“And that, to your left, is Mount Agung,” announces our guide with pride. We are on a choppy boat ride, heading out for a day of snorkelling. We look up to see the majestic mountain, set in the east of Bali, with its head in the clouds. The peak is shrouded in thick white plumes.
“That’s smoke” whispers a fellow traveller, adding, “I got frantic messages from India saying the volcano has erupted.” We don’t realise it then, but we are witnessing the beginning of volcanic activity, which would — in two days — lead to the closing down of the airport and evacuation of more than 40,000 people. It has been 54 years since Agug’s last eruption.
Plumes of smoke
As we watch the volcano with fascination, our guide allays all fears, saying it’s been rumbling since September. “False information scares away tourists,” he adds. So we hop off our boats and swim in the clear waters. Over the next couple of days, we shop, eat and get massages, despite threats of an impending volcano eruption hanging — quite literally — above our heads.
The locals are relaxed, even when the rumbling gains strength. As inhabitants of a country that lies in the Pacific Ring of Fire, they are used to living in the shadow of the volcano. “Work has to happen. Tourists want new things to buy. Shoes, sarongs, souvenirs... We can’t keep worrying about the volcano,” says a shopkeeper on busy Legian street, known for its packed pubs. A hawker rubs his chin thoughtfully and says, “What is annoying is the uncertainty. Let’s just get it over with.” He then tries to sell me a multicoloured dream-catcher. “I’ll reduce. Tell me how much?” he says unperturbed.
We fly out of Bali, as scheduled, on Friday. Then, the white smoke turns as dark as a furious thunder cloud, and the volcano shifts to its magmatic phase. Ngurah Rai International Airport shuts down, making it impossible for tourists to fly out. It’s not all doom and gloom though, judging by social media. Twenty-seven-year-old Nancy Moses, who is still stranded in Bali, looks calm in her Facebook post, where she’s posing with a bottle of beer and face mask. “Plenty of food, water/wine, and Internet for Netflix. Biggest concern is getting back home,” she says. While the neighbouring Lombok island’s airport is now operating (at the time of print), it’s still unsure when Ngurah Rai Airport will be functional. (It is almost impossible for aircrafts to fly through ash as it damages the engines. The lack of oxygen and the presence of particles like stones and minerals shuts down the engines.)
According to Virgin Australia’s website, “The Agung Volcano Observatory’s aviation colour code is currently red, indicating that further eruption is imminent or underway with significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere likely.” Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines has put up a message on its Facebook page stating, “A full refund on all refundable/non-refundable tickets for passengers who are ticketed on or before November 27 and 28, 2017, for travel to/from Denpasar between November 27 and December 11, 2017. Tickets must be submitted for refund at the very latest by December 11, 2017.”
A way out
According to the Indonesia Travel website, travellers can take a bus out of Bali from the Mengwi Bus Terminal. It connects passengers to the Juanda International Airport in Surabaya (approximately 12 hours), Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta (18 hours), Blimbingsari Airport in Banyuwangi (six hours) and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta (25 hours).
The website also states that the Governor of Bali Province has made it mandatory for hotels in Bali to “grant a one-night-free exemption on the first day that Ngurah Rai International Airport stops operating, and offer the best available rates for every additional night.” The Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association Bali is granting tourists whose flights have been cancelled a free night’s accommodation, with 50% off on the second.
Tourist hotspot
For a small island prone to disasters, Bali has proven to be well organised under pressure. As the island economy is dependent on tourism, locals are worried about an inevitable dip in the number of tourists. According to a recent BBC report, Bali drew more than 4.5 million tourists in the first nine months of 2017. But now vacationers who have booked tickets to the island for Christmas and New Year’s Eve are apprehensive, which could lead to a mass cancellation of plane tickets and hotel bookings. Nevertheless, for many like Moses, and other upbeat holidayers stuck in the resort area of Seminyak, it’s just another day on the beach. She says, “It’s all chill. The parties are on and no one is concerned about Agung that’s 70 km away.”
