K2K Bali
11-1-17
Flight In
After a long break at home, the day had finally arrived to leave for Bali, the start of the next stage of our ride from Kangarilla to Kathmandu. We did our final packing, closed the bike boxes up and then thought that we should get going early and have lunch with our daughter Lauren, at Brighton to kill some time on the way. So we loaded the bike boxes into Ash and Lauren’s van for the trip to the airport. We are so lucky that they still have the van, as it is now the only vehicle in the family that can transport three people and our bikes. Thanks heaps again Ash and Lauren.
A quick farewell to Mary’s Mum, Annette, alias Grandma, was
had on the way.
After our lunch at Cream in Brighton we said our goodbyes to
Lauren and loaded all our stuff onto two trollies. It was hard work navigating
two bike boxes through the doorway of the airport and the lift to departures. We
had the usual check in and pass on the bike boxes to the oversize luggage
handlers. We then had some time to kill so we headed off for a last Coopers
pint before heading through immigration. With a bit more time to kill before
boarding we decided to grab another drink. Here we met a yoga friend Kirsty Lee
and her husband Danny. They were flying to Bali also and we worked out that
they were seated in the row just in front of us. We really enjoyed catching up
with these guys and hope they enjoy their week of RnR.
The cabin staff were just getting ready to call the flight
when an announcement came through for me to go to the counter urgently. Oh Oh.
I went up and introduced myself and the lovely lady from Jetstar said that my
bike box had been sent back from being loaded as there was a strange buzzing
noise coming from it. She had to escort me back through immigration and then I
had to go to the Jetstar enquiry counter which is right at the far end of the
check in counter, the furthest part of the building, and they were boarding the
flight. Poor Mary had no idea where I went or what was going on. I couldn’t
imagine what could be buzzing in Larry’s box. Was this the end of our trip,
before it had even started?
I arrived at the counter and was informed to go and see the
staff at the oversize baggage, they had the box there waiting for me. When I
arrived the box had been opened, and we all looked inside to the amazing sounds
of, wait for it, nothing at all. No noise. There was nothing in there but
Larry, my cycling boots and helmet. Once the guys were satisfied that there was
nothing dangerous in there, (obviously they don’t know Larry very well) they
taped the box back up and sent me on my way. So a nice guy escorted me back
through the security check, then another rushed me through immigration, where
some bored dude decided that this would be a great moment to put me through the
body scanner. My escort was furious. So I arrived at the gate to find Mary
anxiously waiting for me. As we went down the boarding ramp, we saw Larry going
up the luggage conveyor, into the luggage hold, Phew, we could relax. We were
last onto the plane, where we found that the only spare seat in the plane was
in our row which meant that we could spread out over three seats. How lucky are
we again?
I have to say that the Jetstar’s staff were fantastic and
calm through the whole process. I am all for airline safety and I am glad that
someone asked questions when in doubt. Great work guys.
But then of course, we had to solve the mystery of what the
buzzing noise was. As far as we’re concerned, it must have been Larry getting
excited, and jumping around in his box. He was on tour again, Yeeww.
Arrival
The plane trip to Bali from Adelaide was only about 5 hours.
We had bought a vegan roll from Cream at Brighton, to eat for dinner so we
could happily avoid the airplane food. With the extra room in our row, I was able
to stretch out and actually lie down and have a little snooze (one benefit from
being small). As the plane neared the north coast of Australia, awesome cloud
formations began to develop. Nearing our destination we were given a
spectacular lightning show which lit up the whole sky above the clouds.
With a safe landing we proceeded to our parking bay and
exited by the good old fashion stairs. We breezed through immigration and then
onto the next step, our luggage collection. Our bag came out early but we had
an extremely long and worrying wait for the most important luggage of all, our
bike boxes. Finally, finally they appeared and then off through to customs we
went. I went straight through with the luggage but Dave got sent through to the
scanning area with the bikes. I wasn’t allowed to follow to help him so he had
to man handle the bike boxes onto the conveyor rollers by himself with no
officials willing to help him. With that all done and sorted we ventured out to
find our organised ride to our accommodation.
