Sick in Medewi
Medewi 3/16/2025-3/20/2025
The ride to Medewi had me filled with excitement of scoring some all time waves. Although Medewi is on the island of bali, there was no straight route to get there. This caused me to turn left or right ever other Kilometer. Getting away from the Canggu area, rice fields popped up everywhere and I got great views of the actual nature and not just building and people.
I made a couple of stops along the way. I cut through some farms to get to this desolate beach. It was the first time I did not single person on a beach in Bali. There did seem to be a wave that was ridable but I did not want to risk it and I was getting hungry. As I got closer to the hostel, I made another stop to get some food and coffee. I stopped in this little cafe in a village and was greeted by a local Indonesian guy and an Australian guy. These guys were long time friends. I was chatting with them for a bit about surfing and the way in which Bali has changed. I slowly got introduced to the whole family that was living there. I was even offered a beer from the Australian guy but I had to decline as I still had come more ground to cover.
I arrived at the hostel. I was nice and in the middle of nowhere. The bed I had was in a bamboo house which meant no AC. I was not bothered by this as I was so fixated on the waves. I checked in and asked the guy where might be a good place for me to surf. I had about two hours before sunset so I ran towards the water. This run was over a mile so I should have just taken the motorbike. Lesson learned.
I showed up to the beach break I was told would be decent at that hour but it was just close outs. I ran to the main point break which wasn't too far away as I saw a couple of people out there. This wave had some size to it but was not very smooth due to the onshore winds. This wave was unbeatable consistent. The same sets would roll through just about ever 5 minutes and it would be the same exact wave. For the next hour and a half I was sharing these beautifully long rides with maybe three other people. I was so glad to have made the trip out there.
I got out just before the sunset and managed to run back before it was pitch black outside. I rewarded my little victory with some local Indonesian cuisine.
One thing I did not take into consideration was the time of year I was there. Medewi is a predominately Muslim village and I was there during the month of Ramadan. This meant that all of the Mosques were continuously playing prayers that were audible all over town. And being in a bamboo house meant there was no noise being blocked. The hostel I was at was in ear shot of 3 so I heard these prayers just about every hour. I didn't mind it too much until the evening time. It would cut right through my ear plugs and keep me up. Some nights it would go as late as 3 AM and start again at 5 AM. This was something I never got used to.
The next day I went on a total surf bender. I woke early, thanks to the mosques, and headed to the main point break. It was a little more crowded than the night before. I had 2 waves that I rode for no joke a minute straight. Finally, I had time on the waves to really focus on what I was doing and improve my turns. The waves were more powerful this day. I had taken a wave all the way inside and hopped off only to be dragged by the current over the sharp reef. Not too long after, I was duck diving a wave and the waves was so strong it yanked my board around so hard I ended up punching myself in the face. A few hours of good waves and the line up got super crowded. I headed back, made a little lunch and was chatting to this Canadian guy I had met the night prior. He had planned to go out and check this other beach break and I asked to go with him. Little did I know he was planning to leave in 5 minutes. I wolfed down what ever food I had left and repacked my surfboard on my motorbike. He took me through these rice fields and found a beach all to ourselves. I spotted some consistent lefts and headed toward those. This spot had some really good waves that would break pretty quick going left and nice and slow going right. But the big sets that would come through would just be walls of close outs. So, if you could keep kept your head on a swivel they could be avoided, for the most part. I remember having countless amazing waves here and we had it all to ourselves. After about two hours, we got out and the Canadian guy was interested in checking out this right point break just east of where we were. So, I followed him and we saw another super consistent break. We were exhausted and dehydrated but it looked too good. We went out and traded off waves for another 30 minutes. It was heaven. The evening was the same as the night prior. I went back to the main point break at sunset and ended the night with some Indonesian cuisine and a chocolate milk.
Some of the others were playing cards that night and invited me to play. The card game that they were playing was shown to everyone by this Chinese guy that was staying there. He won basically every round. He was also recovering from being hit by a car a few days prior so he needed the wins.
The next morning, I was not feeling so well. I took my time making breakfast and was slow to get to the surf spot. I managed to make it out to the waves but I felt so fatigued. I got one nice left and I just did not have the energy to continue so I went back. Sure enough I felt even worse and had a fever. The rest of my time was spent in bed next to the Chinese guy who was hit by a car. I just remember being so hot in the room and unable to cool myself down. I was constantly taking cold showers but the cooling effect would last maybe a half hour. I passed the time just existing in bed. I still had an appetite so I needed to go out and get food for dinner.
A lot of time was spent in bed but not much sleeping was happening. The next day I wasn't getting better probably because I could not cool myself down. That night, I booked another room at a different place not too far away. This was a private room with some sound proofing and AC! Finally got the rest I was searching for. The fever finally left but I was still feeling like shit. I spent as much time as I could in the AC before I had to check out. I spent the rest of the day at this surf cafe that overlooked the water. I contemplated going out for a surf all day but decided that would probably set back my recovery progress.
Another night back at the first hostel and I was feeling strong enough to head back to Canggu to reunite with Camila. Being sick while you are traveling is really not fun. And this seems to be a recurring theme in the land of Indonesia as I would soon find out.
The first two days I had there were incredible. I had so much joy just driving around the streets and getting to the beach. A stark contrast to the following two days where I was in such a miserable mood where none of those things made me happy.
So I began the 2 hour ride back to Canggu.
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