27 April Day-trip to Lombok

We took a pony cart to the port area and then a local ferry across the strait to Bangsal on Lombok Island, about a 20-minute ride. Lombok is about the same size as Bali, but not as developed for tourism, and is not so "cute". It is about 70 percent Muslim while Bali is perhaps 80 percent Hindu. Lombok has a higher volcano than Bali, Mt. Rinjani at over 13,000 feet, which last erupted several years ago. Lumbok is also the first island on a different tectonic plate, the Australian versus the Asiatic plate that Bali lies on, and shows this by the different fish and birds here versus Bali, which has similar species to India.

Lombok Trip Route in Red

Our island guide Duani escorted us to his friend's car, and we began our tour driving down the beautiful coast, with only a few covered by resorts thus far, to the old Hindu temple built in the 1700's. It is used by the Hindu King and his family, and on special holidays attended by over a thousand Hindus. Our guide said that Lumbok Hindus only worship three gods, Brahma (creator), Vishnu (preserver), and Shiva (destroyer), while in India they worship hundreds of gods, many of them related to these principal gods. He also told us that the King now has only ceremonial power, and owns lots of rice fields. He also said there were not any violence between the Muslim majority and Hindu, Christian or Chinese Taoist communities.

Leslie enjoying a go at weaving

We then went on to see a potter's workshop, and a weaving village, which Leslie found more interesting. She received ten minutes of instruction on the local weaving type and then purchased an elegant piece for $150. She wanted to see another weaving type, Ikat, but finally understood that only men did this in Lombok and we were told that they were out in the rice fields harvesting so none were available to observe. Not likely!

We also went to Sade to see a typical Lumbok farming village with the Sasak traditional mud-floored houses made from bamboo, which seemed an unimpressive tourist location. After lunch we went to a local market to find attractive sarongs worn by the local Muslim ladies in distinctive pastel colors, which we found were imported from a factory in Java, and Leslie bought several nice ones.

The drive back was as sunset approached, and we got some nice photos of the sun setting behind Mount Agung across the strait on Bali, and arrived via our little fishing boat just as it grew dark, happy to be back on our own little island of Gilli Air.

April 26 SCUBA Diving Refresher Class and Dive

Today was spent cycling down to Karang Divers at the southern end of the island for a scuba refresher course. We spent a couple of hours in their pool, in salt water like our Juliantos Hotel, reviewing all the basic safety rules and clearing masks underwater, etc.  Next we got into an outrigger boat for a dive in the channel to an area know as Hans Reef, with individual, patient supervision from instructor Alex of Karang Divers.

David and Alex preparing for dive off outrigger boat

 First David went down, using a rope, to the bottom at 8 meters and then went along the reef, ending up a couple of hundred meters down-current when they surfaced 40 minutes later. Although this is considered only a mediocre dive site, there were at least 20 fish species that David was not familiar with, and it was an enjoyable and relaxed dive after almost two years without SCUBA.  There were many fish that would be great in an aquarium, including one like the Valentine Pufferfish that was Leslie's favorite in our tank in Oman. Then it was Leslie's turn, and she rolled off the boat in her gear and slowly descended with Alex down the rope to about 4 meters, when she felt she had had enough, so came up to the surface, then decided to go down again for a few meters then back up. Leslie has had a fear of depths that she is trying to overcome, compounded by an experience when she inhaled water instead of air when she put the emergency buddy regulator in upside down during her initial SCUBA course at a depth of 12 meters.

We returned to shore, and decided to try diving again next day, but that was the boatmen's Friday off, so we agreed to do it Saturday, so that we would consolidate our confidence. We lunched at Scallywags and made plans to spend Friday with a tour of nearby Lombok. We dined in style on wood-fired pizza at a beach-side restaurant, Biba Beach, that Leslie had identified.

April 25th Cycling Gili Air

The Mirage is a good bar to watch sunset from

We rented dirt bikes of a dubious quality for $3 a day from Ozzie's shop, which is right next to our hotel, Juliantos . We discovered that one side of the island it is too sandy for riding, so you push your bike, while on the other side and interior of the island the tracks are hard enough to cycle. We went around, stopping for a swim, then a Diet Coke. We talked to one resort (Casa Mio) that our horse carriage driver had said was "too far" to reach, and found that the proprietors did not pay a 10% commission to the carriage drivers, so they did not like to take tourists there, although it was only a five minute ride from the port.  Casa Mio had real sweet water in their pool and bath, but only had large super delux rooms left for the next few days at $95/night, a bit too much for our budget, but this hotel seemed to be a good possibility if their smaller $70 rooms had been available.

We then saw a SCUBA school name Karang Divers, and decided to chat with them about refreshing our (very limited) diving experience. We made an arrangement with the manager, Dante', to come by next morning for a refresher in their pool, then go out by boat for a diver. Dante recommended a place for a hair cut.

