The last 4 weeks of my travels have been pretty slow pace wise in comparison to the last few months – but it’s been one dominated by surfing!
Having bounced around every few days for the best part of 5 months I decided to change my game plan and take a slight break from the actual travel side of things, sit tight in one spot for more than 3 nights and get some serious work done on the blogging side of things.
So after landing in Kuta, Bali and meeting up with Rich (aka @Asia_Surf and the man behind the soon to launch AsiaSurf.com) I decide to book 2 weeks at Ayu Beach Inn on the infamous Poppies 1 and spend some quality time relaxing by the pool, partying and of course surfing.
And that’s exactly what happened! Those 2 weeks were fueled by free cocktails at Skygarden, Indonesian buffets, ice cold Bintangs and the company of some crazy Aussies and Brazilians! To be honest I didn’t venture outside of Kuta town much – only on the odd occasion to go surf the infamous Uluwata and Padang Padang surf breaks an hour down the coast.
Recharged and stoked to be back amongst the waves I then spent a week fulfilling a life long surf dream of mine – a surf charter around Bali, Lombok and Sumbawa with the guys at Dreamweaver Surf Charter.
It was everything I’d hoped it to be!
From there I headed back to Kuta for a final few days soaking up the Balinese waves with some of my surf charter buddies before jumping back on a plane to Thailand.
After meeting up with my gorgeous Swiss girl who I first met back in Ecuador at the beginning of the year we hopped back to the island paradise of Phi Phi, where – thanks to the guys at AsiaRooms.com – we checked into some 4* luxury!
And then of course there was the chaos of fellow blogger Allys birthday!
A month which gave me some seriously needed down time, heaps of productivity and time to organize the next set of adventures…!
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Stats;
Overland Distance; 88.9kms (+whatever the hell I did via my surf charter!)
Flight Distance; 2613.05kms
Total Distance; 2701.95kms (not including the surf charter kms)
Main Spots; Kuta, Phuket, Phi Phi
Transport Taken; Mini buses, taxis, surf charter boat, ferry
Flights – DPS – HKT (Air Asia)
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Money Breakdown
Bali – £983.23 over 24 days (including 7 day surf charter at £400 and purchase of a surfboard at £150, although I’ve not included the £70 for my Thai visa) = £40.96 per day
Minus the surf charter and board though it would’ve worked out at £433 over 17 days = £25.47 per day
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Thailand – £150 over 7 days – = £21.42 per day
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Total spent – £1183.23 = £36.55 per day (without surf charter and board costs it would’ve been £24.29 per day)
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Bit of a dent in the budget this month (AGAIN) thanks to my surf charter shenanigans…honestly didn’t think I’d spent that much either! Just goes to show you’ve got to keep a close eye on things before they spiral. Next month HAS to be cheap!
Cheapest Place – I’d say Kuta. My accomodation was lush – private room, two pools, restaurant and wifi and centrally located) but still coming in around £10 per night! If you hunt around it’s easy to get a feed for under £1.50 and with Skygardens free flow drinks from 9-10 it’s easy to party on the cheap too!
Most Expensive Place – same as last month, Phuket.
Biggest Splurge/Unforeseen Expense – easily my trip with Dreamweaver which cost roughly £400, however that’s half of what it would usually be! I also bought a surfboard, but recouped half of the cost back by selling it before I left Bali
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Highlight – Apart from living the luxurious life of upmarket resorts with Katja at the moment I’d definitely say my surf charter. Like I said before it’s a right of passage for surfers – stoked to have been given the opportunity to do one!
Lowlight – tough one actually, this month has been pretty epic! I’d say not getting the Bali barrel I’d dreamt so much of!hahaha!
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Top Shot
This month is all about the waves – so I’d say this shot of a traditional outrigger sat on the shoulder of a pumping Desert Point, off the coast of Lombok.
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What’s Next?
Well the next month was supposed to entail the start of my divemasters course over on Koh Tao. However some other plans have come up in the mix – and being ever the oppotunist I’m giving myself some time to mull things over.
I’m waiting on a few emails to be replied too which will decide where I’ll be headed next – and as of publishing this blog I’ve literally no clue as to which way fate will take me…all I can say is that it’s between Koh Tao, Phi Phi Island, a random jaunt around Asia or heading back to Australia…!
It should be an amazing adventure however it turns out…
Legend!
As are you mr peach!
Shades of “The Endless Summer” from back in my time. Hang loose brother!!! Safe Travels !!!
I love that film Mike…I need to do an endless summer style trip someday!