176. | ATV, raft, BBQ – when the tropics become a playground

Summary

ATV rafting in Bali - two days where quad rides, the Ayung River and a tropical BBQ turn into shared arrival and connection.

It wasn’t just one day. Two.

On the first day, mud and water – seriously – from all directions: ATV, raft, adrenaline.

On the second day, all that was left was the crackling of embers, the strumming of guitars, and I was dreaming.

On Wednesday morning, I thought it would be a classic “let’s do something adventurous” day.

We started with ATVs, then continued with rafts. Movement, laughter, attention to the moment.

By Thursday evening, we were quieter in our loudness. BBQ, conversations, singing together, tropical darkness, a different kind of presence.

These two days weren’t just about the programs, but about the arc between them. And between us.

About how good it can be to get tired first, and then arrive.

Sometimes the experience doesn’t happen where you expect it to. But in the transition.

I’ll tell you how a Wednesday adventure turned into a Thursday evening wind-down.

ATV, raft, BBQ – and what happened inside me.

The Arrival

I set out for this day the same way I had for that fabulous day I wrote about in my post “A wonderful day in Bali, when honey was mixed with salt”. I slept a little less the night before than that day. You see: nothing. So I got on my motorbike and drove the 10+ kilometers, which here in Bali is about an hour’s journey. In vain, the traffic is just like that…

If the life-or-death struggle of the highway would allow me to sleep while driving, the constant impact of the road would definitely keep me awake. So I luckily arrived at the villa where the meeting point was marked.

I arrived first, but I didn’t have to wait long for my adventure tour companions organized for today to start scurrying around.

The members of the Nomad Cruise family gathered to enjoy one of the many experiences the island has to offer and each other’s friendship.

It’s been three and a half weeks since I arrived in Indonesia.

In the past few days, I’ve been telling several of my Hungarian friends that there are so many experiences here in Bali every day that I simply don’t have enough time to write everything down.

At the same time, fate brings me together with so many friendly, interesting, open-hearted people that I can’t even count them. And it would be an equally hopeless undertaking to try to write about each of them.

In just this one day, I met twenty great guys.

I started getting to know the two Indonesian drivers.

We talked to them – and through them – about life several times. About our lives. They are two brothers who took turns sharing their opinions with me, telling me about their everyday lives, their thoughts, and their dreams.

I really like these conversations. All the little bits of information together tell a lot about this wonderful country.

We laughed a lot.

One of the boys really liked it when he introduced himself – Putu – and I immediately replied: “Ah, so you are the firstborn in the family!”

Here, all firstborn children are named Putu.

By then, I had already met two Putus. One of them was a woman. The first firstborn Putu even told me the names of the second children, but she was already stuck on the third.

That’s how I found out that he only had one sibling.

I like that on days like these, conversations start right away.

You never know who has been a member of the group for a long time and who is here for the first time.

Everyone has a story and everyone is curious about the other.

Words control attention.
Behind every sentence, there are enormous experiences waiting to arouse the other’s interest, help, or simply entertain.

It is especially important to me that, as an unspoken rule, everyone treats the other with respect.
I don’t remember a single case where anyone was criticized.

More attention.

After waiting for three late members of a nation famous for its precision – but not named – providence rolled its dice.
And we took our places in accordance with this coincidence in the two cars that took us to the location.

The journey only interrupted the company, not the conversations.
Gratitude filled my heart at that moment.

We learn a lot from each other.
Every thought finds a friend.
For every situation in life, there is someone who holds up a mirror.
There is a cure for every problem, and every funny memory is rewarded with laughter.

We arrived at a very beautiful place.

Our destination was Surya Bintang Adventures – Rafting | ATV | Restaurant.

An ultra-short briefing followed: let’s choose lunch from the menu and have a good time.

And we already set off for the first nearby location to get acquainted with our vehicles.

ATV

This was a professional place, and accordingly, a professional team awaited us. Everything was done with clockwork precision and that doesn’t mean we were in a hurry.

We were given premium nylon bags instead of socks. That’s how we slipped into our rubber boots. We put on our helmets and the driving instruction began.

I feel like I’m learning at lightning speed! I have all the words in the instruction. This is the front brake. This is the rear brake, if you’re going downhill, use it. This lever gives the gas. This button starts and stops the machine. Your feet should always be behind the protective cover.

After 24.5 seconds of theoretical training, we began practical preparation. We went around an area the size of a small house. It was so good to see how progressively we were progressing on the path of experience. Most of us started cautiously, but the feeling of uncertainty was replaced within minutes by a rush of confidence. In Hungarian, after a few minutes, you could see 12 people racing one after another following a crazy tribal choreography.

