INDONESIA - BALI - PEMUTERAN - JULY 2015 - PURA, SICK AND OFF THE TRACK

I left Lovina and rode to Pemuteran. I pulled into the Jubawa Hotel and got a nice private air con room for 400 000R with wifi, breakfast and an excellent pool.

After settling in, I walked around the street, along the beach and back to the  hotel then rested. It was a hot walk!

 

I rode to the temple to the east of Pemuteran. The temple - Pura Pabean - had an amazing panoramic view along the coast, the temples were colourfully decorated and there were heaps of monkeys.  I then went west and had a swim at Pemuteran Beach. Later, I  followed some dirt turnoffs further west. I came across locals doing field work, a abseiling tower, a number of beautiful bays and pretty beaches and an army group doing training.

 

Not a good night, as I had food poisoning. The worse I've ever had for pain and it went from 10pm to 3pm. I threw up thinking it was all over but the pain started up again with high temperature and dizziness. Eventually, I slept.

When I woke, I cancelled the snorkel trip to Menjangan and stayed another night. The pains still continue throughout the day though less often till about 1pm. I spend the day trying to sleep and later in the afternoon, I sat and swam at the hotel pool.

The next day, I went to Pemuteran - on next blog page.

The following day, I felt okay enough to bike it back to Balian.

Reflection Pemuteran

The hotel was good, the room was good and the pool great. The service was generally ok but fairly indifferent. Access to the beach is along a few dirt roads/tracks - a bit of a walk. The beach is okay but ordinary as there were a lot of rocks/coral near shore.

Riding the bike around the area was great with heaps of turn offs leading to nowhere and somewhere. In this case, the journey is the fun part.

The big draw card was Menjangan for snorkelling. It was pretty good and it was such a fun easy drift. Yep! I'd go back but probably not for awhile has it is out of the way. 

INDONESIA - BALI - LOVINA - JULY 2015

After breakfast and farewells in Munduk, I biked it to Lovina.

No problems at all with directions this time even though there were a number of unmarked turns when i reached Seritit. 

 

On entering Kalibukbuk, the touts were in forced - room, snorkel, dolphins, cockfight, etc etc and when one finished another was eager to repeat the speel. I got a small hotel for 150 000R with fan in a side street. I wandered around Lovina which had been visually improved with a waterfront promendaade, more restaurants and some bars.

I booked a snorkel on the reef - 75 000R. It wasn't much good years ago and even though it was better it still was lacking in coral and big fish. Still, it was pretty and the boat ride was fun. :)

After dinner, I sat in a bar and listened to folk and country music. The musician kept playing John Denver's songs as he said he knew I liked it. To some degree that is true but it was quietly played.

Back in the hotel,  it was pretty quiet so i settled down for a good sleep. But that was not to be - duff duff music started pounding insanely shaking the room from 10pm to 3am. I smiled put in my ear plugs (helped a bit) and read a book. The music stop and I got some sleep but as per usual I woke up early and was pretty tired.

I decided to shorten my stay and move on to Pemuteran.

Reflection Lovina

Visually the place looks better. The beach promende is well set out and a pleasant walk. The beach was so so for swimming as i didn't do it and strangely enough the black sand is now grey. There were a lot of good restaurants with great food. But it was too noisy at night (in all fairness it was Saturday night) and the touts though not aggressive were still just there. The snorkelling was ordinary though the boat ride was great. Nah, i wouldn't go back or if i did i would stay to the east of Kalibukuk.

INDONESIA - BALI - MUNDUK TO CANDIKUNNING - JULY 2015 - 'MOUNTAINS, TEMPLES, LAKES AND MONKEYS'

Up early in Munduk, breakfast on the roof of the hotel and off on the motorbike in the Candikunning direction.

 

At the start, the road was very steep with 180 degreee turns with the sun in my eyes but was okay once I reached the rim of the volcano that surrounds the three lakes. It was very cold biking along the ridge with great views all the way along of the three lakes - Tamblingan, Buyan and Beratan.

Eventually, I did a sharp right into the road leading downhill to Candikunning. The road was steep but wide. There were monkeys all along the road.

 

 

First stop was the Pura Ulan Danau. It was an amazing complex of beautiful temples and paths set on the edge of Lake Beratan with a mountainous backdrop. There were numerous blessings and ceremonies taking place in the major and minor temples. The atmosphere was one of happiness. I spent a long time admiring the people, temples and lake.

Next, the markets at Candikunniing. I had coffee and nasi campur in a small warung and watched the locals and tourists doing there things. Later, I wandered around the market and I brought a long sleeved shirt for bike riding 60 000R (protection from cold, heat and wind), 1/2 kilogram of strawberries and some hot corn. The market is small but has a lot of variety.

Back on the bike for the Bali Botanical Gardens. The different plant houses were far up the hill and the rest of the place was lawn area with trees for shade. ii choose a spot to rest for awhile and eat my picnic snacks. I didn't go to the plant houses - my legs were a little sore from yesterday's hike.

I drove back to Munduk stopping to view the monkeys on the road.