Lunch as at Scallywags, excellent meal but service is spotty, but can't complain with the lovely beach chairs and towels that you can use if you pay 100,000 rupiah in food/drinks.  Later in the afternoon we went to Natural Spa for David's hair cut ($4) and to get a one hour Balinese massage ($14 each - pay this price in CM for 2 hours).  Differences between Balinese and Thai massages that we can tell are:  in Balinese you are dressed only in your underwear, massage with oil, the strokes are kneading, skin folding to relax you . Northern Thai massage, which originally came from India, is with clothes on, no oil, and with yoga like positions for stretching and accupressure. The Natural Spa has no air conditioning so we decided we did not need to go for another one.

April 22, 23rd on 24th Ubud and on to Gili Air

On Sunday, we decided to check out the local gym and possible longer-term accommodations in Ubud if we decided to stay for the summer.  We walked to Ubud Fitness, which was further than we had thought, about half an hour walk, but we managed to find the place.  It had a fairly large gym with weight equipment on one floor and the downstairs was a squash court and exercise class room, which were open air. Rates were more expensive than at the hotel gym we use in Chiang Mai, and this one had no pool, but that is the only option  in Ubud.  We saw a house we liked on the bulletin board at the gym, so gave them a call but it was already taken. 

Heading back toward Monkey Road, we noticed a small street with the Post Office and many expat's milling about, so we wandered over. The Bali Buddha Cafe, a bright purple color building, is a store and healthy alternative restaurant with a large bulletin board out on the street with all kinds of advertisements, including houses and rooms for rent.  We perused it carefully and noted a few, but generally housing is more expensive than CM, and also air conditioning is not as common, but views of rice fields are very common and lovely. We had an excellent lunch and then stopped next door at a shop called Bamboo Boutique selling the most artistic batik shirts-- and they had two pockets! Yes Two Pockets - the DDB requirement for a shirt!

Bamboo Boutique shirt

 The selection and display are a sight to see and we enjoyed looking at many shirt before purchasing one.  David wore it, and liked it ,and I loved looking at him in it so I looked online for the shop to see if there is another one in Denpasar so I could get another shirt before we left.  Not finding anything on the internet, I emailed them a note as to a shop in Denpasar.  The reply came on Monday and was, "Sorry we don't have any branch in Denpasar--  only one shop in Bali, and no sales by website. If you want to buy our shirt you have to come to Ubud". So we hired a taxi to take us back to the shop and wait while we chose another one, and then take us back to our hotel. The owner, who designs the batiks, has the printing stamp made, and does the batik himself, having one skilled "older seamstress" sew them, was sitting in the store and started talking to us.  On all his designs he insists that the pockets and buttons don't show, and all of his shirts have two pockets.  He does not want an internet store because he likes the experience of meeting and seeing the customers that are buying his shirts.  We enjoyed meeting him and it made our purchases much more personal.

The rest of Monday was spent swimming in the hotel pool and enjoying the view of the rice patties, browsing in the shops, with dinner at the Shisha Bar with the live music. We organized our transport to Gili Air for the following day, and spent time online studying various accomodations on the island without coming to a conclusion, so we decided to go there without a reservation and look for the best deal once on the island.

A full horse cart

On Tuesday we left Ubud for Gili Air at 11 am, via a packed mini van, of which we were the second to the last pickup. The drive was an hour and a half to Pack Beng where we waited half an hour and then got on a 70 passenger "fast boat" (5 outboard motors) to travel to Gili Trawangan and then on to Gili Air.  Most passengers disembarked by jumping into the shallow water at "Gili T" and only about 10 jumped off at Gili Air. We had not booked a room, but had a list of places to check out.  The forms of transport on Gili Air are foot, bike and horse cart.  With all our luggage we needed a cart! We checked 3 places before ending up at Juliantos by the Sea, an option which we had not seen online. As the island has only brackish water wells, if you require fresh water showers and pool the room prices will be high even if you are not on the beach ( $86 per night at Scallywags). We checked on Gili Air Hotel and one other before landing where we did. Juliantos just opened last year and the salt water pool was just filled 3 weeks ago. We have a lovely out door brackish water shower (hot and cold water) and then a daily container of fresh water to rinse with, which is great, good AC, free wifi (when it works), very salty water  pool, wonderful view of the mountains and volcano on Lombok island, and we have been told there is good snorkeling right off the beach in front of us.

We walked to the North end of the island to  have a drink at the Mirage Bar to watch the sunset over Gili Meno. We walked back towards Juliantos and had a nice grilled fish for dinner at a beachside restaurant on the way.

April 21st Ubud with Helma

Today our friend Helma came to visit us along with her colleague Lisa. It took them about an hour and 15 minutes to get from Jimbaran beach to Ubud.  Helma has hired a car and driver for the day which was nice because then we got to see other areas of Ubud that we had not walked to yet.  We started the day at the Antonio Blanco Renaissance Museum which we thoroughly enjoyed. Don Antonio Blanco was an eccentric and wildly creative artist whose sensuous images of Balinese dancers and naked women sold well in art galleries over the world. Despite his productivity, Don Antonio decreed that his art could only be publicly displayed in the gallery he built in Ubud: a massive baroque structure that is as eccentric and wildly creative as its creator. Don Antonio died in 1999, just as the finishing touches to his museum were being added, but you can still see his work studio, which retains the Don’s last unfinished work on an easel.

