To get there, we hired a driver and car. For 35 USD, he would take us where we wanted to go, wait while we did what we wanted to do, and take us back when we wanted to leave. It's the way things are done here, and the price we paid is the going rate.
Most surfers base themselves in Kuta, and rent a motorcycle with surfboard racks. Then they ride wherever they want to surf that day. Kir and I are not comfortable renting motorcycles, so we hired a driver instead.
Dreamland was the place I had originally wanted to go when I was planning this trip. It has a good beach break for learners, and also a reef break further out for more experienced surfers.
My surfing guidebook mentions something like "There is a very good vibe at Dreamland. There are many warungs (food stalls) to eat at, and many cheap places to stay nearby. You can rent boards and accessories here too. The beach is very popular with European learners and sun worshipers, and all-night raves happen on the headland during full moons. Don't trip over the cliff!"
Towards the end of my time in China, different opinions about Dreamland started appearing in my google searches. News of a big hotel being built right on the beach, news of the warungs being torn down, news of the once pristine beach being ruined. It was hard to find a reliable source though, so I didn't know what to expect when we got there.
The land has been owned by Tommy Suharto for some time. Tommy Suharto is the son of the loathed Indonesian president/dictator Suharto, and is very rich. He started the whole project, which would include a golf course and luxury resort. He built the gate, and paved the access roades. Then the Indonesian economy tanked along with the rest of Asia about ten years ago, so the project was put on hold.
It's now been re-started.
This is the gate to the new resort. These are impressive Balinese Hindu statues.
The beach is still there, and is beautiful. Today was the lunar high tide, so the waves were pretty big, crashing close to shore. The beach break would have been unsurfable, and there was no reef break out further on account of the tide.
We then looked for the warungs and surf shops. To our disappointment, they had been torn down. It was really depressing. Only the foundations remained, along with various reminders of what used to be here.
Evidently there was a surf school, a Dr. Ding who will repair your board, and various cafes and other warungs. Now, all that is on the beach are abandoned beach chairs, and remnants of walls and foundations. It was like being in a really depressing ghost town.
The whole vibe was not "good", like my guidebook said, and there was no sign of the legions of European sun worshipers and learners. A few tour buses were unloading their charges when we were leaving, but I think that was an exercise in tradition. There is really nothing to see there anymore.
Of course the beach is still there, and if you only look out to sea and forget all the construction happening twenty meters behind you, I guess you could have a nice experience. It's not just about the experience though. It's about a rich person coming in with development ideas, and ruining everything. The local character is gone.
The warungs were kicked off the beach, and given space on a concrete pad along the path towards the beach. The looked depressing. We ate at one, and talked with the local guys hanging out close by. Above is a picture of the path leading to the beach. You can see the hotel being built, the beach in the distance, and the lane of banished and relocated warungs.
The locals thanked us for coming, since very few people come these days. They said the warungs were displaced eight months ago when construction started back up again. We mentioned the whole beach area looked and felt very sad, and they agreed. They expressed hope for the time two years down the road when the construction would be finished, the resort would open, and the people would come back to Dreamland beach.
Dreamland has turned into a nightmare.
For some other opinions on Dreamland, you can go the following sites.
Here's a complete story from the Bali Times. Click here.
This site gives some background on the whole issue. It must have been written before the construction started again, because the author talks about sipping beer in a warung, and renting boards. Click Here.
This site talks about the warungs being destined for the garbage heap, and the new spot along the river where they'll be given spaces to sell their food. Today we saw the new warung road, and no beachside warungs. Click here.
We weren't depressed all day though, since we went to other places afterwards. We explored the cliff-top Uluwatu temple, and checked out the famous Uluwatu and Padang-Padang surf breaks to watch the surfers. I will post about those places later.
1 comment:
Oh man what a letdown on the Dreamland front! And depressing too. Where will you surf now? Cause wasn't that the main plan?
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