The new bike shirt worked well as it was light and protected me from the sun and wind.

I had a lazy afternoon back at the hotel, sitting on the roof secction watching the sunset over the North Bali Sea.

INDONESIA - BALI - MUNDUK - JULY 2015

I hired a bike for 60 000R per day and headed off to Munduk from Balian.


 

The traffic at the beginning of the ride along the main road was horrendous - fumes, traffic jams and crazy driving. Once off the main road things calmed down and it became a pleasant ride.

I took a wrong turn but after asking questions it seemed like the right road but the tar became gravel, then rocks, then dirt and rocks then very, very steep and finally ended at a mountain temple - conclusion it was the wrong way! Back to the main road and all seemed on track when I came to a big green sign 'Munduk'.  I followed it for ages, checked my directions but eventually the road became a dirt track. Back to the main road again but on the way back a guy offered to show me the way. I followed and we turned here ,there and everywhere but eventually, he pointed to a small road and said that way. I followed the road (which was one way and was wasn't going the right way) with great hope and after a short distance came to a main road which lead to ... Munduk.

I stopped at the Meme homestay - 081938380982 , met the lady running a shop across the road, who got thee hotel owners to open up the hotel and I got a nice clean room with a great view for 200 000R.

She (lady across the road) also rang a guide for me and within the hour I was fed and trekking away. The guide was 60 000R per hour. The hike was 3 hours so 180 000R in total. We started at his warung...'Warung Heaven - Kadek 085737841860' and I had a pleasant meal with a view across the valley.

The hike started along dirt tracks that winded down the hill through lush vegetation and farms to the waterfalls (there was an easier way but we went to scenic, rough way). The first fall fall was rustic and impressive. The wind was howling due to the pressure of the water falling in a narrow chasm.

The second waterfall was up heaps and heaps of steep winding stairs. A long the way , we passed a house where the father and son were playing a game with spinning tops. The waterfall was more crowded as it was more tourist excessible but it was still great.

Continuing onwards, upwards and downwards we wandered on through lush enclosing vegetation, coffee plantations and rice fields. At the ricefields the area was more open and there were kites flying everywhere These were flown for leisure, gambling and fighting. We watched the near sunset and continued upwards to Munduk.

Wandering back to the hotel, I was treated to a glorious sunset.

Back at the hotel, a shower then dinner aat the Warung Classic which had the best Balinese food i've eaten in ages.

 

The next day, I rode the Bike to Candikunning  and back to Munduk- I'm put this on the next page of the blog.

On leaving Munduk, the girl at the hotel and the lady across the road and her family came to say goodbye and have a farewell photo. NICE :)

Reflection Munduk

I liked it. The food was tasty and different. The hotel was simple with a great roof top view and room view from the window. The people at the hotel and across the road were nice. The hiking was good and there were heaps more hikes to do. A great chill out place. :). this definitely on my list of come back again places.

INDONESIA - BALI - PURA LUHUR BATUKARU - JUNE 2015 - 'COCK FIGHT AND TEMPLE'

Yana, Melvin and I went for a motorbike ride to Pura Luhur Batubatu from Balian.



We left about mid afternoon and with Wayan's directions we were off. Well, his directions weren't too good 'turn left just before the second new bridge' as this was a dead end that veered under the bridge and stopped.

Eventually, we found the right turn off and after about 1/2 hour of riding we came to a sign indicating the way.

 

It was just before the sign that we came across an impromptu casino on a patch of land under the trees. There were all sorts of gambling games running but most interest was around the impeding cockfight. We watched the preparation of the roosters with 5 cm razor sharp blades tied to one rear claw and the encouragement of the touts trying to elicit bets.



It eventually started and finished very quickly.

 

We journeyed onwards towards the temple. It was very scenic with lush vegetation, mossy statues and walls, a series of statues with water gushing from the mouths, a lake with a temple in the centre, and tiered structures with each temple. It was very enjoyable to walk around.

 

The trip back was a challenge with darkness setting in, no visibility with the visor down on the helmet and heaps of bugs swatting your face, waiting to plunge into your mouth. We made it and had a good laugh.

INDONESIA - BALI - BALIAN - JUNE/JULY 2015 - 'SURF AND CHILL'

Nyoman (transport and long time friend) arrived at the Swiss Belinn Hotel, Legian and soon we were off to Balian, in the north west of Bali. It was good to catch up with Nyoman. We talked about his family, aspirations and the meanings of life. The last topic was a mixture of views/thoughts which seemed to melt together as we reached the end of the journey.

I settled into my room at Ayu's Homestay and checked the surf. The waves were good so I had an okay late surf.

My room at Ayu's is simple and rough - bed, mosquito net, fan and bathroom with shower and toilet - but it has an excellent view of the waves with a nice balcony and bench with a thin mattress. Love the view and breeze!

 

Over the following week, I surfed, ate and met heaps of people...

 

SOME PEOPLE I MET

John (architect) and his family ?, Chris, Peter - nice friendly family

Kane, Taina from nz and their two nice kids. They live in Auckland where he is a groundsman.