Note matting

 Antonio Blanco framed his own painting, and made the mattings, and these vary to compliment each painting. The samples right and left ,show this original framing.


Note frame with scarf

He painted seated on the floor with legs in a pit, as shown by David below with the artists last work in progress.

The next "Dali of Bali"

We then managed to locate a new shop, Utama Spice, owned by a Balinese couple who are creating their own essential oils, soaps, lotions from traditional Balinese recipes.  We bought some mosquito repellent and Helma bought different items for samples for the hotel. Walking up Monkey Forest Road from there, we browsed in and out of the shops before having lunch at Kafé Batan Waru.  The couple that own this restaurant, Karen and Guski, also own 3 others and did the catering for the Julia Roberts movie “Eat, Pray, Love” when the cast was in Ubud.

We have been raving about a gelato shop, Gelato Secrets, here in Ubud so we all went there. We sampled way too many ice creams – they make 32 different flavors including rose petal. Our friends Maria and Joe passed by as well to enjoy an ice cream, and caught us all on our second cones. The scoop of chocolate Chilli and a scoop of passion fruit were a favorite. The ice cream from this shop is sold in many of the five star hotels in Bali including the InterContinental where Helma works.

How did they get those frangipanies to look like that?!!

We then went on a tour of the two 5 star resorts in the area, Maya Ubud Resort and the Orient Express’ The Hanging Garden, which are quite a distance out of town.  Both locations take advantage of the rainforest and the natural slopes they are on to have lovely spas, infinity pools and lush gardens. Helma nabbed a few secrets and I tried to figure out the frangipani floral displays. Helma and Lisa left all too soon.

They should have stayed and joined us at the Moko's@Mina for a lovely blues band and jamming session.  Joe and Marie and found the place the previous Saturday and had actually stayed through the week so they could go again. The 4 of us were there promptly at 8 pm and ordered our dinner. The bar quickly filled up with expatriates versus tourists - we say that because the lead in the band and his foreign wife were greeting everyone personally. We stayed until 11pm and then walked home -a little over a mile-to the Cendana Resort. We had moved there earlier that day when our reservation period at Murni's House was completed and the room needed for other guests.

April 20th Traveling to the North of Bali

Royal Family Temple in Mengwi

We were up early and off on a tour with our friends Maria and Joe to Lovina Beach and north Bali. Our first stop was the Royal Family Temple in Mengwi and, as it was the dark moon day, everyone on the island was in traditional dress. Because we were just going around the outside area and through the gardens, we were not required to wear a sarong and sash.  The priest was there in his white clothes to bless the food offerings that people brought, which they then took home and ate.

Next stop was Pacung to view the beautiful view of surrounding rice terraces, and then on to Lake Beratan and the Ulun Danu Temple.  The road was increasingly curvy as we rose into the mountains.   Again at this temple we had people bringing their offerings in woven colorful basket boxes on their heads, and again there was no need for a sarong or sash for us. At this location there was also a mosque call for Friday prayer, so we were reminded that though Bali is primarily Hindu, the rest of Indonesia is Muslim.

We had only a 300 meter walk up and down stairs to get to Gitgit waterfall, which is the largest water fall on the island before we were off for lunch at Lovina beach. Both couples had debated whether it was worth spending more time there, and had been interested in this day trip as a way to check out the area.  We were both glad we had done so, as we were not convinced the area had enough to warrant an overnight.



Twin Lakes at Munduk

The highlight of the trip was really the last area that we visited, which was Munduk, at an elevation of perhaps 6,000 feet, above two natural lakes.  Coffee plantations and trekking opportunities abound here.  Munduk is a cute little eco-friendly village high up in the mountains with gorgeous views, numerous waterfalls, and is a great place for hiking through clove, cocoa, coffee plantations and rice fields. This beautiful village was once a popular place for Dutch colonists to escape the heat from coastal Singaraja, so they build their rest houses here for visitors starting in 1903.  Some of these old homes have been converted into proper guest houses.

We arrived back in Ubud around 7:30pm, and the trip down the steep road at dusk and then later in the dark was an interesting ride.  Our car was very well equipped and we were all happy to have seat belts.  Leslie had to move to the front seat with all the curves in the road.

April 19th Cycling downhill

We were picked up by Bali Emerald Touring for a downhill cycling tour with our friends Maria and Joe at 8am.  We first stopped at a coffee plantation where they grow coffee beans and also have the civet cats that eat the coffee beans and thus produces civet coffee, which is reportedly the world's most expensive and low-production variety of coffee. The beans are eaten and pass through the cat's  digestive tract.  In its stomach, proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated, keeping their shape. After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness.   At the plantation we had an opportunity to try the coffee for $6 a cup - we elected not to, but Joe says the coffee is excellent and he had bought some earlier in town. Kopi luwak, this cat coffee,  is produced mainly on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago.