We had arranged an Airbnb stay in Denpasar for the first two
nights. Rudy, the owner had offered to send two cars to pick us and the bikes
up from the airport at a very reasonable rate. It took a while to find our
driver, but once we had, we were quickly whisked out to find a little truck for
the bikes and a car for us. Even though it was nearly midnight by this time,
the traffic in Denpasar was heavy and with motorbikes whipping past us on both
sides in all directions, we looked at each other, neither of us quite prepared
to say the words, “Shit, how are we going to ride in this.” Luckily we had
booked a place that was on the North side of Denpasar, which meant it wasn’t
going to be too far to get out of town once we were on the bikes. It turns out
this was an awesome decision. The last
ten minutes to our accommodation, “Joglo guest house”, was through tiny
laneways with barely enough room for two motorbikes to pass each other. We were
shown quickly to our nice little room, and everything was brought in, so we
turned the aircon on and crashed into bed exhausted.
12/01/17
Denpasar, Bali,
Indonesia.
We planned today as a rest day, time to get our bikes
together and organise some local cash etc.
The Joglo guest house is like a private little enclave. Completely
walled off, twelve guest rooms/bungalows in a very traditional style. When we
emerged from our room onto the porch, we had no idea where we were, a total
loss of direction. So a quick explore turned out that we had a little
restaurant (warung) in the complex, so we could at least settle the caffeine
headache and had a nice breakfast of pancakes and fruit.
We needed to get our bearings, so when Wayan, one of Rudy’s
employees offered to take us on a local tour for ten bucks we thought that was
a good idea, but we left it until midday so that we could get the bikes
assembled before we left.
Larry came out of his box quite easily, despite his airport
shenanigans. He was quickly ready to go. Priscilla however, had thrown a shoe
in her box. Letting the tyres down for flight, had allowed the rear tyre to
unseat the bead. As we always run the fatbikes tubeless, this can be a problem.
I couldn’t get the tyre to re-seat the bead with our hand pump. Luckily Wayan
had been walking past quite often, very interested to see the fatbikes come
together. I explained the problem to him, and he quickly offered to take me to
a motorbike repair shop, where they would have a compressor. Turns out, that
the transport was to be his motorbike. Holy Crap. So we went, me on the back of
Wayan’s motorbike holding Mary’s back wheel with sealant dripping out all over
my leg through the back lanes of Denpasar. We arrived at a tiny motorbike
repair shop where their little compressor was fired up and the wheel removed
from my grasp. I wasn’t allowed to help. They tried everything but really, the
little compressor just wasn’t up to the job. So back on the motorbike and out
onto the main highway looking for a bigger compressor. We went to a really
fancy wheel shop, but it was still no good. I resigned myself that we were
going to have to have a tube in this tyre for the meantime, which of course we
had a couple with us. I was kicking myself for putting the VeeTire tyre on
Mary’s rear, the maxxis mammoth I had put on the front had gone onto the rim
much tighter and I could have seated the bead with a hand pump. Another lesson
learned perhaps? Thanks again to Wayan for all your help, and your amazing
motorbike handling skills.
Later in the day, Wayan took us out to see a few sights, as
well as organise some money exchange. We went to some craft galleries, Silver,
Batik and Wood Carving. They were really good, but much too touristy for us. We
like to see the art of the craftsmen though. Probably the highlight of the day
however, was the Luwak coffee tasting.
