Uluwatu Warnings Or Dangers

Lets face it,
with the ruthless way
that driving is conducted here;
the amount of motorbikes
used as a way of transportation;
the poor infrastructure of roads
and even the so-called sidewalks
that one uses to walk on,
makes breaking a bone or two
as common as catching Dengue Fever,
or even getting Bali Belly.

(…not to mention the possible surfing accidents.)

And even though these incidents are common,
we may get caught at a moment of surprise
and in a position in not really knowing what to do.

So, it eventually happened to me.
After my 5th year in Bali,
I had a motorbike accident.

First things first…..do you have insurance?

If so, then go directly to BIMC
or S.O.S.
These are private clinics in Bali
with a better reputation than most others.
And one does wind up getting charged for it.
So, either be insured or have a fat wallet.

It is most probable that they may not have
the equipment to treat a serious fracture,
but they’ll prepare you for flying out of the country
to seek an alternative health care provider if needed.

If you don’t have insurance,
then first go to a local hospital to get an x-ray,
a first diagnosis to identify the seriousness of the fracture
and get wrapped up for the possible next step.

Two local hospitals are Sanglah Denpasar
which has an International Department.
The address:
JI., Diponegoro, Denpasar, Tel: 62-361-227911

and Kasih Ibu.

For a list of hospitals in Bali, click on:
Hospitals in Bali
(visit at your own risk)

I myself, winded up at Kasih Ibu,
where they took 2 x-rays of the fracture.
The doctor, who treated me at the time,
spoke a very basic English.

He quickly explained to me that
I had a fracture at the top of my tibia,
and would wind up having arthritis in the future.

In the emergency room
he took out the blood from the area,
and he then put on a very tight cast
from my foot to my upper thigh,
and told me to come back at another time.

I myself, being familiar to the limitations
of the health care service here,
and after being advised from fellow expats,
I started seeking other opinions.

Note By this time, my leg was extremely swollen,
causing a lot of discomfort and causing lack of sleep.
There are expats with injuries that do opt to have surgery here,
but in some cases, stories of improper healing
and then needing to re-do an operation
to re-fix the damage is heard of.
Consider your options carefully.

I sent my diagnosis to contacts overseas,
and we also seeked a second opinion
from another local, orthopedic doctor.

Now here’s another tip to take into consideration:
many doctors in Bali work with several
health care facilities or have their own private office.

We were recommended to Dr.Bramantya
who happened to also be
a part time doctor at BIMC and at Sanglah.
Instead of making an appointment with him at BIMC,
where the charge would have been $150,
we went to where he does consultations
between 7-8 pm for 200,000 rp
at the less equipped hospital:

RS Dharma Yadnya
Jl. WR. Supratman No 256
Denpasar

His contact is:

Tel. 0361-244 330
E-mail: bramantyakarna@yahoo.com

There he reviewed my x-rays
and suggested that we do additional CT scans
to review the damage done to my tibia.
Since the hospital where we visited him,
does not have the equipment for this,
we needed to visit him the following day at Sanglah.

There a CT scan was performed.
It was suggested to us that we seek
outside medical assistance for an operation.
The consultation ran around 450,000 Rp,
and the CT scan was about $100-$150.

Now…most expats living in Bali,
would automatically consider going to Singapore.
With a recent trip to Singapore,
I was reminded how expensive Singapore can be.
(…and remember, I didn’t have insurance.)
I already had the experience
of visiting Bangkok for my yearly medical check ups.
So, Bangkok became my choice.

Next was finding a way to get there.

Via Thai Air we were finding rates from $400-$800 R/T
and via AirAsia we were finding prices of 1,600,000 O/W.
So Air Asia we flew!

Now comes the flying out part.
Bali is definitely not on the top of the list
of being wheelchair accessible.
And eventhough my mother
had gone to the airport the day before,
to reserve a wheel chair for me,
when we arrived, nothing was immediately available.
My mother needed to leave me stationed
on one of the benches at the entrance of the airport,
while she went in to the Air Asia counter
to request a wheel chair.
The wheel chairs provided at the airport,
are a bit run down,
but one has to do with what is offered.

From there on,
a wheelchair assistant was offered to us,
which ran pretty smoothly.
We were taken up an elevator,
directly to immigration,
and wheeled through any lines.

