Arriving in Indonesia is a completely foreign experience, especially if you haven’t been to Southeast Asia before. As you walk out of the airconditioned airport, you are hit by a wave of heat, and within minutes the sweat starts to drip down your brow, quickly realising that shoes, jeans and a shirt were not the best thing to arrive in, nor will you wear them again until you step back into that airport to jump on the plane home; that is if you manage to tear yourself away from this beautiful place.
As you weave your way through the traffic, watching families of 4 on a scooter you start to see a little bit of the craziness and really realise that you’re in a different place from home, a new and exciting environment. As you get closer to the accommodation in Canggu heading through the rice paddies you start to see the beauty, check-in to the clean accommodation with welcoming smiles from the Balinese, take a dip in the pool and wash away the flight.
Our first few days in Canggu were spent surfing, surfing, and doing some more surfing! Some of the group had done our South Africa and Mozambique trips in the past, others Costa Rica or Sri Lanka and for others it was their first Ticket to Ride experience. We had a great range of abilities as well, with everyone having done at least a bit of surfing which was great. From where we stay it is a short walk down the road to a range of surf spots, some easier and some much more challenging. All are reef breaks with easy channels to paddle out in and long rides, so it was a new experience. The group figured the waves out quite quickly and by the third day got some great rides!
The following week was spent surfing, heading over to Keramas to some of the world’s best at the competition, including Joel Parkinson, Bruce Irons and Taj Burrow. Taj, having just retired from the WCT, showed that he’s still got it and took the win. There isn’t a much better place to watch then sitting in the pool at Komune with the wave right out the front! We also did a day up in Uluwatu both surfing the waves in one of the world’s best known lineups, and then heading to the temple which is right on the edge of the cliffs and quite a spectacle! It is commonly referred to as the Monkey temple because of all the rather cheeky monkeys that frequent it!
Within a week we had already seen everyone’s surfing improve so much it was incredible to exciting to witness. The coaching was a combination of being in the water and giving advise and tips, helping with positioning, and then video and photo analysis as well as some surf theory out the water.
I hope you enjoyed the photos, plenty more coming! Follow us on Instagram (@tickettoridegroup) and Facebook (Ticket to Ride) for daily updates!
Chris and Max