We are not big fans of how these animals, Civet Cats, are kept in
captivity to produce the “Luwak Coffee”, but we did taste the whole range of
other teas and coffees that they produce which was done really well in a really
nice garden setting. The Luwak coffee was very good and we also really enjoyed
a tea that is made from the outer husk of the mangosteen fruit. A stop at the
……......... Temple was next and this was an awesome treat. We wore a supplied
sarong and proceeded to walk in through the open gates. The beauty and the
history in the buildings within the temple walls were breathtaking. Beautifully
preserved stone work and immaculately kept gardens made for a very special
spiritual wonder. We were able to lay an offering at any of the statues or
buildings and decided to lay ours at the foot of an elephant statue with a
personal prayer for freedom and wellness to these magnificent animals. We went
to a large waterfall where we grabbed a charcoal grilled sweetcorn on the way
down. It was a lot of steps down into the gorge and we worked up quite a sweat
getting back up, so we enjoyed a nice cold drink when we got back to the top,
Mary a fresh juice and me my first Bintang.
After this we needed to kill some time before dinner, so
Wayan took us to a wood carving gallery on the way back. This place had awesome
works, but the really funny thing was this sales guy who followed us around,
burping the whole time. A few times we really had to work hard to not crack up
laughing. But this guy would not give up. Everything ten percent of for you
today sir. Anything we looked at that we might have said to each other that we
liked, he immediately jumped in to point out the price and was left totally
bamboozled as to why we didn’t buy it if we liked it. We enjoyed it, but it was
good to leave.
Wayan dropped us off at a nice little restaurant to have an
early dinner. It was a nice spot, overlooking a rice paddy. But by this time we
were starting to hit the wall, so we ate quickly and headed back to our Airbnb
for a good night’s sleep. Great day.
13/1/17
After a good night’s sleep we were up early to complete the
setting up and packing of the bikes and then wandered over for another
delicious breakfast and Bali coffee. We met Rudy’s wife Meva and had a lovely
chat with her. We then caught up with Rudy again as he was once again very
helpful and organised an Indonesian sim card for our phone so we could use
google maps to help us navigate our way forward.
With goodbyes to Rudy, Meva, Wayan and other staff we pushed
our bikes out of the yard and into the laneway. Here was the beginning of our
journey by bike. We travelled only a short distance of 500m turning right,
turning left a few times before finding the main road. Ok what to do next? This
road was crazy, cars, trucks and motorbikes going in all directions. With
confidence at this stage -zero, all I could say to Dave was “oh shit”. Next thing
help appeared. A security guard from a local business must have seen our dismay
and stepped out and stopped all the traffic to allow us to cross. Thankyou kind
sir!! Yay hopefully no more crazy crossings ahead. It didn’t take us long to
really settle on the bikes, get used to the traffic and blend in as one. The
rules are, just go forward and don’t hit anyone. The rules for motorbikes are, wear a helmet if you want to, carry a family of 4 if you want to, stick the
kids in front of you while they are still little and it doesn’t matter if they
have a helmet on or not and its ok to smoke while riding a motorbike with
thongs, singlet top, and no helmet. Basically there are no rules.
Here we were riding along like the crazy motor bike riders, but just a bit slower, when we came across three young kids riding their push
bikes to school. They laughed and smiled as we rode past and all saying hello
in very friendly voices. We were only about 50 metres ahead when they decided
to put the pedals down and overtake us laughing and waving as they passed.
They couldn’t keep the pace up for too long, so instead of overtaking them again
we decided to just sit quietly behind them and let them enjoy being the leaders
of the pack. After a couple of k’s they turned off to their school and we were
able to pick up a little more speed and continue at our pace.
The heat and humidity started to ramp up and short steep
climbs started to appear. I think with the thick dense air from the humidity
and the smog I found myself short of breath at the top of the climbs. A rest
was required at the top before venturing on. With the knowledge of only 5 or so
k’s to go, it wasn’t too hard to keep moving forward. We hit the outer part of
Ubud, and rode with the traffic heading in the direction of our accommodation.
We found the correct street and turned at the correct spot, Anila Lane and came
to our accommodation. We were greeted by Novika, our host, who immediately made
us feel welcome. She showed us to our beautiful luxurious room and organised a
welcoming drink of red dragon fruit and watermelon for us. This was very
welcomed as we were feeling very hot and sweaty. 
