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Bali is a city that has been portrayed in the news over the last decade in a way that made all of my family cut their eyes at me when I told them we were filming there. What did know that I knew non-divers did not was that you had to go through this city that has been in the news in a negative fashion to get to the diving that divers know as the place where underwater life began. So, I made the plans, packed my bags and joined up with the rest of the LA crew with the thoughts of just getting through this gateway in search of the dives I have dreamt of.

What I found out when I arrived was a sense of peace that NO one I know would have expected to find. I found a beautiful city with beautiful people and amazing cultures. I only wish I had more time there but we would get more where that came from and a taste of something that Nick described as “not on the tourist map.”

In search of the increasingly elusive rice liquor source we ended up 4 hours to the north in a room covered in white tile with gold fixtures. I do not want to elude to much more so you can experience this visually in the show but when Nick leaned over and said the words “I would bet money this is not on the tourist map” I knew we had something great going on. Wait until you feast your eyes on this episode!!!

Departing from Bali to catch Wakatobi’s charter flight to the land of mandarin fish and wonder puss I found myself getting exited to the point where I felt like I was back in my open water class learning to dive for the first time. What a great feeling to experience twice in a lifetime and what a way to arrive to work.

Wakatobi, a place named after three islands that are surrounded by a reef that rivals any in the world. I spent an evening at the jetty bar surrounded by bio-luminescent worms that filled the ocean’s surface as far as you could see for 20 minutes. That was a site I will take into the afterlife and cherish during my time here. Everything about this trip made me feel that way and I think it is going to blow your minds when you see it. From the dance in the local village to the dozens and dozens of mandarin fish on one dive; to the temple of the Oceans to the godfather of rice liquor, this place gave me a feeling that is as close to another planet as I have found since I visited Russia.

I love it and I will go back to the country I pleasantly found to be as non violent as the local chess club and the dive resort that I found to be better than the best trip revue I have ever written or read. This is not Asia Minor my friends, I can only describe the place we took this journey as Asia Major.

WAK WAK WAKA INDONESIA!!!!
www.wakatobi.com

Randy Harris
EP