This time I didn't waste too much time in Kuta, but instead I rented a bike and drove to Balangan where I knew I would find cheap accomodation right on the beach.
This is the view of my $8/day room. Unbeatable.
I'm just going to comment the 65 photos I selected in the order they were uploaded. This blogger interface is extremely poor in my opinion. It's a lot easier to post photos and stories on Facebook, really; and I'm doing that more and more.
I encourage all my readers to subscribe to my Facebook updates. No need to be friends, just look for my name (giampaolo cammarota) and subscribe to my updates, if you don't want to miss anything.
I still like the blog and I'm going to keep updating it though. I like the fact that the blog posts are somehow more permanent and you can search through the archive a lot better than Facebook.
So here we go.
These are photos that I took from the beach in one of the many days with beautiful waves.
Most waves at Balangan are close outs. But when you get one that peels... it's a blast!
Oh, look who's here! This lady was the protagonist of a "fake or real" survey on my Facebook page.
Definitely a hot body. Too long toes, if you really want to look for a flaw... :)
Nothing wrong in this section.
This was the fake or real shot. I remember the fake prevailed... but my favorite comment was:"if you can touch them, they're real!" LOL
Beautiful empty one.
Lil section dedicated to this guy who was filming himself playing ukulele while surfing. That's how he paddled out.
Beautiful low tide at sunset.
Unfortunately, the low tide (and a big wave) caused my lovely 6.6 to snap in two pieces. That board was perfect for Indo.
This local guy was stoked to get the pieces.
I posted this one on FB saying something like: an american cop will not find this funny...
Well, sure enough I forgot the Bintang (local beer) label there and showed my ID to the airport security officer in Honolulu.
"This isn't good, 'cause I can't read it!", she said...
"Ops, sorry... that was a joke... I forgot to remove it!". The thing didn't come off easily...
Another stunning morning as seen from my "hotel" room.
Bunch of photos taken that day.
That looks more like a bike wipeout than a surfing one. Nasty.
Three good turns on a wave don't happen often at Balangan. Usually, you're just screaming down the line trying to make the sections.
This is Uluwatu. My very last session was at Secrets. I was sitting by myself (believe it or not!) when I saw 6 guys paddling out. The first one to come close to me was bloody Owen Wright.
He sat like 20 meters/yards deeper than me and went for some big ones that I thought were impossible to make.
"What the hell is he doing, he can't make that!!!"
The speed at which he was up on his feet and pumping just a couple of feet under the lip was astonishing.
I had the same vision that Kelly Slater must have had in the numerous finals the two had last year.
All those guys were incredibly good, and even though they reset my self judgement of my surfing skills to the usual 2 out of 10, it was definitely an highlight of the trip to be surfing amongst them.
When I go to Uluwatu, I always have lunch at Salin's. The view is not bad (but that's common to all the restaurants hanging on the cliff) and they have a fresh and simple tuna salad with... extra vergin Italian olive oil!!! That makes a world of difference!
Last of my Nikon shots. 10 hours layover in Seul. Rainy weather. I had a great book to read and chose to stay at the airport. A few hours later, Steve Thorpe posted on FB that the live webcast of a WQS contest at J-Bay was on.
Thanks Steve, that made my layover extremely quick. Waves were pumping.
Allright, like it or not, here's a fat section of gopro shots.
I managed not to fall after this...
...but look how hard I'm laughing at my kookness!
Kicking out. I like it, because you can see the beach and the wally wave.
And now ladies and getlemen, but especially ladies, here's a short section of my surfing buddy Paolo Mazzoni. I got these shots on my computer because his I-Pad didn't have a cd player... what a joke!
And last but not least, a fat section of photos of the blog author purchased at an extremly cheap price from the photographer on the beach.
This is probably my favorite one.
Nope, it's this one!
Balangan offers plenty opportunities to practice those late take offs with the hand in the water...
Here's another one.
Long final sequence. That is not a barrel. According to my strict barrel claiming rules (seeing the lip all around you -also on the beach side- and getting out of it), I have never got barreled yet.
Which is great. Because, as Ligabue says, il meglio deve ancora venire! (the best is still to come)
This post concludes the Indo 2012 reports of my six weeks stay.
Next year I'll do at least two months. But I'd really like to spend the whole summer there... let's see if I can pull it off.
In fact, even coming back to a beautiful place like Maui can be a bit depressing after you've been spoiled to such waves. Specially if it's a poor south swell season like this summer has sure been.
I know, it's all realtive. But my standards in terms of waves are pretty high.
I made them so and I like that.
PS. Saturday August 18 there will be a beach cleanup at Kanaha organized by the +H2O guys. 9 to 11.30, lunch provided by flatbread. I wanted to go, but ended up having to work that morning... it's ok, I removed so much garbage during my 8 years of teaching on that beach...
If you guys are in Maui, you should totally go though!