Once unpacked and showered we ventured off on foot to find some
lunch. Lauren had mentioned that the Yoga Barn was a great place to visit and
with this being just down the road we made tracks in this direction. We had a
lovely vegan lunch here and really enjoyed the peacefulness that this place
offers. As we left we decided to drop into Zen, which was a spa next to the Yoga
Barn and see if we could both get a massage. They were more than happy to offer
us both a spot for an hour massage each which was just magical. After our
massage we enjoyed a cup of ginger tea and a plate of fresh fruit. Luckily
Novika sent us on our way with an umbrella each as while we were having our
massages heavy thundery rain had set in. We walked out onto the main road with
umbrellas in hand and headed off to find the Bali Rescue Dog Centre. Walking
along the footpaths, especially while it’s raining is quite challenging. It
wasn’t long before it didn’t matter about looking out for puddles as our shoes
were soon soaked. You can’t walk along the sidewalks here without looking, otherwise you would be sure to fall into a large hole or trip up on the uneven
pathway. We found Bali Dogs and ventured inside, to find a room full of puppies
and a couple of large adult dogs. This organisation has at present over 200
dogs on premise, with another 100 dogs being cared for by foster families.Here we met a lovely Australian family who have just moved to Bali for one year. The mum is a midwife and has volunteered for the whole year to teach midwifery here in Bali, her husband will be home schooling their four beautiful girls. As a family, they have decided to foster three puppies, where they will care for them, train them, and once they are healthy and looking good Bali Dogs will put them up for adoption. How lucky are these puppies. The kids didn’t choose the prettiest puppies either, they chose the ones they felt needed the most help and love. Two of which were the skinniest and mangiest pups of the lot. Here I spoke with Ebony, one of the girls that works tirelessly with the organisation and mentioned to her that we were cycle touring around Bali, Java and Sumatra. She suggested if we see any sick or injured dogs to take a photo of the animal, a screen shot of our location, and a photo of the nearest shop, send them to her and she will organise a rescue team to retrieve the animal. For Java she gave me two contacts, so hopefully we will be able to do the same thing if we happen to come across any animals in need. Unfortunately, there are no rescue organisations in Sumatra, so not sure what we will do there if the need arises. Once I had lots of cuddles, pats and plays with the dogs and puppies on the floor, it was time to leave and head back to our accommodation.
Once back at Anila Lane we had a little rest and then headed back out to the main road in search of some dinner. As we were walking along one of the back lanes we came across a friendly man who was making street food from his little cart. We stopped to see what he was making and it was tofu with peanut sauce for the cost of 1000 IRP. It looked good and fresh and smelt awesome so we ordered one serving and shared it while sitting on a brick wall chatting with a couple of local kids. We then wandered down to the main road and walked the pavement (carefully) while window shopping. All the shops were still open but not very busy so it was a great opportunity to have a look around. We came to one of Lauren’s favorite coffee shops ‘Freak Coffee’ and headed inside and ordered a wicked passionfruit tart to go with the promise that we would be back to try their coffee in the morning. The dessert was pretty awesome. Once back to our accommodation it was time for a mangosteen tea and then bed. What a great day we had.
14/1/17
Rest Day in Ubud
A little sleep in was the order of the day. We still hadn’t
quite got our body clocks organised. So we had ordered breakfast for 8am to
give us a chance to catch up. Naturally, I was awake at four. By eight, I was
starving hungry. Luckily there were coffee making supplies in our room, and I
quite like the simplicity of “Bali Coffee”. You use freshly ground coffee, 2
heaped teaspoons in a cup and pour in boiling water, stir, then leave to cool
off a bit and let the sediment settle. Perhaps not as good as my favorite espresso, but it’s really so much better than instant.