Joe and Maria, in background Batur Volcano with dark lava field

We then drove up to the mountains to see Batur Lake, a holy lake, and the volcanoes of Batur and Agung. We had a buffet breakfast there viewing the lake and the lava fields before we started our ride.  We thought we were going to be riding downhill to the lake,  but in viewing the steepness of the grade and the traffic, we were pleased to be told "no, we were going to be riding downhill from a lower point". On the way to collect our bikes we past the remnants of a wedding and our driver and guide kindly stopped so we could see what was going on. Unfortunately the wedding season is over now, so I will have to wait for another round of auspicious days.

Wedding Decor

For our bike trip another 2 ladies joined us and we started on the ride that was 99% down hill. We were given decent mountain bikes with helmets and water.  The bikes were not as comfortable as the ones from the tour company in Chiang Mai, as they did not have the handle bar extenders.  Also we were dealing with more traffic than we do on the CM cycle tour we take.  Here they also drive on the left so that was something to keep in mind as well as the fact the back wheel break was on the left handlebar.

We stopped along the way to see a typical Balinese family compound. The Balinese family compound comprises a rectangular perimeter wall and several important structures, each significant and carefully laid out. The Balinese think that the family compound reflects the human body.
The top end of the compound is considered most important and represents the head. This is where the sleeping quarters for the head of the household are located. The family temple, dedicated to the souls of ancestors and other gods are always located at the corner facing the holy mountain of Agung and first to see the light of day.

In the center of the compound is an open area which represents the navel and to each side of this are 2 structures, which are raised areas with an open air bamboo and thatched roof. These are the guest pavilion and the ceremonial pavilion (the arms).  On the side of the structure facing the sea is the kitchen and the rice storage barn. These represent the legs and feet. Having this explanation from the guide helped us to understand the large compounds we have seen in Ubud that always seem to have temples in them, which can number anywhere from 4 to 8 and be quite elaborate.

We continued on our ride and walked through a lovely terraced rice patty where in a snake was seen.  Leslie slipped while traversing one of the rice damns and ended up very muddy but unhurt from that little adventure. The rice was about a month away from harvesting so still a lovely lush green color.  We then cycled further down the road, past chicken farms, kids playing with kites, dogs running across in front of us, before we stopped at an excellent wood carving shed. 

Lovely doors and arch beams were being made in this small open air workshop.  These doors, the carving is three dimensional cost about $600 and can only be used as a door of a totally traditional Balinese sleeping quarters.  There are really so many rules here concerning when things are determined to be auspicious - even extends as far as when to get your hair cut!

Our ride finished shortly thereafter and we were happy to get off our bikes as the road had greatly deteriorated and dealing with loose gravel, big potholes, traffic and dogs in those conditions had us a little uncomfortable.  As the 28 KM ride was mostly downhill we did not really feel that we were overly tired and we had a nice cool breeze the whole way so we were not really too hot either.  Included in the tour was a nice Balinese buffet lunch at the tour company's facilities which was good and there was plenty of choice.  We arrived back at Murni's Houses at 3pm and then Leslie spent the next hour trying to get all the silty mud out of her clothes. 

We went out for drinks, then light supper at the restaurant with live light jazz performers.  We have a day tour with Marie and Joe booked to the North of Bali to look forward to tomorrow.

Family Rice Temples in the Fields

Who is that mud-covered biker?!!

April 18 Ubud birding

Java Kingfisher

We met our guide, Su, at 9AM and she took us on a bird and butterfly walk until about 1PM, when we had lunch overlooking a stream,providing more opportunities to see local birds. we walked through a jungle area, then through the edges of a village, then along the dyke's separating rice paddies.

It became progressively hotter toward noon, and we were quite happy to get a ride back to Ubud. during this time we saw 22 different bird species, and probably an equal number of butterfly species. We saw the Java Kingfisher which is indigenous to Bali and is in the rice fields hunting eels rather than fish in a stream bed. The rice fields have small temples dotted throughout them for each family plot dedicated to the Rice Goddess.

Su is unusual in that she knows the local butterflies as well as the birds --This is because her brother caught the butterflies in order to paint them as the illustrator for a book on Bali's butterflies.

Newly planted rice

The afternoon was spent with a nap and then out taking the laundry to the shop again followed by dinner with our friends Maria and Joe.  They had rented a motorcycle and driven around the area a little bit stopping at a couple of museums etc.  They advised that the Ubud Botanical Gardens was not worth a stop. Tomorrow we are out biking with them on a tour to an old volcano and riding down to the lake in the middle from the the rim.

There is a shop here on Monkey Road that has the most fabulous gelato ice cream! So creamy and the flavors they do include lemongrass sorbet, passion fruit, chocolate and chili. Yummy!

