Bali Trip – 18th April 2010 – Day 7
Had breaky in the hut & were ready at 8.15 for our white water rafting day. We were met by Tony, from MBA, at the lobby who introduced us to our driver Mr Dewa, we also had 
1 more person from another hotel – Andrey from Russia. The car trip was for about 1 1/2 hours & the roads further to the East had road works. As we approached the drop off point you could see Mt Agung – another active volcano – we would be rafting on the side of it. We were let off at the starting point & were given life jackets & helmets to wear. Our rafting guide,Noman, went thru some instructions with us & we set off – 16km of rapids. David & I were in the front with Brendan & Andrey in the middle, the guide at the back. The first few km were ok, with a few places you had to duck down low otherwise the trees & vines that came over the side of the river would get you, we went under a few bamboo bridges where you had to lie down flat backward or get taken out, on the 3rd one I got hit in the side of the arm & on the top of the life vest but was ok. We stoped half way at a large waterfall for a break, we all went up and 
sat in the lower pond & had a few photos taken. Back into the boat for the next section which included a 4m drop, the guide prepared us in the correct sitting positions & we went over, you got nice & wet. The guide liked to use the cliff walls as a steering measure & we heard a lot of the command BOOM, BOOM, which meant brace yourself we will be hitting something! & we did constantly – usually in the front where David & I sat. Brendan found out how to use the paddle to splash David & we had a constant battle of who could wet each other the most. We stopped again at a narrow section of the river for a swim in the currents, where Brendan went under the front of another boat & his helmet filled up with water, causing it to pull against his neck- he was more frightened than hurt, I think the guide, Noman, was more worried than us when he started crying, so when we assured him Brendan was ok he decided to climb up the wall of the gorge & jump into the river – showing off for Brendan plus taking his mind off crying. We had about 4km to go & started to look around at the scenery more, we noticed a beautiful blue kingfisher.
The last 1km was pretty easy & we soon pulled into the finish. We climbed up the 100 stairs to the restaurant where we first showered & changed, then had a buffet lunch, which had satays chicken sticks, curried chicken, rice, fish etc. Brendan really enjoyed the curry & found some hot chilli sauce. The trip back to the hotel was painfully slow & Brendan had a good nap, even though our driver seemed to be driving like Michael Schumacher, weaving in and out of traffic & I’m sure we had at least 40 close calls with oncoming motor bikes, cars & trucks.
Once back at the hotel Brendan headed straight for the pool. David & I left him poolside while we walked up the road to exchange some more funds…& a wee bit of shopping…& an ice cream.
We retrieved a reluctant Brendan & headed off to find a different restaurant for tea – at a nice reasonable hour tonight – we looked for one which had wi-fi as the hotel internet room is usually down. We found Petite Cafe just around the corner from us. Brendan had chicken curry, David beef curry (as they were out of lamb) & I had a cordon bluer, deserts & 2 x drinks later we paid the bill of 278,000rp, the foods was really nice & we would probably go back again.
We, well David, decided to walk a different way back to the hotel, we walked up a narrow alley way which had a few turns & was dark (David used the phone for light),we were on the last straight bit when a motor bike started coming up, we had to flatten ourselves against the wall & suck up our full stomachs so he could pass. We found the beach & walked for a few minutes until we found our hotel. David & I sat outside on the balcony after we put Brendan to bed ,enjoying a few cold drinks & watched tonight’s storm close in, while Brendan snored away.