The amazing Novika delivered a very nice breakfast, Banana
Pancake for Mary and boiled eggs and toast for me, with a beautiful bowl of
fresh fruit each to set us up for the day. Ok, well, maybe another coffee would be needed.
The morning plan was to just go out for a walk and explore.
We had promised ourselves a good espresso at Freak, so we headed in that
direction. The main street was very busy, and of course the footpaths are very
narrow and broken, which probably makes it look busier than it really is. Not
many people walk anyway, motorbikes and “Taxi Sir”?
We arrived at Freak Coffee and ordered Espresso and
Macchiato. It was really very good. We then headed in the general direction of
the Ubud Palace and the market. I’m not sure if we actually missed the Palace.
We went in, to what we thought it was, but I think it was just the outer area.
Not sure if the real Palace was open. Oh well. We crossed the road to the
market, which was very busy and quite fun with all the noise. I might sound
boring I know, but when you’ve seen one market? It was only a stuff market, no
food. And we certainly don’t need any stuff. We do like to see good art and
craft though, and there definitely were some interesting offerings there.
We carried on. We wanted to check out “The Elephant” for
lunch, another of Lauren’s recommendations. After about five k’s walking and
300 “Taxi Sir’s”, we arrived at this quite flash place. As we sat down at the
table with the best view, I was laughing with Mary about how they were playing
Skyhooks music. Unusual, but cool. We
ordered a light lunch, and I have to say, I was getting quite annoyed at the
Skyhooks music. It was destroying the serenity dude. It even seemed to be
following me around. Then it dawned on me, and I reached into my pocket for my
phone, yep, the Skyhooks was coming from my phone, and I’m sure everyone in the
place was looking at that Aussie loser walking around with his Skyhooks pants
on. Time to hide under the table.
After lunch, we headed back towards Ubud and down the Monkey
Forest road. Lots of international chain stores down here, the usual culprits
with the usual victims inside.
We hit the corner where the Monkey Forest entrance was. We
had planned not to go in here as we are very against animals put on for human
entertainment. We had already seen monkeys around the place. Our feelings were
reinforced as we watched the few monkeys hanging around the entrance. A
Japanese guy, (to be fair, there were no signs in Japanese) walked in the
entrance with his plastic bag of takeaway food, contrary to the warning signs.
He was immediately mugged by one of the monkeys. It jumped up on him and
started trying to tear into the food bag. The guard ordered him back out and to
leave his food at the ticket office. He did that, but it must have been good
takeaway, as the monkey followed him, and then jumped into the ticket office
still desperate to get the food. It was mayhem, and we decided that it was time
to move on. Laughing.
We scoped a couple of potential places for dinner, then
headed back to the guesthouse for a couple of hours of chill. We had a great
chat with Ketut, the co-owner, and shared some Airbnb hosting stories. It is
amazing what Airbnb has brought to the Bali community, a so much better and
more effective way to market their guesthouses, independent of the big hotel
chains who totally hate Airbnb. Our experience so far, is that if there is ever
a good Airbnb available, we would much rather take that option than the sterile
hotel one.
We went back out for dinner, our daily budget a bit
stretched. We spotted a place that we hadn’t noticed in the afternoon, Warung
Semesta, a vegetarian and mostly organic restaurant and their prices were very
good. Score. So we sat down and ordered a Nasi Campur to share, a fresh juice
for Mary and of course a cold Bintang for me. They brought out a little plate
of nibbles, which, included in it, were some lightly coated and deep fried
green leaves. We later found that they were spinach leaves (derr) , but they
were awesome. The staff were so happy that we liked them, that they brought us
out a whole bowl of them. We don’t know what they were called, but a great
snack.
On the way home I
was walking behind Dave and as we approached the side of a Medical Centre I
could hear a kitten. It was really loud and a very distressed sound of a
kitten. I stopped and had a look around and found this poor baby in a dirty
drain, scrambling to stay out of the water. I picked her up out of the drain
and found that both her eyes were sealed shut from a terrible eye infection.