Chocolate Pansy

April 17th STrolling around Ubud and Ramayana Ballet

We spent the morning handing in laundry and strolling around the 2 central streets in Ubud. We are looking for a place to stay Saturday and Sunday nights with the plan that we will move on somewhere on Monday.  We checked out at least 4 other places to stay and will make a decision tomorrow but AC and a pool are looking very attractive right now with the hot (87 F) humid climate.

Sita, Rama's wife

We are very impressed with the quality of the shops and restaurants that we are seeing here.  The arts and crafts, paintings and clothing are very nicely displayed and there are so many lovely shops. The Art Galleries are also interesting, looking at the variety available for sale.  We met our Chiang Mai hiking friends Joe and Marie for lunch at Kafe Batan Waru which was mainly Indonesian food and very good.  We then went across the street to Mingle Bar and Cafe to sit upstairs for our coffee - we thought we might get more of a breeze there and we did. We then strolled back home to get out of the heat of the day and went out again in the afternoon and ended up having a kaffir lime Mojito with the same friends before going out to see the Ramayana Ballet at the Ubud Palace. 

This is a Hindu classic story that tells of a romantic love story of Dewi Shinta and Rama. We received a brochure with the plot ahead of time but David's schooling in India lead him to be familiar with the story. The gamelan music was quite repetitive to our ears but the costumes, palace setting and the subtle movements of the dancers' hands kept us interested. 

Hanuman, Monkey Army General

Laksmana, Rama's loyal brother also played by an actress

In Balinese dance the movement is closely associated with the rhythms produced by the gamelan, a musical ensemble specific to Java and Bali.  Multiple levels of articulations in the face, eyes, hands, arms, hips, and feet are coordinated to reflect layers of percussive sounds. We noticed that the hand positions and movements are similar to what we have seen in Cambodia and Thailand. The eye and head movements are similar to what we have seen in India, and the kicking of a tail skirt is similar to what we have seen in Myanmar.  The Khmer (Cambodian) dance style went to Thailand and then into Myanmar.

Rama being played by an actress confused us!

There are more hand positions and gestures in India than in Java or Bali. It has been speculated that they have been forgotten as the dance was transmitted from India to Java.  Sometimes just a dancer's finger would be moving in response to the beat of the gamelan music.  We tried to capture some of this in the video clip that we have included here.

After the performance we met Joe and Maria in a Shisha Lounge for a light salad and to listen to the live band.  We stopped and picked up a lovely gelato to enjoy as we walked home.

I remember coming to Bali back around 1968 and enjoying the different dance performances with my family and driving a motorcycle.  I also very clearly remember getting a mouthful of gnats on that same wonderful motorcycle experience.

Ramayana Ballet Ubud Palace

April 16th Amed to Ubud

We had hired a car and driver to take us NE along the coast to Penukukan along the coast ( 5 minutes before you arrive at Tejakula) as we wanted to stop in there and check out the Teluk Karang Dive & Spa Resort that some friends in Oman had recommended.  This place has it's own house reef which makes it an interesting place to learn scuba diving.  However they don't teach the PADI method but the European equivalent. We met and spoke with Kristina who is in charge of the dive school and with whom we had been in contact. The water looked rough and was not as attractive from an entry into the water perspective as the Japanese wreck beach that had a PADI diving program.  One of us is going to need a very positive environment to try scuba diving again after the last episode.

The plan had been to cut inland after Tejakula  so that we would reach Danau (lake) Batur which is the largest of Bali's 4 inland lakes, and sits inside the massive 13km long caldera (crater) which also contains Gunung (mount) Batur (1717m).This lake is sacred to the Balinese, with the Goddess of the Lakes, Ida Batara Dewi Ulun Danu, honored at Pura Ulun Danu Batur which is on the crater rim. The original temple was at lakeside, but was moved, together with the village of Batur in 1926 after an earthquake. We had swim suits and sarongs ready to enjoy the hot springs and rituals but the road was closed by the police at Kitamani as there was a festival at one of the temples.  This meant that we had to continue straight to Ubud without this sight seeing detour.

We did enjoy the scenic ride up over the mountains, terraced farming including cocoa plants,small winding roads, past orange trees, pine trees, a wedding complete with wonderful headdresses... would have loved to have stopped and gotten pictures. Our driver was a pain though and from the minute we got in the car we knew he was a mistake. It was service with a snarl that we do not usually see in Thailand.  We decided to chalk it up to cultural differences but we had not had the same experience with the other 2 drivers that we have used here in Bali. It turns out he was not a licensed driver for carrying passengers etc etc. The car did have seat belts so that was comforting.

We arrived in Ubud by 1:30 and then needed to find Murni's Houses where we had booked and paid for the Suite at Murni's houses because the smaller rooms were booked.  We had been recommended Murni's from our friend Greg who had stayed there several years ago and met Murni and her husband Jonathan. Jonathan and Murni have written an e-guide book for Ubud that we have bought as well as another book on Bali. Murni has an active interest in textiles and has a shop here as well as participating in  SF, CA at various SE Asia textile events. We finally found the place and then went out to explore the area. 

