.
The whole journey to the mountainous area took about 1.5 - 2 hours. Thinking back, it would have been wise to have a heavy breakfast or some snacks to munch on in the van.
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| Picture Source: Scanned from brochure |
BRIEFING & BELONGINGS
Once we arrived at the location, we were ushered to a Balinese looking building that was overlooking the terraced rice padi fields. We were offered some coffee and snacks while waiting for more participants to arrive from different vans.
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| Picture Source: Google |
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| Picture Source: Google |
We were required to change our shoes to the sports sandals they provided at the area. They also advised us to leave unnecessary belongings in the vans, in case it got wet while we were rafting. He told us if we wanted to take our camera, it should be water proofed. We took along our wallets and left our mobile phone, change of clothes and shoes in the van.
Soon a batch of Balinese instructors arrived from a van and they were full of good energy. The vendor had chosen "
ALAM AMAZING ADVENTURES" for us. They were all wearing the same yellow t-shirts bearing the name of the company. The leader of the pack introduced himself to everyone and spoke to us briefly on signing a form and filling up our names on the roll-call roster.
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| Picture Source: Scanned from brochure |
GETTING READY
Next they asked if anyone needed to have a change of clothes as the adventure was about to begin. When everyone else had changed and was ready, the instructors spilt the group up into packs of 4. Each pack had a designated instructor. Our own designated instructor told us that we had to place our belongings for the trip with him. He had a giant waterproof drawstring kinda looking bag that he carried on his back like a backpack. We surrendered our stuff to him and were kinda anxious and excited.
Thereafter, we followed him to another area near the building to go for a toilet break, collect our paddles and to put on our safety life vests. We also had to put on a safety helmet. They led us next to walk down the steep terraced padi fields with our paddles in hand to the river area. We were accompanied by 2 local ladies who carried giant stuff on their heads as they made their way down. The stuff looked heavy but they moved down the padi fields with such grace that I was a little embarrassed about my own state of mind. I was actually kinda freaked out at the height and lack of safety barriers or handles walking down the steep slopes. And I was carrying just a light paddle. So I tried to control my fear and walked on. I guess you could say that they were inspiring to me.
We stopped at a pavillion by the river that had electricity. I was kinda shocked coz it was quite a remote area. I found out later that the giant stuff that the ladies were carrying were actually our rafts! The electricity in the pavilion was used to inject air into the deflated rafts. How cool is that. Nice system and process, I thought.
Once the rafts were ready and pushed to the river bank, we were given a final briefing. The lead instructor taught us how to hold our paddles. Which way to move it forward and backwards. We were also given voice command instructions on when to lean forward, move to the left or right of the raft. We also had to learn how to lower our heads. When we stopped, we had to keep our paddles with us and hold on to the ropes on the raft. Suddenly I wished I had read up more and prepared myself more mentally and physically for this. This was not going to be a walk in the park.
He told us there was going to be a scary area for us further up front when the raft would be doing a drop, but not to worry (Hello! You got me worried when you said that!). But that most of the journey it would be manageable. It was going to be a 2 to 3 hour journey.
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| Picture Source: Scanned from brochure |
THE ADVENTURE BEGINS!We moved to our rafts with another couple and our instructor. As we settled in our seats in the raft, he repeated the previous instructions to us. I was nervous and excited. He told us along the way, there might be villagers who would be using the river waters. He advised us not to stare blatantly and to focus on looking forward for obstacles and to listen to his voice commands. He told us never to lose our paddles as well. If we were to fall into the river. To stay calm and lean back and float. He would pull us back into the raft. If we were in the water, our front legs should be upfront to push us away from upcoming rocks to protect ourselves. I gulped and prayed for the best.
He pushed the raft into the fast moving waters and jumped in behind. The adventure began! I had done rafting before in Austria. But it was just about 15 - 30 minutes. This was going to be 2 - 3 hours! I wonder if I could manage. I was getting a bit hungry at this point. But I better make it out alive and not worry about being hungry for the moment.
When we started, the fast moving waters were calm and not rough. We were soaking in the sights, sound and smells of the tropical rain forest. Couldn't believe we were here. It's truly beautiful. Suddenly I thought, could there be tigers and crocodiles lurking around?!!! I started paddling faster.
After 10 minutes or so, the water started getting more rough. We were moving faster even when we weren't paddling. We had to be more agile in our movements right then as there were lots of rocks and boulders coming up front. Our raft swerved from left to right, even 360 degrees at some points when we brushed up against the huge boulders along the river banks. It was non-stop excitement and movement at certain points. Just when you thought you've dodged an upcoming tree branch, the rafts swerves and you hear the instructor shouting to you to move to the left of the raft.
"LEFT!", "STOP PADDLING", "DODGE" ,"LOOK OUT!!!", those were the commands that accompanied us along the river's meandering paths throughout the afternoon.