She was so tiny and skinny and fitted in the palm of my hand. She lay there
screaming and screaming with hunger. We went to ring Ebony from BARC whom we
met yesterday but our dodgy sim card wasn’t allowing phone calls out so we were
about to facebook message her when her colleague just happened to be passing
and could hear the little distressed soul. Alanah come over and was more than
happy to take the kitten to the shelter on the back of her motor bike for us.
Just as she was about to climb on her bike this huge, bully, fat mean dog with
a big thick black studded collar came boaring out of the gate next door. Alanah
must know this dog as when she saw it coming she ran quickly into the medical
centre and shut the door with the dog only just behind her. He wanted this
kitten for a snack. His owner and a couple of other guys just stood there
laughing and called the dog off and locked it up behind the gate once more.
Alanah gently put the kitten into her should bag and rode off to the shelter
that was just a minute or two down the road.
15-01-17
We wanted to get a reasonably early start, so we had ordered breakfast for 7am. We were virtually ready to leave when breakfast arrived but then light rain started to fall. We ate slowly. And then we thought we would just wait it out. At 8:30 we decided that it was light enough that we could get going. By the time we finished loading the bikes and said our goodbyes, it was 9am when the first pedal turned.
Heading out onto the main road, we had to back track a
couple of k’s to get on the road to Gianyar. The traffic was very light. We
weren’t sure if it was the light rain or the fact that it was Sunday morning.
Regardless, it was a bonus for us, and we made good time for the first 15k’s to
Gianyar. Pretty cruisy.
The road took us through flat areas interrupted regularly by
small river valleys, adding interest to the ride. We had a quick stop to check
out some guys working in a wood carving workshop right on the edge of the road.
They were carving some posts for what I presumed would be a pergola like
structure. They were very ornate and the young craftsmen were very skilled.
They also had a good laugh at us silly cyclists wanting to talk with them and
admire their work. Even bigger laughs were had when I asked permission to take
their photo, it made them quite happy, and I think a few jokes were shared at
our expense. Lots of fun.
We then had a little dog leg to get us onto a bridge over
the Agung River and through Klungkung before turning up the road to Sideman.
Then the climbing started. A very pleasant road with a view straight ahead to
Mount Agung, shrouded at times in the clouds. When we looked at the map of
where our guesthouse was for tonight, we realised that it was a road that
turned off the Sideman road and went back, almost to Klungkung, a dead end road
with our guesthouse right at the end. But it was cheap, eighteen bucks
including breakfast. The reviews for it were very good. This led to probably
the best five kilometres of cycling ever. A very narrow, two bikes wide,
bitumen road that took us on this rolling journey through rice terraces and
jungle clad valleys, all with the Mount Agung backdrop. It was simply stunning.
We stopped for a while just to watch some rice farmers working in the fields,
soaking it all up. The final run was down this very friendly lane, losing most
of our gained altitude, with lots of friendly Hellos, especially from the kids.
We were early, our thirty k’s today had gone by in a flash. 
We stopped at a very basic Warung, to buy some fresh fruit
and buns for lunch. A very friendly older guy took a liking to us. We couldn’t
convince him that we didn’t understand a word he was saying, but he was saying
it with a smile on his face, so that’s ok. The lady running the store, smiled
at us and made a sign across her forehead and pointed to the old fella, that we
both interpreted as “Don’t worry, He’s nuts”. A young guy there looked at the
address for us and confirmed that it was just a few hundred metres down the
road. 
We arrived at the guesthouse very early, but that was no
problem and we were shown to our guest bungalow by Wayan and her beautiful
newborn baby. It is beautiful, very open, mossies will be a problem I think,
but the bed has a good net on it. It
doesn’t matter how far you ride, 5ks or 50, I am soaked in sweat as soon as we
start turning the pedals, so it’s great to stay in a place every day that has a
shower.
