Rachel was at Bali recently and I thought i should blog down her encounters as a reminder for all of us so we know what to do when faced with an emergency.
Dangerous beach
Bali beaches are famous for their surfing and their sheer beauty. Yet despite the huge demand for this destination, never assume the peaceful surface meant that it is safe to explore particularly for children. We are all vulnerable to treacherous undercurrents, and even the miniscule (but very real) risk of tsunamis. Parts of Bali’s coastline – mostly the southwest part extending from Kuta to Canggu – have dangerous rip tides and undertows. At certain times of the day and year, red flags are erected on dangerous beaches. If you see a red flag on the beach, do not attempt to swim there – the currents can sweep you out to sea and under before anybody on shore can attempt a rescue.
However flags are erected only along shores next to 5 star hotels and Lifeguards are unfortunately quite rare in Bali. Some beaches have lifeguards and flags with yellow and red markings that indicate the presence of a lifeguard, but many dont.
For rachel, She thought she could rest in the shallow waters which was only knee high next to the beach. She sat there frolicking water when the undercurrent came all of a sudden and dragged her out by at least 30 metres away from the shore within seconds. She struggled to swim back, but the currents are impossible to fight and overwhelmed her. She thought she might die. And perhaps it was due to her training... she remembered to put her hand up to gesture to the lifeguard for help. In he jumped as they both struggled to return to shore. He shouted at her to stand up before the next current attempt to drag her out again. It was such a hallowing encounter as she brushed against the near situation of drowning! So parents with kids be warned! Including yourselves! Try not to play near the shore when you see currents and especially when you see the red flag. It does not take a windy day for currents to drag you away!
Treacherous Mountain trekking
Rachel who was never the outdoor adventurous girl somehow decided to challenge themselves via mount trekking with her colleague. They hired a local hiker who fetched the 2 girls early morn at 2/3am whilst everything was pitched dark. Not sure what came into them since security is not exactly great in this country and what's more they were just 2 young pretty and vulnerable girls without male company. As a group I think they already looked vulnerable. Fortunately nothing bad happened during this trip.
Anyway back to trekking, the girls were brought on a Stoney trek on Mount Batur, one of the active volcano on the island of Bali, with an altitude of 1717 meters above sea level. You can travel by road approximately 2 hours drive from Denpasar.
They had to climb couple of hours before reaching the peak. Climb gets worse as they struggled to get to the top. Rachel mentioned that there were couple of near misses where the large rocks almost hit her. Again she didn't know what to expect when the day breaks and they finally saw the treacherous path that they have taken. View was great of course but was it worth dying for? I don't think so. In fact, the volcano is an active one and cases of tourists falling into the crater was not uncommon. So please ... Those who have never tried trekking or mountain or even Hill climbing don't try to scale the volcanic mountains in bali.
Water -Chris' experience
Drink lots of water… but don’t drink from the tap. The tap water in Bali is of uncertain quality, and is often pegged as the cause of many a tourist’s case of “Bali belly”. When in Bali, stick to canned drinks or bottled water. Chris suffered from bacterium growth even without having to drink it ie via their bathing water as he was the only one who bathed at the standing shower head whilst we all used the bath tub. So yes never drink their tap water.
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