Melvin from Singapore - on short holiday - he works for government organizing sport events.

Yana from Czech Republic - long term traveller

Ian and Carmen from south africa - they were here for a holiday and business in jewelry. Carmen looked like Cersei in Game of Thrones.

Marty, Phil and Mark - expats living in Balian. I met Mark over thirty years ago surfing in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka.

Karen - nurse worked WA, NT and now QLD - and her daughter Charly. Her son was sick in bed with fever.

Ben a knee boarder from New Mexico.


SURF

The surf was good on arrival with two three surfs a day in off shore to cross shore winds at about head height.

The swell increased dramatically and was still rideable but it was bumpy and rough with a lot of water movement.

The swell dropped and the waves got better and better. after a few days the swell was starting to get a bit smaller and the crowds were increasing. I needed a surf
HIKE

Had a walk in afternoon to the north. I walked down a concrete drive just before Mina Gajah Resort and had access to a small bay and beach. On the beach, I found access to a small cave and came out onto another beach.

I walked along the beach and then through a small arch to the next beach. I was nearly through when I was swamped by a wave, thrown against the rocks, cut my arm heaps on the barnacles and treaded water has the little recess in the rocks was now over head height in swirling water. Luckily, I managed to climb the rocks when the water receded and even though my day pack went under the water, the cameras didnt get wet. How lucky was that!!!!

I continued along the beach and around the point to Meja Beach. From there I wandered around the small temple and followed the nature trail to Mina Gajah Resort point. I sat rested and admired the view.

I had other hikes to town and along the Balian Beach.

 

CEREMONY AT AYU'S HOME

Melvin and I were invited to a ceremony at Ayu's home to bless the new home temple. It was great! there was a spread of food. the people were friendly and colourful. There were musicians, puppets, dancers, storytellers, holy man, holy woman and blessings galore. This was all happening at the same time in a small courtyard.

 

REFLECTION BALIAN

This was a great week - met lots of people, surf was good, bike rides, ceremonies and a relaxing atmosphere. It isn't like a second home but it is a good place to chill-out and get fitter. Love it!

 

INDONESIA - BALI - LEGIAN - JUNE 2015

Off to Bali today. Final preparations. AHHH!  I finished packing but was 2 kilograms overweight so had to toss out a few things.

The shuttle bus arrived at my front door at 12:50pm. No problems getting to airport.

I get to the departure lounge and Nicky and her son are there going also to Bali.

I flew to Bali 17:20 to 21:35 with 35kgs of baggage and an entertainment pack. Uneventful flight.

At Bali, I paid visa $35US, paspport stamped, filled in arrival form, was harassed by a drunk Aussie, picked up my bags, handed in customs form, xrayed bags and was in exit area.

I hailed a guy in the waiting crowd and got a van for 150 000R to Legian.

The traffic was light and I was soon settled into Swiss-Belinn hotel and tried to sleep.
 

Yo! the trip begins. I started with a morning view from the rooftop of the hotel. Such a great looking small rooftop pool, bar with a great view over Kuta towards the airport.

 

Next was a morning surf check. The surf wasn't too good but it was nice to sit on the beach and watch the beach walkers and the surf in much warmer conditions than home.

 

 

Breakfast at the Mugshot Café - coffee, orange juice and bagette with bacon and scrambled eggs. Looked good and was yum!

Walked up towards Bingtang supermarket to change money and buy pulsa (phone credit) - 300 000R.

 

The cash rate was $1 AUD @ 10220R

Back at the hotel, I rang Ayu and an booked upstairs room @ 150 00R per night including breakfast and Nyoman for 11am van pick up for Balian tomorrow @ 400 000R. Too easy... so far. :)

 

 Wandered down the street which was much more crowded now. Had a partial maassage but it was hopeless so I stopped it, paid them, got abused then continued on.  As I continued, the massage girls were desperate for work/money and so were very aggressive/annoying. The place I had a good massage from last year was gone but there was a new one a few doors up which was clean and good. I had a good Aromatherapy massage at 80 000R for 1 hour - just up from the Grand Kumala Hotel.

I had a few swims in the hotel rooftop pool and headed for the beach for a sunset beer for nice sunset, chat with beach bar worker and nails cut.

The next day, I had a morning pool swim then a surf check, a short beach walk and breakfast.

Later I had an aromatherapy massage at the hotel - 1 hour at 125 000R. It was good.

All packed and ready for Balian.

Reflection Legian

I haven't stayed at the Swiss-Belinn before. It is a nice hotel and the roof top pool/bar is great. My room was on the ground floor near the dining area so nearly every time I opened the door there was crowd of people to stare at me... not too private. the rooms were clean and modern. . There was no balcony which I missed!

Getting to the beach was via a very narrow lane (gang) which wasn't advisable to walk at night. Robberies do happen I prefer the Grand Kumala hotel though it is aging.

In the streets, all was fine but the massage girls were annoying/harassing.

It is a great spot to get settled for Indonesia - money cashed, transport, supplies, etc but it is very urban and I was happy to be moving onwards and to a more natural setting.