Once not so smelly, we headed out for a walk. The road we
were on quickly became a dead end, so we went back up the way we came and
walked through a group of kids playing soccer who all wanted to know our names.
But I think this was only because they knew that we would then ask their names,
which was always some pro football player from Manchester United or Liverpool,
followed by much laughing and back slapping about how they were so clever to
fool us once again.
Back at our room we met Komang, who got home from his hotel
job in Sideman. A lovely guy who spoke great English. They offered to cook for
us tonight, so we were up late waiting for Ayam Goreng for me and Papaya Curry
for Mary. We were starving by the time
it arrived about 8pm, but I think that is just how the Balinese people’s day
works out. They work very hard and long hours. The meal was great by the way.
We crashed out straight away after dinner and slept well.
16-01-17
We organised a 7am breakfast so that we could get going
again while cooler, hopefully.
Wayan brought us a nice breakfast of toast, pancakes and
fruit, which got us started well for what was going to be our biggest day yet
for Bali. I know, fifty kilometres is pathetic right, why would we be intimidated
by that? But we knew we had some climbing today, we just didn’t know how much.
Before we can turn the pedals, we first have to get the
bikes out of the house yard. The traditional Balinese homes are completely
walled off, with just a narrow gateway, raised on steps with usually only a
very narrow ramp in the middle, which I think are only recent additions to
allow them to get their little motorbikes in.
The tight turns mean it is sometimes easier to take the bikes out first
and then load them, which is what we did today.
Straight into climbing today. With the exception of a few
little rest grades along the way, the first sixteen k’s were up. Mostly around
2-3 percent with occasional pinches at up to 15. But, it was wonderful. First
the road back to the main road that we had on the way in yesterday, then up and
through Sideman, with rolling hills, occasional views of Agung and many rice
terraces and other vegetable crops. We had a coffee (surprise) at a really nice
Warung just before Sideman and that fueled us for the rest of the climb.
We passed lots of schools, with kids in the yards very keen
to call out Hello and wave as we went past, we haven’t tired of this yet. A
right turn towards Sibetan, had the road levelling out with just an occasional
pinch up. Once we got through Sibetan, it became obvious that the switchbacks
that had me worried on the map were actually going to be a descent for us,
phew. And what a descent it was. A great, but narrow road surface had us rolling
nicely through hairpin bend after hairpin bend, it was awesome and our sweat
soaked shirts were finally providing some airconditioning.About halfway down we spotted a little warung that had some ripe bananas, so we stopped and bought them. They were tiny, but so delicious and sweet. The lady had another fruit that we hadn’t tried before, and on asking what it was, she told us it was called Salak and gave us one to try. We found out later that the English name for them was snake fruit, and we realised that we had had them in juices before. We bought some of those too, and had a feed of Bananas and Salak.
The map took us around the large town of Karangesem, through
more great back roads. We had a quick stop for a map check, when I looked over
to our right to see a large group of lowlifes conducting a cockfight. I really hate that crap, and if it wasn’t so
dangerous, it would be nice to tell them so. Anyway, move on David.
We had another great descent from there, on the road that
goes between Mount Agung and The headland behind Amed, and comes out towards the coast on the North
East side of Bali. A last right turn and we are into Amed Beach. We missed the
turn into our homestay and decided to go and get some lunch. We found a nice
warung on the beach. and we had a light lunch and a cold drink.
As we rode back up the road a short distance, we dodged a
large puddle that took over the complete width of the road and we turned down
our lane to our homestay. Kirana Homestay, meaning Home was just stunning. The
property consists of 4 separate bungalows, all with ensuites, and the main
share house with 2 large bedrooms and 2 private bathrooms, shared kitchen and
living area. We had booked a simple room in the house and were so delightfully
surprised at our room. It was very simple but beautiful. We were made to feel
so welcome by Robyn, the owner who is from Perth and all her friendly and
helpful staff. Potu is the property manager and just the most delightful young
girl who looks after all your needs. We met the head cook, and the gardener
Wayan, all such lovely and welcoming people. It only took us a few minutes
before we really did feel at home.We just chilled out for the rest of the afternoon and then Robyn ordered us in some dinner from one of her favourite eating places, as it had started to bucket down with rain and our tummies were starting to complain. Dinner was delicious.
