White-water rafting in Bali
by Admin ~ June 17th, 2009. Filed under: Bali, asia, extreme sports, travel.
It was one of those moments. A death wish turned out to be one of the most pleasurable and fun activities I have ever had. It was rather recent in memory (a few years ago) -after two (or three) successive bombings in Bali, the tourists naturally disappeared. In desperation, Air Asia offerred ZERO fares. Free to Bali? Hey, I jumped in.
My rationale is simple: 1. Worst case scenario - I end up bombed to smithereens. Fair enough. It’s my wish to die in an exotic locale especially a beach resort. 2. Cheap. Being cost-conscious is after all the rage during economically challenging times. 3. Fewer people - I can really relax. 4. Since the terrorists target Caucasian tourists in high-density areas (read bars , pubs), I will avoid them and stick around the beach.
For lack of exciting activities, I signed up for white water-rafting. I have paid homage at all the obligatory sights. Even had foie gras by the paddy field in one of the best French restaurants in Bali (so the guide book tells me). Err… it’s definitely an acquired taste. Unfortunately, at the time, I had yet to acquire that taste and had to regurgitate what I swallowed into the paddy field. My, the resulting rice would have tasted superb - to the right taste buds of course.
I digress. The water-rafting was incredibly fun … No need to be fit, you can be as fat as tomcat. No need even to do any paddling. Your raft-mates and the guide plus gravity will ensure that the raft floats down in a gently dramatic fashion. Just pretend to paddle. Hold the paddle like a pro and smile all the way down because the cameras are clicking away at your awe-inspiring efforts.
Some Japanese girls in the other boats added the excitement quotient by screaming and laughing all the way down. It was climactic towards the end when the boat fell over a precipitous rock of about 8 feet high. Unforgetable. This is more fun than any other sports I have ever done. Yes, beats the surfing (wave surfing) that I tried at Kuta beach. Surfing is just too much hard work. Forget being the poster boy of fun in Bali - just breeze through the Grade 2/3 rapids amidst lush greenery. Guaranteed to make you feel whole and natural again.
