Bali Highlights – Rapid Descent Down The River
We headed 2 hours north for the Agung Mountain, to join the Talaga Waja White Water Rafting Company. Our driver Wayan once again sorted us ‘ best friend’ price which we were not allowed to tell anyone else, it was so good. I imagine it was tourist pricing and actually higher than everywhere else (450,000 rupiah/ $45 AUD each). We had to buy some rafting sandals for 2000 rupiah ($2) to ensure we did not get cuts from the rocks and bamboo.
Max was a bit nervous and spent an extraordinary long time in the very dirty toilet as others patiently waited for over 15 minutes for him to re-emerge. He was a ghostly white and I packed extra water just in case he needed to cool down. We paid our 300,000 rupiah ($30) for a photographer to take 100 photos on the rafting trek. Most were taken on dry land but the scenery was awesome regardless. We met our guide Nyoman, who explained the instructions for rafting using his broken English. The main thing to remember was if he yells ” Boom!” We are about to crash into rocks and we have to hold on.
The start of the tour was mellow allowing the boys to gain confidence early. Within 10 minutes we heard there was a 10 metre drop. We began to get concerned , but were pleasantly surprised when we had to walk down the 10 metre slope and sent the rafts down separately. The tour was amazing with some very spectacular jungle to pass through. We had to lay right down on our backs as we went under bamboo trees that had fallen across the river. We missed hitting them by millimetres on several occasions. The cliffs were at least 150ft high and covered in dense, lush green forest. Surprisingly there were very few visible animals or bugs besides the odd dragon fly or wasp ( no mozzies). Nyoman would tease the boys by frequently slapping his paddle loudly on the water and pretending he had hit a crocodile. I asked if there were any fish in the river, and he said “only small ones, they are called piranhas”.
We had our first stop at a waterfall and bought a can of coke off the locals. Back on the water, our photographer kept popping up at different spots on our journey for another snap or two. Next challenge was the dreaded 4 metre drop. We knew we were in for some action when our guide pulled over, pulled out a pump and inflated extra air into the raft. He told us to “relax” as we approached the lip of the waterfall, he then yelled ” Hold On!” As we fell down the cascading waterfall. It was almost vertical and my face told the story as we crashed into the water below as the raft began to crumple. Amazingly we got through unscathed, with no-one injured or falling out if the raft.
The entire trek was 18km long and lasted over 2.5 hours. There were other raft companies on the river that we enjoyed chasing and soaking them with water from our paddles. The boys were wide eyed when we came across a naked young lady having a shower under a water fall. The local children had great fun yelling out ” hello” and then proceeding to splash us. Our raft company was great because it had the longest trek and also had no steps to walk up. Others had over 400 steps up a vertical slope, which would not be much fun after a hard day’s rafting.
We finished in a large hut where we had a small buffet lunch consisting of Nasi Goreng, rice, noodles and chicken. You always question whether this is the meal that is going to give you ‘Bali Belly’ , but was certainly one of Max’s favourite dishes. He actually asked me whether Club Med had the same chicken? Little did he know we have about 5 different chicken dishes every buffet meal. Wayan then drove us back to Club Med via Sanur which certainly has a Noosa Heads type feel. Zak tried to get some sleep in the back seat, but I only got a minute or two in the front. Wayan charged 40,000 rupiah ($40) for the drive today and has really made our stay a pleasure. He hugs all of us upon leaving, and now calls me ‘Brother’.