There were 2 different dance performances that we passed on for tonight, we had dinner at Nomad's which started with some tapas of Indonesian foods.  We liked the grilled fish pepis (lemon grass one of my favorite ingredients), Tofu Goreng and Balinese Lawar.  I remember coming here in 1968 and seeing the different dance performances.  I also remember riding a motor scooter and getting a mouthful on gnats! The women in the villages were topless back then, as I remember them, with only a sarong around the waist.

April 15th 2012 Snorkeling the Japanese wreck and sunset outrigger cruise

We found our snorkeling "guide", whose name is Katut meaning "4th born", on our beach and managed to get aboard our outrigger as it was launched in the light surf, then slowly cruised south along the coast, viewing a few hotel alternatives and enjoying the very clear water. We anchored close the the wreck of a Japanese gunboat that sank in World War II, and lies just 50 yards offshore a hotel that features its diving school at the beach at Banyuning. The ship seems to have been about 100 feet long and 50 feet wide, and a few parts extend to within a couple of yards of the surface.

The hard and soft corals, the sponges and the delicate sea plants were outstanding. There was a wide range of colorful fish of which many we had not seen specifically but their cousins in the same family. For example the blue demon fish here were two types one a brilliant translucent turquoise and the other a bright royal blue. The angle fish had different markings as did the parrot fish. The sponges were all different color including a bright mint green! There was a deep side of the wreck that only one of us went to. Thankfully there were only a few other boats, each with 2 or 3 snorkelers, so they area was not crowded. We swam about an hour and then did manage to climb back into the boat using a rope that they tied so that it went along the length of the boat. We arranged to keep the flippers so we can snorkel right off the beach.
Bali belongs to the best dive areas in the world, because it is situated at one of the main connections, Lombok Strait, between the Indian ocean marine creatures and those resident in the Pacific ocean, in the center of the world's richest bio-zones known as the Indo-Pacific. There are the Gilli islands which are directly situated in the Lombok Strait that are supposed to have a mixture of fish from both oceans, and we hope to get to a little later this month.

For lunch we walked up the road to Sails Restaurant, which had a lovely view over the sea, white bleached tables and white bleached bamboo woven chairs. The mahi mahi grilled in banana leaves with spices was delicious. We saw three roosters in baskets placed in water to cool them from the noonday heat presumably before they were put into battle.
We are arranging fora driver to pick us up and drive a coastal route west and then head south inland to Ubud. The female owner of our hotel had kindly given us some input of an interesting route but warned that it would take all day. One of the other guests was previously a scuba diving instructor in Amed and from him we bought a water proof case to put the camera in so that we could theoretically take underwater pictures with our current small camera.

We took another outrigger for an hour and a half out to see Mt. Agung at sunset. This is an active volcano that is the highest on the island (over 10,000 feet) and is considered sacred. People here believe the gods sometimes come down to the mountain to play --- remind anyone of Mt. Olympus? We joined a fishing fleet of outrigger who were fishing for mackerel along with a huge pod of dolphins, took some pictures, and returned to our beachfront resort to have dinner and organize tomorrow's trip.

April 14th Jimbaran to Lean near Lipah on Ahmed coast

The journey started the both sides of the roads showing the handicrafts of the area, furniture, glass and stone-carving, fountains, statuary, (in amazing visual concentration) then on past the village of Celuk which has gold and silversmithing, Batuan village with it's art galleries, and we stopped and looked at Balinese paintings in one shop and bought a kite with dragon design for David to try.

Nearby we donned sarongs to visit the local temple, built in 944, and Batuan Temple has long history. There are many beautiful relief carvings and statues.The gate represents the sacred mountain, and there is the single-leaf like wall in front preventing evil coming in. The right side of the entrance, there is the stage for performances to the gods as offerings, and it is decorated with great reliefs paintings based on the Ramayana.

Toursits - not us ~

We passed through the town named Mas, known for its wood carving. This whole area, though, is thick with artisans and production of handicrafts.

We next stopped at Tenganon, one of few original villages -- known as Bali Aga or Bali Mula -- in Bali. Strategically located in a valley and surrounded by a range of hills and forest, Tenganan village has developed and retained its own way of life. It is best known as the only place where weavers can do a double Ikat, which is a very complex procedure that results in the same pattern on both sides of the cloth. Ikat is a dyeing technique used to pattern textiles that employs a resist dyeing process similar to tie-dye on either the warp or weft fibres.

Bindings, which resist dye penetration, are applied to the threads in the desired patterns and the threads are dyed. Alteration of the bindings and the dyeing of more than one color produce elaborate, multicolored patterns. When all of the dyeing is finished the bindings are removed and the threads are ready to be woven into cloth.

The defining characteristic of ikat is the dyeing of patterns, by means of bindings, into the threads before cloth construction and the weaving of the fabric, takes place. Herein lies the difference between ikat and tie-dye. In tie-dye the fabric is woven first and the resist bindings are then applied to the fabric which is dyed.