We were first to board on the plane,
which allowed me to find comfortable seating.
(I needed 3 seats to stretch out on,
since my cast was so long)

During my 4 hour + flight,
I read an article in the
Air Asia in-flight magazine,
from a passenger praising the
wheel chair assistance provided by Air Asia.
I became hopeful!

Until I got to Bangkok……

Chapter 2: Getting an operation in Bangkok

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Uluwatu, on the southernmost tip of bali is renowned for its beautiful, famous temple.(Pura Uluwatu) is one of Bali's six directional temples;the structure was significantly expanded by a Javanese sage, Empu Kuturan in the 11th Century. More remarkable than the temple itself is its location, perched on a steep cliff 70 meters above the ocean.

The temple is inhabited by large number of monkeys, who are extremely adept at snatching visitors' belonging, including bags, cameras and eyeglasses. Keep a very close grip on all your belongings especially on your camera, and stow away your eyeglasses if at all possible. If you do have something taken, the monkeys can usually be induced to exchange it for some fruit !

The monkeys at Uluwatu Temple are very dangerous. In fact, they are trained to steal valuable things such as eyeglasses, camera pouch, earing, etc... (they won't steal your hat or sarong or scarf, because they're cheap) from tourist when they are busy taking picture. After you lost your thing, in my case, eyeglasses, suddenly the old man behind said "chuu!!!" and throw a bag of food to the monkey. The monkey drop my eyeglasses and grab the food. The old man climb the wall to pick the eyeglasses for me but not found, and pretending to look around the cliff, sound like they were thrown away down to the cliff. In fact, the monkey just drop my eyeglasses right near to the wall. (All these were for making you very worried and incresing price for the picking!) Finally he found it and bring it back to me in badly shape. That damn creature bite my eyeglasses and scratch the lens. I was very angry and even outraged when he beg for money. DO NOT HAND THEM ANY PENNY! They are trained the monkeys to do this dirty tricks and when they found their victim, they signaled the monkey to do the job. This was confirmed by local peoples and my friend who experienced the same.

If you get into the temple and saw old man, old women or any suspicious guys, stay away from them! They are family and work together. And be very careful at the monkeys, try not to go on the left side (when enter the temple), there are a lot of them on that side and for sure the dirty guy always sits there!

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As of December 1st, 2007
the warungs at Dreamland are
to be dismantle to make way for
the new ’17 Hole’ real estate project.

Bye Bye to the Dreamland
that once upon a time
was a beach visited by only a few,
where surfers chased that perfect wave,
a Dreamland that offered cheap rooms to stay,
where only a few would come and spend their day.

Fortunate are those,
that were able to live the experience
what was once considered a dream.

Bye Bye Dreamland!

Dreamland beach Too tempting for developers

Dreamland to become New Kuta Beach

Another new feature at Dreamland
since the new construction commenced,
is the water tube that they have installed
from the constructed area into the sea.

Some surfers say that it altered the swell.

It definately did not pretty the beach.

For those surfers or beach lovers
who have not been to
Dreamland since Dec. 2007,
may be in for a surprise.

All the local warungs were pulled down.
A new cement construction,
with restaurants, shops, a walkway
for the buses of tourist to load off at,
is soon to come!

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If your first arrival to surf
at Uluwatu happens to be at high tide,
be aware that there is a very large reef
surrounding the whole of Uluwatu.

The best way to understand
and see the coral reef,
if to see it at low tide.

I have included some pictures
of these treacherous reefs,
to indicate the size.

If you’re surfing at Ulu’s for the first time,
use extra caution.

Click on more photos
at the upper right hand side,
to see images of the coral reef
at different surf spots.

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On several occasions,
when it’s rainy season,
you can watch the clouds of rain
float past and above Seminyak,
while at the Bukit,
in mot cases,
it doesn’t have visiting rain clouds
unless the are arriving from the south.

But on those occasions when
it does rain,
surfers be aware that,
after a heavy downpour,
eventually from the hills on the inner land
the rain will create a flowing river of
pieces of wood, branches, thorns, garbage, etc .
This wash creeps down from
higher land into the sea,
right where you might just be surfing,
excited about the waves that
after the storm brings.

If you have sensitive skin, allergies or skin reactions,
it may be wise to stay out of the water or
wear a wet suit.

Don’t believe at first that,
there’s nothing there,
eventually the rain water
full of chips and pieces
will head your way, pouring
and surrounding your little body in the sea.