Sam and Brain's World Domination: Same Same....but Different

INDO part II: same same......But, totally different

Loungin' in the shade on the beaches of Sumbawa!

Who wants a Mustache ride!?

-Hello everyone it has been some time since we last wrote you, so we have a lot of catching up to do. A lot of crazy/amazing/rad/beautiful things have happened since then and we will try to fill you in on some of our good times. Since we last left you we've created a new and awesome Wolfpack!

Don't worry mom, I don't inhale...It's just to look cool!

-A French, surf photographer from Hossegor, France named Jeremie has joined us. We meet him in Kuta, Lombok and he has shown us some pretty sick surf spots around Indo. One of the spots he showed us was Serangan (about 15 min scooter ride from Bali)... it is a very crowded break but crowded for a reason the wave there is really sick. Brain had some of his biggest drops of the trip there. "I would just grab rail and bomb it" and bomb it he did.

Brain grabbin' rail on his 5'10 potato chip.

-After a few more nights in Krazy Kuta watching fire dancers and holding pythons, it was time to cruise out!

Standard late night Kuta Party!

-We ended up back on the southern peninsula back at Putu's who welcomed us with open arms. Jeremie stayed with some of his french friends who ended up becoming some of our best pals throughout the trip.

-Our first night with them we had an amazing dinner at the legendary Jimbaran. A fishing village where you pick out freshly caught sea food, have it grilled right in front of you and eat on the beach next to the water.

Red Snapper, Prawns, Octopus and Cold Beer...Could you ask for anymore?

-The next week on the peninsula consisted of torrential rain and extreme winds.... A no go for surfing... Bummer! Despite poor weather we managed to squeeze in a few sessions at Geger Beach, Srilanka, Mushroom and some scary big waves at Secret Spot. (side note: if any of you ever make it to Uluwatu, there is a place called Surfers Warug that makes the best fish taco's this side of Mexico).

-After waiting for Jeremie to figure out passport/visa issues it was time to roll outta Bali in search of waves with less people and a little more sunshine.

SUMBAWA

Finger on the trigger!!!...on the ferry to Sumbawa.

This is where Sam left me to die!!!....Pototano, Sumbawa...Never Forget!

-On the morning of the 21st of Feb the three of us left for Sumbawa. Two days later after taking two long ferries and 12+ hours shredding past trucks, horses, cars, bikes and all the other crazy things that exist in the streets of Indo we arrived at the Rantung Surf Hotel outside of Maluk on the island of Sumbawa.

-This long journey took its toll on Brain and he was extremely ill for half of the time we spent traveling. It took about a week or more for him to get back to feeling and acting somewhat normal again. At this point he had lost about 7 kilos, had no appetite and looked like death!!! But after a few days of some fresh air sleeping on the beach he started to be himself again.

Some battle scars from Sam's run in with a crazy Australian miner...good thing it was only his board!

-This place is the shit!!!... There are two excellent break within 10 minutes walking. Yoyo's and Tropical (check out Kai Neville's latest film: Lost Atlas, to see some pros killing it at these same breaks!).

The Raddest Sunset we have ever seen!!!...this photo does no justice!

-In the last week we have met some seriously cool and nice people here who became our family for the holidays. We chilled with the likes of Viktor, a resident of the former soviet Union, who did an exchange program in Boulder, CO for a year (seriously small world); three awesome Austrians: Jan, Markus, and Lukas; a French Canadian named Patrick; two other Frenchies named Valerie and Atwan; and a flying Dutchman named Emiel.

-On Christmas we had a super chuxx white elephant party and some sweet gifts were exchanged. Everything from toilet paper to fireworks was up for grabs.

Merry Christmas 2011!

The sweetest/sketchiest roman candle ever!

Delicious Christmas Brunch....Snapper from the Sea!

-One of the days we set out on a wild adventure through the jungle in search of a secret spot. Our search took us deep into the jungle on the sketchiest trails yet!!! At some points we were ankle deep pushing our scooters through the mud. Once we found the beach we did not have the amazing secret wave we were hoping for but it was a fun adventure nonetheless.

Inside looking out!...a sweet waterfall we found.

Who's up for some cliff jumping?!...Markus gettin' aribourne!

Last night on Sumbawa

-On the morning of the 29th the Austrians, the Canadian, the Dutchman, Jeremie and the two of us headed out at 7am toward the Gili islands where we would be spending the new year in search of a party rather than waves.

-After 2 more ferries and 5+ hours of scootering we arrived at the island of Gili Trawangan (one of 3 Gili islands off the coast of Lombok). The island consists of a few small villages, lots of resorts with cool bungalows and no motorized vehicles whatsoever.

Riding seriously deep through the capital of Lombok!

-The Gili's for New Years was supposed to be quite a popular place, which was a little concerning because we did not want to pay to much for rooms. Jan, Jeremie and Sam wandered around and found a cool, two bedroom place that all 8 of us could cram into.

-It broke down to about $3.50 a night per person and the setup was pretty hilarious!.... Three people in one bed, one on the floor, two in hammocks, one in the other room and the last person to fend for himself (maybe find a empty bed elsewhere on the island!)

Nobody likes to share a room with Jan for quite a few reasons....5 deep in one bedroom, Gili Trawangan

-Most of the year there is no surf on the Gili's which meant snorkeling and celebrating the coming of the new year would be the only activities we perused!

This is a one way ticket!

Pre- New Years Eve munchies at the local market!....hmmmm greasy goodness!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!!!!!!!....Hold on TIGHT, its gonna be a good one!!

-On the last morning Brain was able to swoop a couple sweet time lapses of the island and grabbed some cool 1st light picks as well.

The first sunrise of 2012!

-After four days and four nights of Gili madness it was time to get the hell outta there and find some swell to sober us up again.
-By 8am we started our journey back to Kuta, Bali and arrived at around 7pm- another long day of traveling. Once we were back in Bali we had to go out for a few drinks because it was Emiel's (the Dutchman's) 23rd birthday. Will the celebration ever end?!

B-day kiss!!...go get 'em Emiel!

-We spent a few more days in Kuta surfing Brain's favorite break Serangan. We also picked up one more Austrian (Axle) and had to see our good friend Jeremie off to New Zealand. Peace out Jeremie, good times!!

PADANG-PADANG
-After Jeremie left it was time to get the hell out of Kuta. Everyone went south to surf but Brain and Jan because of some stitches (another long story in itself) and Jan starting to feel sick. What started out as the "Bali flue" for Jan was then later found out it was Denge Fever. This took Jan out for the rest of his time in Indo. DUX!

(Sorry.... censored for blog)

-After four more days in Kuta Brain finally joined us on the Padand-Padang cliffs which is one of the coolest places we've ever stayed.... Out our front door was a view of four sick breaks. Padang-Padang, Bingin, Dreamland and Impossibles.

Impossible's!!!...very possible on this day!

-One day out at Impossibles Sam had the longest waves of his life. Everyone out in the line up though he had gone in and about 25 mins later he showed back up with a big smile on his face and his back slumping from a long paddle. Turns out he rode that wave almost down to Australia.

-During our stay at Padangpadang we surfing all over the island of Bali. A typical day would go something like this...

A nice little afternoon on the cliffs...waitin' for swell!

Slashin'!!!....Uluwatu

-Wake up early, check the weather and wind then hop on the scooters and head to whichever spot seemed fit; After a surf it was time to grub down! We would stop by our favorite place to eat... Big Noodle! We would double order everything, everytime! Two black pepper chickens and a chicken soup would set me straight for a few hours, then back to the hut for some dice and and chilling until it was time to go surf again. Not a bad life huh?