Tulamben, Mount Agung, Current Situation...

[billt4sf]

Best way to describe it is that no one seems to know anything. Even when you have a translator, no one knows anything. When we were in Bali, the airport closed for 3 days and it was mayhem (volcano was not on Bali). And this was just at the airport. I can't imagine what it would be like at the port in Sanur, which is crowded on a normal day, if people are trying to get off the island. It just felt impossible to get anything accomplished. Indonesians were given priority for flights even if you were there before them. I understand some of it for sure, since people were trying to get home to families, but it was frustrating because you felt a bit helpless. I don't think a lot of people will be trying to get to Bali if the Volcano erupts, so getting to Bali on a return taxi/fast boat might not be an issue. We were lucky to be diving with Dive Damai and they were with us every step of the way (at airport and hotels) helping us get sorted, it would have been much more frustrating without that support.

I also want to point out that in order to get insurance to cover my trip cancellation I had to supply a letter from the airline and Bali airport about the closure and subsequent cancellations(I guess world news wasn't good enough). So if anyone has problems make sure you get documentation while you are there and save all receipts, tickets and boarding passes!

Let me ask you this: if you had not a need to get home (or wherever you were going) what would it have been like? If you could have holed up in Bali, would life in Bali have been affected much? (I am asking, because that is my own situation. Although, again, the wife is headed to Manila next week.)

Was this last year, the volcano on Lombok? My wife was delayed getting out of DPS to go to Manila for a couple days.

- Bill

 

[billt4sf]

Good video of the inside situation of a stratavolcano:

 

[Cali_diver]

Let me ask you this: if you had not a need to get home (or wherever you were going) what would it have been like? If you could have holed up in Bali, would life in Bali have been affected much? (I am asking, because that is my own situation. Although, again, the wife is headed to Manila next week.)

Was this last year, the volcano on Lombok? My wife was delayed getting out of DPS to go to Manila for a couple days.

- Bill

No, once we were resigned to the fact that we were stuck in Bali we found a hotel in Sanur and did some day trips. It wasn't perfect but it was better than sitting at the Harris. I'm not sure what it will be like for Bali if the eruption is a bad one. We would be inclined to help people, not hide but it would depend on a lot of factors. This situation is very different. We all have friends that live in Bali and I think we would try to be there if they needed us. Mine was in 2015. I think it was on Java.
I think you will be fine if you are already there to stay. If you do have a domestic flight planned soon and it looks iffy you might want to book another on the day befor or after. That way you might have a chance. When the cancel a flight they don't reschedul an extra one the next day. They just cancel it.

 

[gekodivebali]

All are operating as normal in Padang Bai. Just no dives in Tulamben (evacuation zone) and Amed (road going through evacuated areas). Safety first, right!
We've had strange weather on the ground with a fair bit of precipitation. Also, had some waves for just 10 minutes yesterday. Nothing dramatic, but just had an earthquake 30 minutes ago...

 

[Mike Veitch]

Nothing dramatic, but just had an earthquake 30 minutes ago...

Oh ya? So you are feeling it there as well, have you felt many of them? They don't reach as far as Sanur fortunately.

 

[Dan]

View of Mt Agung today from Tulamben took by Nyoman:

 

[gekodivebali]

That was the biggest earthquake in the last months on Bali so far, 4.2 on the Richter scale with a very low duration.

 

[Wingy]

. I'm not sure what it will be like for Bali if the eruption is a bad one. We would be inclined to help people, not hide but it would depend on a lot of factors. This situation is very different.

Cali_diver - the situation is very difficult and there is a very very fine line between help and hindrance. This is often a post disaster lesson sat and mulled over when all the inundation with immediate aid have gotten bored, fed up with not being able to get their favourite brand of Whisky and need to check their emails. When are tourists "useful" in the event of a natural disaster? In the months and years after. Very few disasters have occured where tourists are immediately useful - I'm talking post major quake in the minutes - hours before Emergency Response Teams hit the area. Pulling bricks and slabs of concrete off people is helpful...but you are also putting yourself at risk. ERT teams aren't going to be giving out orders for assistance in English, German, Swiss and Spanish....because - it's an emergency. They focus on the immediate task at hand and are trained to operate to a system, however 'good' or 'bad' that system may appear to be.

Sure, tourists were a great help on the night of the Bali Bombings. The young Aussie doctor on holiday who raced down to the hospital and stayed on his feet until the magnitude of the task made him consider suicide saved many many lives of all nations. The Swiss girl who carried and stayed with a football player who's team mates were dead helped immensely. The people running up JL Legian to see what had happened - not so much a help.

You also mentioned Indonesians being given priority for flights - If the San Andreas fault had a major shake would you prefer that impacted Americans were made to wait as tourists were given priority to evacuate the area?

I have to say watching the news every night seeing people flying into Bali because "it's only a small area and you have to give it a go, there are worse places to be stuck for a week until the ash clears" is both stupid and selfish in my opinion.

Not a personal attack Cali_Diver just frustration - maybe I should head down to the airport and give everyone waiting for the 5pm flight to DPS a free lecture on Volcanos of note in the Indonesian Archipelago - anyone ever heard of Tambora? Krakatoa? No?

Stay safe everyone

 

[Cali_diver]

You also mentioned Indonesians being given priority for flights - If the San Andreas fault had a major shake would you prefer that impacted Americans were made to wait as tourists were given priority to evacuate the area?

I have to say watching the news every night seeing people flying into Bali because "it's only a small area and you have to give it a go, there are worse places to be stuck for a week until the ash clears" is both stupid and selfish in my opinion.

Not a personal attack Cali_Diver just frustration - maybe I should head down to the airport and give everyone waiting for the 5pm flight to DPS a free lecture on Volcanos of note in the Indonesian Archipelago - anyone ever heard of Tambora? Krakatoa? No?

Stay safe everyone

Totally agree.. which is why I said that the MM2 poster should avoid trying to get to Bali, why I completely understood when they were put in front of us on flights (I guess I wasn't clear when I stated that, sorry I forget this is the internet and people can't read your thoughts or see your facial expressions), and why I said we would try to help but only if the situation warranted it. Yes... you should go to the airport and tell people but it probably won't work. That is kind of what I was trying to do but I guess I wasn't forceful enough in my response. It is such a tough situation because so many people depend on tourists to live, we can only hope and pray that this passes quickly without too much devastation.

 

[Wingy]

Thanks Cali I was hoping you read me the right way

That's why I never published my theory on tectonic rebound - what's the point? some boffins agree, some don't, life goes on...the fact the earth can rip apart or burst open at any moment never actually occurs to most people. The airport interviews really irritate me, hearing some woman say "It's all part of the Bali Experience isn't it?" Made me just shake my head.

I love volcanos more than just about any other human...I climb them, I fly thousands of miles to stare down into their calderas, my eyes are always scanning new terrain for evidence of ancient volcanoes...but...I also know when to take things seriously.