There were moments when we broke into laughter due to the stress and fun of it. We sort of bonded with everyone on the raft. We were all in this together. After a while, your body and mind learns when to move even without the instructor's command. It was fun! I can't believe we were doing this. So proud, happy and worried all at the same time. Feeling alive and vulnerable to Mother Nature's wrath and creations. Exhilarating!
We had 2 breaks in between the rafting where we took some sips of water from our belongings. There were some villagers who were selling
BINTANG BEER. Some of the rafters from our group bought some and had a relaxing time drinking booze. One of the instructors started washing his hair by the river. We were joined by other rafters from different vendors along the different breaks. Some of them were locals who seem to be very well versed in river rafting. They looked like they have been doing this regularly. They spoke to some our instructors like old pals in their local language.
We would bump into different rafts from time to time in the river ride. Sometimes we would all get stuck among some boulders and we would have to hop up and down to create momentum for the instructor or rushing waters to push us off the rock. Occassionally, other rafters who happen to pass by while we're stuck would splash us playfully with water with the flip of their pedals. That gave me an intention to get out of our predicament quick to splash them back. It was all in good fun.
As we edged to the end of the journey, we had the most dangerous huddle to cross. It was the dreaded big drop. We all huddled to the river bank and were given new instructions. We were suppose to give our pedals to our instructor while we lean backwards and held tight to the ropes on the inside and outskirts of the raft. One by one the different rafts went down and I could hear screams as they dropped. Tick tock Tick tock.
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| Picture Source: Google |
We were next and all my senses were alert. Would this be the day I say goodbye? Before I knew it, it was over in 5 seconds. As I was seated in front, a lot of water splashed onto my face when the raft hit the water. I was the only one drenched in the raft and the others laughed at my expense (Including my bf). We made it out alive!
The last part of the river rafting was calm and soothing and I was sad it was coming to an end. The skies were getting darker at this point and I suddenly remember I was hungry.
FOOD
We were whisked out of the boat and took off our helmets, sandals and safety vests. We made our way up a slope to a drying off area where they were toilets and a restaurant barefooted. We saw our driver looking for us to pass us back our other belongings on our way to the food area. We put on our shoes quickly, thankful we wore flip flops or our shoes would have been wet and dirty. Some of the rafters were queuing to use the toilet, but we decided to head off first for food and some warm beverage.
Food was good. It was a buffet with a combination of Indonesian and Western food. I remembered there was piping hot vegetable soup, fruits, fried potato wedges, rice, stir-fried vegetables and some meat. Very satisfying meal after the rafting exercise. The food was free as part of the package we bought. But we ordered drinks in addition. I had coffee and he had
BINTANG BEER.
MAKING THE WAY BACK TO HOTEL
We sat near the edge of the restaurant to overlook the river and tucked in while appreciating the view. Time sure passed fast. I think it was around 5pm by then. Soon we had to leave and make our way back to our driver and van. We changed to dry clothes after the meal and walked up the slope where we saw a lot of vehicles waiting. Sure enough, the driver was there. He said he had been waiting for us. We weren't sure at first if he would look for us at the restaurant. I guess it was a good thing that we took the initiative to ask the waitress where to go when we were done. A lot of the other rafters were sitting at the restaurant while the skies were getting dark. I was worried about walking up the slope when there were no lamps in sight.
It was another 1.5 to 2 hours ride back to town from the mountains. I think we got a bit more tan. He was very excited and said we should do this again when we're back in Bali. I was like "Are you sure?" and smiled. Yah, I guess I liked it a lot too.
The driver dropped the Sweden couple at their hotel first. We arrived at ours at about 30 minutes later. So I guessed they must have been picked up 30 to 40 minutes earlier before us in the morning. Didn't understand what they were speaking to each other most of the time as it was a foreign language. But we were all part of the exciting journey together for a day. The Sweden guy turned around and shook our hands to bid goodbye as a good gesture.
We gave our driver a tip and made our way back to our room with our wet belongings. It was nice to do something like this, so out of the ordinary of our normal everyday lives for a change. I wondered about the instructors. They were probably doing this everyday and had so much positive energy and vibes that it spread to us. I was grateful that they had made our first rafting experience in Bali a good and safe one. At this point, the bf turns around and asks "What's next?" with a new shine in his eyes.
Visit the
ALAM AMAZING ADVENTURES website for more details at:
http://www.alam-amazing-adventures.com
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| Picture Source: Scanned from brochure. |
Local Lingo:
Ikan:
Fish
Awas:
Danger
Makan:
Eat
Balek Kampung:
Go Home
Tips:
1. Have a heavy breakfast or bring some snacks along for the long day.
2. Bring a change of clothes as you're gonna get wet.