It took maybe 10 minutes for us to complete the course and all of us to pass the exam successfully, the circle suddenly straightened out. We lined up behind each other and were ready to enter the jungle.

We crossed bridges. We went under waterfalls. We drove through water. Everywhere we were surrounded by the wonderful green of the jungle and the friendly brown of the mud.

We went up steeply on roads designed for vehicles and descended with our hands gripping the brakes convulsively.

We often waded through water up to our boots. Many times I had the feeling that the machines would not survive this. Some of them did not even make it out without problems. There were chains that fell off, they got stuck in the mud, and one of my wheels got a flat tire. It took a few changes of gear on the way, but this was handled professionally by the guides, who were in constant radio contact and monitored the road from front to back.

There was a rest stop. And there was a place where we could all feel like ATV masters. We drove through huge, muddy holes, a little cautiously at first, and then with the passing of the laps with childlike self-forgetfulness and the power of the horsepower. I think we all turned into kindergarteners here and played with happy moments.

For me, the highlight of the tour was where we drove in an artificial canyon at the foot of the rock walls. The magic of the environment, the tangible feeling of adventure… I like to experience nature on foot, so this perspective was foreign to me. Yet I enjoyed every minute of it!

We covered 7 km in the forest. If there had been such an option, I would have gladly gone at least one more lap.

Instead, a culinary experience awaited us to give us the strength to grab the oar.

Get on board!

We visited the Ayung River (Tukad Ayung). After a short drive, we descended 300 steps into the river valley. We had put on our protective gear before we set off, so the only thing we had to do before setting off was to divide the team into three groups.

And the water was already rolling in.

This river now showed its peaceful side. The water carried us quickly in most places. There were a few places where we had to pull hard, but I think no one was struggling with muscle soreness by the end of the day. So our 10-kilometer hike wasn’t too hard work.

All the more fun and laughter.

For some reason, a war situation developed in a matter of seconds: as soon as we got next to another boat, we immediately started bathing the other crew. We got so into it that after a while we started playing this with other groups as well. So a non-stop water battle became part of the trip.

Halfway through, we stopped to rest our muscles that had not yet been tired from hard work. Beer and coconuts were on the menu. This is part of the business, and we took our share of it. More than two dozen beers were sold and a few coconuts also fell victim to our presence.

I must note here that what was offered for our entertainment today arouses respect in me. The boat is lowered into the valley after being pumped up, but from there a woman carries it up the hundreds of steps by hand – or rather on her head. The bags of coconuts and crates of beer travel down and up in a similar way. I talked to the woman who cut the coconut open for me. She did not complain! But her words drew the outlines of cloudless happiness.

Clouds! While we were sipping our ice-cold drinks, tropical rain began to fall. We couldn’t have been any more wet, so we continued our journey. For many of us, the experience was crowned with this rain. I can’t really put into words the feelings I felt while paddling in the rain.

Below me was the fast river. Around me were the two sides of the 40-50 meter high valley, with the most beautiful trees, rocks, waterfalls. All of this embraced by the rainy blue of the sky… It was another paradise. I am grateful to have been here and to have dreamed of this fabulous day.

Since the second round option was not available here either, we started the closing project of the day.

We went back to the base, showered and the brothers took us home to the villa.

From there, all I had to do was ride my motorbike home.

From ten in the evening, I had two phone conversations lasting 3.5 hours.

So the day became long, and again I didn’t have to worry about not being able to sleep.

Let’s eat fish!

On Thursday evening, the group received an invitation to a barbeque dinner from the villa hosts. This made for a more relaxed, but no less enjoyable evening.

Our host friend spent six hours diving to catch enough fish for the group. Very nice work my friend, thank you!

Everyone who attended contributed to the dinner. I brought something for the salad. Others brought rice, potatoes, drinks, chips, and sweets. A truly magnificent spread-out table was formed by the time everyone arrived.

The fish were transformed into dinner over coconut embers. They were given their final flavor with a special Indonesian sauce, Bumbu kuning. So we could enjoy not a simple fish dinner, but an authentic Indonesian feast. All kinds of beautiful fish were on the plates. Each one showed us its own character.

Today I drank a special coconut cocoa drink for the first time in my life.

The conversations and the wonderful dinner, the excellent company made my satisfaction level go up to 100%.

Then we experienced many very sublime moments.

One of our friends wrote a song and performed it on his guitar. First we learned the chorus so that we could sing it together.

I love my friends and they love me too…

I looked around in awe while I sang, it was so touching how everyone was present in the singing and the experience. The guitar chords and the singing together connected our hearts for minutes.

I feel like I can only end this post with repetition. I am extremely grateful for this experience! Every minute spent with you was a joy, my friends.

Because I love my friends and they love me too…