass it do a u turn and go back up the by pass the other way and take the left at the temple then its about 400 yds down on the right,.. ask someone at the end its behind a closed gate and wall so you will not see it. enjoy! A few shots below of Gregor Rankin and Richard Solana cruising through the bowls

Richard Solana, pictured below, Surfer, Skateboarder and Photographer stayed at Mekar Jaya Bungalows for quite while earlier this year, he is back in town so we have been surfing together  recently having some fun and he took me to see the new Globe skatepark in Tuban Bali.. so I managed to borrow his camera to take a few pics and will post them asap..

Happy Birthday Nathan, Happy Birthday Reece, thinking of you both!

Surfed Uluwatu today, small waves swell dropping off a bit, not a cloud in the sky scorching hot all day, sunburnt bald head!

There has been a few natural disasters here in Indonesia in the last few days with a heavy earthquake in Padang Sumatra with quite a few people killed. To some peoples dissapointment I am sure however I am not one of them.

I was woken by the Bali earthquake last week that shook the villa in Lombok where I was staying. So thanks to all my friends who recently emailed me to check I am all ok it means a lot to me.

On the love / relationship trying not to become a serial womaniser situation for your information Alexa has been in town for the last 4 days and she seriously shakes my world more than any earthquake could!! I have been playing with what has turned out to be a little Indonesian volcano in a floral dress with a Louis Vitton purse and handbag. So I have been playing with fire most of this week in between driving her mum and sister all around Bali’s famous tourist attractions..

Crazy girl has been using the words marriage and children in her vocabulary recently, then brings her Mum and sister on the plane from Jakarta to Bali and introduces them to me, Ok a quick Aghhh!.. like I said there are earthquakes and earthquakes and for me this is a major tremor!

I do not know whether to count my blessings or hold my breath and count to ten.. Anyway life could be a lot worse, we had lots of fun together and I have just returned from the airport having dropped them all off this evening. I know I will feel a bit lost tomorrow as I like her company but, there is a bit of swell so I will go surfing instead..

PS British Consulate is in No 20 JL Tirda Nati in Sanur Bali 15 mins from my hotel, I know this as I just applied for a new 10 year passport today. It only takes 15 days here and I guessed it would be less hassle than renewing it in the UK,.. this is based on my previous experience with the passport office in the UK.

So thats the news to date have lots of new photos to go up soon.