Sadly we departed the restful location of Tembok, it was only a 20 minute drive before we reached our snorkeling point of a the 120m long wreck of US Liberty which rests on a 90 degree angle with the deck facing the open sea and used to be an American supply ship.
Anchored
off the coast of Lombok, the ship was hit by a Japanese torpedo during
World War II. Miraculously nobody got hurt, but the damage turned the
ship into a non-functioning and useless hull. The American Navy's plan
to tow the ship to Singaraja harbour (north Bali) failed as the harbo
it
was completely occupied, so the ship was intentionally stranded on the
rocky beach of Tulamben, where it was unloaded.
In 1963 Mount
Agung (the volcano which towers over Tulamben) erupted and the magma
flow pressed the ship back into the sea where it presently rests at a depth of 3 to 29 metres.
Since then, coral has coated the wreckage turning it into a new home
for an extraordinary number of fish, coral and invertebrates. bump-head
parrotfish, napoleon wrasse and barracuda are regularly spotted around
the wreck..
It was only a short swim to the wreck and we were amazed and excited to see so much colourful marine life. After our snokel we then proceeded to Sidemen valley located at Karangasem East Bali regency which has many Hindu temple, the village and our resort is located in the valley surrounded by rice fields Siedemen village has produced masters of Balinese literature and Hindu theology as well as generations of skillfull weavers. More about skill of Baliniese cooking in the next blog.