We headed out for a little walk down to the main street (that puddle after the rain is now huge lol) after dinner, as the rain had stopped, and then back home along the beach. The beach sand is very dark nearly black, nothing like our pristine white beaches back home, and unfortunately plastic rubbish everywhere. Apparently there is a group in the Amed community who meet every Monday at 5pm and do a beach clean in a different location every week which is great to hear.
17-01-17
Day off in Amed
We had a great sleep
and woke up to the staff preparing breakfast, and the sounds of roosters, pigs
and the occasional cow in the yards all around us. We had options for
breakfast, banana pancakes, eggs and toast, and of course the fresh fruit,
fruit juice and bali coffee. It was great as usual.
Today we wanted to get out snorkeling before the rain
came. Robyn had suggested that we should go to the eastern end, vienna beach,
where we could snorkel right off the beach, but we would need to ride there.
There were a couple of quite punishing climbs, up over headlands. Despite not
having any load on our bikes, they were hard. It was very hot and the humidity
was climbing rapidly, we were really going to need that swim.
We found our way onto the beach, it was really a resort that we just picked our way through. But not to worry, the snorkel hire guys found us, fell in love with our bikes and promised to look after them while we snorkeled. The beach was nice and clean, the snorkel hire guys clean it every day, good on them, they were doing a great job.
We found our way onto the beach, it was really a resort that we just picked our way through. But not to worry, the snorkel hire guys found us, fell in love with our bikes and promised to look after them while we snorkeled. The beach was nice and clean, the snorkel hire guys clean it every day, good on them, they were doing a great job.
I must say that we weren’t expecting much, but there was an
amazing amount of fish life amongst the coral, right there, just ten metres off
the beach. The coral had very little colour, but the fish certainly made up for
it. We stayed out for about an hour, then went back to the beach for a rest. I
started to feel sick, oh oh. But then I realised that the last two times I had
been snorkelling had been from a boat, and if I go on a boat, I always take a
Kwell as I get badly seasick. This felt like seasickness, not a stomach
problem. So we just sat in the shade for a while. We decided that we had had
enough of snorkelling, and I felt better as soon as we got back on the bikes.
Lucky I don’t get bike sick.
It was lunch time, so we went to sunset point, a fairly
large restaurant, but basic. Massive view however. Mount Agung was shrouded in
cloud and the rain was imminent. We had just ordered a light lunch and a cold
drink when down it came. We dashed for cover and ate our lunch while it smashed
down. Thatched roofs work pretty well.
We had to sit and wait for about an hour for the rain to
back off a bit. We went for it even though it was still raining lightly. This
would mean that the traffic was lighter. We checked out the Griya resort on a
recommendation for dinner and decided that we would lash out and have a good
night out. They offered a pick up drop off service if you were having dinner,
so we booked that.
Back to our homestay, we got some photo editing done and
chilled, while the thunder roared all around us and the rain poured down. I
have to say, that I just love tropical thunderstorms.
Our driver picked us up at five for happy hour in the high
bar. Even though it was raining, the view from here is amazing, if you go to
Amed, you have to check it out. You go down one level to the restaurant with
their amazing infinity pool. They had a Tapas special on, so we just ordered
some of those and had lots of tastes to share. They had a band setting up as we
went down for dinner. They got fired up as our first course arrived. Despite
the fact they just did covers, mostly Beatles, they were a lot of fun and
really made for a great night.
And Then,,,,, There was desert, Mango anyway you liked it
pretty much. I had Mango cheesecake and Mary had a Mango pudding. It was
insanely good, and seriously, all you need after that is a good sleep, so we
fixed the bill, organised our driver and off we went.
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