In warp ikat the patterns are clearly visible in the warp threads on the loom even before the plain colored weft is introduced to produce the fabric. In weft ikat it is the weaving or weft thread that carries the dyed patterns which only appear as the weaving proceeds. In weft ikat the weaving proceeds much slower than in warp ikat as the passes of the weft must be carefully adjusted to maintain the clarity of the patterns.

Double Ikat is where both warp and the weft are resist-dyed prior to stringing on the loom. Traditionally, and still commonly, a back-strap loom is used, though any variant or modern loom may be used.

High walls surround the village, and marriage to outsiders is frowned upon.  The aristocratic Tenganese own large tracts of fertile land, which they hire out to neighboring villagers to farm on a share-cropping basis. A number of unusual rituals take place in this village on special holy days, and once a year there is a ritual blood-shedding fight of pandanus leaves in which all the men of the village prove their manhood.  On the main street caged roosters in every color of the rainbow waiting for their next cock fight, but we did not see any while we were there.

We then drove a couple of hours, passing north along the eastern coast of Bali, then passing inland between two volcanoes, 3,000 meter Mt. Agung and much smaller Mt. Seraya, to the eastermost north coast called Amed. Amed refers to a long stretch of coast running from the village of Cucik about 14 km eastwards incorporating the seven villages of Amed,Jemeluk, Bunutan, Lipah, Selang, Banyuning and Aas. The pace of life here is slow and the coastal scenery is stunning.

After a couple of tries, we located a hotel with WiFi, AC, right on the beach for $70 per night, called Life in Amed.

Amed is famous for its beaches, lined with traditional outrigger fishing boats. There is quite coarse black volcanic sand at Amed village beach. As you move further east (and away from Mount Agung volcano), the beaches have softer sand and become more of a mid grey-brown in colour. There is supposed to be good snorkeling, which we will try tomorrow, going out in a small outrigger to the sight of an old wreck.  we are apprehensive regarding how we will climb back into the outrigger from the water, as they have no ladder and high sides!

April 13th Jimbaran Intercontinental Bali Resort

After a good breakfast, we headed down the beach to the InterContinental Resort, and found many offering baskets and little boats on the shore.

Thanks to Helma we enjoyed a lovely day at the Intercontinental's wonderful pool and beach. There are at least 4 swimming areas, one of which is an infinity pool looking out to the sea with swim up bar, a second more secluded one with  fountains of females pouring water (where we sat) and others with fish sprouting water etc.  The staff come around with complimentary fresh fruit kababs.  We had our lunch at Jimbaran Beach Club, and used the wifi there to plan for our next destination on Bali - a snorkling area called Amed on the east side of the island.

After lunch we rented SUBs (stand up boards) from the Intercontinental.  Good thing they agreed that we could pay for an hour ($12) and each have a board for 30 minutes, since in that 30 minutes we had fallen, swallowed and inhaled so much salt water that we had had enough.  Plus we were exhausted just climbing back on the board and standing up, balancing and then paddling till another small wave came and sent us tumbling. 

Around 5 pm we walked back down the beach to our hotel.  All the Balinese are on the beach playing soccer, collecting those little clams, swimming so the place is lively.  Today there was a team of oxen pulling a plow device to clean the beach.

We went to dinner with Helma at Balique, which was a mixture of Balinese and French.  Very good, but the wines were a  little expensive!

Thursday 12 April Seminyak to Villa Bali Jegeg in Jimbaran

We took our driver Made Arya for an hour trip south to Jimbaran, where our friend Helma works at the Bali Intercontinental Resort, a 5-star facility, to look for accommodation nearby that is in our price range of $50 per night.This is the price that we were paying for our room in Teka-Teki House, Seminyak. We drove around Jimbaran for about an hour going up and down all the small alleys by the beach and across the main road away from the beach. Along the way we saw a house renting a room with a small owl hanging in a cage outside - with a hanging container of crickets-its food- nearby. The lady said they had bought it at the market and kept it as a pet. Very cute! David wanted one! (Will get one if we decide to settle in Bali for a while)

The places further from the beach were offering rooms for $35 a night AC room, without breakfast, and did not necessarily have WiFi.  We ended up at a lovely place 100 meters from the beach with a little pool, breakfast and excellent WiFi for $50 a night, Villa Bali Jegeg. We booked for 2 nights and then headed down to the beach. 

All the fishing boats were rounded up on the beach and there were small beach shack restaurants selling sea food meals.  We had lunch at one and just marveled at how few tourists there were, and only a single ice cream vendor wandering along the beach, and a stand selling roast corn on the cobb.  After lunch we walked down the crescent moon, white sand beach to the other end, passing the InterCon and ending at the Four Seasons.

