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For whom the eye rolls |
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Part 2: The resort The resort at Tulamben on the northeast coast of Bali sits right on the narrow beach of black volcanic rock. There is a very comfortable open-air dining room, a well-equipped dive center, an excellent warm pool for relaxing and a bar where they make remarkable pina coladas. One of the unique features about this resort is there are three excellent dives right off the beach in front of the rooms. There is a house reef directly in front of the resort, a fantastic drop-off 200m down the beach to the right and the wreck of the USS Liberty 100m to the left. Those of us who booked the early flight... well at least those of us who actually showed up for it... took a guided dive on the house reef immediately after arriving. It was a wonderful dive. I remember looking at my computer and noting that within four minutes of the start of my first dive in Bali, I had seen blue and black ribbon eels, morays, mantis shrimp, a lionfish, a black-tipped reef shark and several other not-so-common species. And this was just the house reef. We also did a night dive on the house reef that night and it seemed as if every moray in the area came out to greet us. If this was any indication of what the rest of the trip would be like, we were in for a great time. There are a few other amenities at the resort that bear mentioning. First there are the helpers. Local people supplement the village income by helping divers to the sites with their tanks. A diver can get spoiled here. All you do is tell the crew at the dive center when and where you want to dive. When you show up for your dive, your gear is ready and one of the helpers carries your tank with BC to the dive site on their head. It is amazing to see. Many times these small Balinese women will carry two tanks at a time on their heads while walking across the rocks in flip-flops. Another nice feature at the resort was the massages. There were three women who would give you an hour-long massage on an elevated deck overlooking the ocean for a very reasonable price. The only problem with this situation was that three women was never enough. Franck generally hired all three for hours at time. Actually I am not sure if Franck even dove on this trip. Any time I passed by the massage ladies, Franck was getting a rub-down. The resort's kitchen had a very good menu with German and Balinese food. On the first night, Mark and I both opted for adventure and ordered the chilli beef. The flavour was very good, but somehow we got a radioactive batch of chillies that night. We both were somewhat transformed from talkative dinner companions to worried-looking sorts wondering just how hot our mouths and throats would get before the effect subsided. After a short time I became obsessed with not allowing my hair to spontaneously combust. Mark, on the other hand, got the stare... the look of someone wise or enlightened who knows something others have overlooked. This would have been quite becoming and even acceptable at the dinner table if it hadn't been accompanied by a constant stream of spittle. Damn those chillies! One night they fired up a big brick oven and baked pizza for us. I was a little skeptical since most pizza in this region lacks the required heaping amounts of cheese. I was pleasantly surprised. The pizza was very good. So good in fact, I later regretted declining Franck's offer of a quarter of his while I waited for mine to be cooked. It's not as if I was going to return the favor. |
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