There are no waves for surfing, and when entering the beach it is not a smooth entry if you have sensitive feet- lots of coral bits, and rocks.  There were also hundreds of small bubble jelly fish that you could feel and some of them actually stung. There were more beach shacks setting up for sunset drinks as we were leaving the area.  We stopped back where we had lunch to watch the fishing boats launch with the sun setting.  Reminded us of the apartment we had rented in Qantab, Oman and watching those fishermen at their daily activity. Many ladies were out collecting small clams that reminded me of the Bulia shells in Oman - on a sandy beach, stomp on the ground as the wave goes out and these small shells pop out. Fun!

We took Helma out to a Thai restaurant called "Kat's Kitchen" which was excellent.

April 11th exploring Pura Tanah Lot and Kuta area

After a fairly late start we headed NW up the coast about an hour to visit the temple of Tanah Lot. The drive was initially past wonderful furniture and home decor stores which were fun to drive by.  Then the road was more into the countryside with rice patties. The Hindu temple was founded by a wandering priest from Java and is dedicated to the God of the Sea, there is an interesting legend associated with its founding and the reason why and it has coral sea snakes guarding a holy spring. It is one of seven sea temples along the Balinese coast. This temple is known to be beautiful at sunset - when it is also mobbed with bus loads of tourists so visiting during the heat of the day greatly reduces the numbers of visitors enjoying the temple.  There was also a snake exhibit area which, had Jonathan been with us, we would have visited. Many tourist stalls selling souvenirs and hats lined the walkway to the temple, which detracts from a pilgrimage being made to the site.


We then drove back south, dropping our Canon camera off and changing into our swimsuits to go to the popular beach of Kuta. Kuta, the area which in 2002 and 2005 there were bomb attacks on tourists. We walked on the beach and quickly decided it was not of interest.  The beach was narrow and there were only plastic chairs to sit in, for a price, and the vendors out numbered those on the beach.  True it was at the peak heat of the day (2 pm) so most people were all under the trees in close quarters.  The waves were not good for trying to surf so we had lunch at cafe and then had our driver take as back to Seminyak beach.  We enjoyed another session on the surfboard and then watched a beautiful sunset while having a foot massage.  Foot massages are much better in Chiang Mai so won't do that on the beach again.

For dinner we went to an amazing Turkish restaurant called Tulip. One of the other visitors at our guest house who was in Bali because her niece was getting married here had taken the bride and groom to this place the night before and raved about it. The niece is a chef in New Zealand and she loved the food as well, so we thought we should go try it. The ambiance was lovely and the food excellent. The orange souffle was eaten way to quickly! Yummy!

April 9 and 10 Seminyak, Bali

Tuesday, our cheap AirAsia flight from KL to Denpasar was a short 3 hour flight, on time and our bags arrived. The airport was chaotic with many tourists and operates as both a domestic and international terminal in a very small space. Our B&B is Teka Teki House which was recommended to us by our friend Abdul Ralph Woods who lived here for a month in 2010. The driver from the B&B was waiting for as arranged and it took an hour to get the short distance to Seminyak (perhaps 4 miles) because of all the traffic even mid day.  We stopped and bought Bali SIM cards for the phone on the way so we could call our friend Helma Eppstein and arrange to get toghether for dinner.  Helma, after leaving Oman, now is the Director of Housekeeping at the Intercontinental Bali Resort.

In the evening we hired a taxi to take us down the coast to Jimbran beach where we were to meet Helma at the Resort. It took almost an hour to get there and 20 minutes to get home.  The resort property is just lovely! Helma has a very nice apartment with a view of the waterways and trees. She took us to the hotel's Italian restaurant and we had an excellent meal - main course we chose was Mahi Mahi cooked in parchment paper.  It was wonderful to catch up with her and hear the differences in cross cultural management. Helma is an astute observer of human nature and thus picks up on these sutleties - like don't ask a yes for no question because the answer will always be "Yes" -- instead ask which day such and such a task will be completed.

Wednesday morning was catching up on emails and phone calls to family. We walked to the Seminyak beach for lunch and a swim.  The walk took over 20 minutes but there are some lovely shop windows to look in along the way.  However the sidewalks require your full attention most of the time.  This is the weathier residential and tourist area. Seminyak Beach and Petitenget Beach is a continuous expanse of grey sand stretching in both directions as far as the eye can see. To the south it becomes Legian Beach and then Kuta Beach, but is noticeably quieter than both.  While there are many beach chairs available for rent, there is more than 50-foot spacing between them, so you feel like you are not overwhelmed with tourists. Yes there are beach touts selling various trinkets - but when they are kites like these "flying ships" it is uplifting --- I know we will come home with one of them for another young friend. Perhaps a couple for some older friends too!

Someone insisted on continuing to relive his youthful vacation in Hawaii 50 years earlier and try surfing...the other was life guard on the beach.  The life guard then decided to give it a try as well... it was fun to play in the water as it was a wonderful temperature, lovely sandy bottom, but the exercise wore us out. We had a delicious dinner at Mannekepis bar. We also tried a glass of the local Bali wine and both were quite good - Two islands Shiraz and Hatten Aga White.