An end in Amed

    After the quick visit to the medical clinic in Ubud, the driver, Salit, took us on to the eastern area of Bali. We stopped for lunch along the way at the Temple Café in Candidasa. It was a nice drive with stunning sea views but I was in no shape to enjoy it. The whole coast is called Amed but we actually stayed at the Coral View Villas in the village of Lipah
    For the first time we ran into a mosquito problem and Doreen’s face took a beating (or a biting, if you prefer) the first two nights. When the manager asked how things were going, she unloaded about the mosquitos and he subsequently sprayed the room. Afterwards, while cleaning up, Doreen counted upwards of 40 dead mosquitos in our room. For the rest of our stay we saw only two or three. Doreen was convinced the room hadn’t been used in a while and they hadn’t fumigated it before our arrival. She was not happy.
    When the doctor phoned on Saturday night with the results of the blood test, it was a great relief. But it was too late to save this trip. We had started in Pulah Weh with a major setback and, despite some good/great moments since, there had been a series of minor aggravations all along the way. We finally ran out of steam in Amed and now we’re just killing days until we fly home.
    We saw the spiritual side of Bali last year and I’ll always treasure that. This year we saw the tourist side of Bali and it isn’t nearly as attractive. Australians dominated in the Legian area, Germans in Pemuteran and French in Munduk and Amed. We’ve seen very few Americans and only one Canadian (the lady from Montreal via Texas). It’s been different. And, at our age, we’ve found that we don’t do different as well as we did in the past.
    The beach in Amed is a black sand, pebbly beach again. The hotel does not have any beach property as the whole coastline is crowded with boats belonging to the local fishermen. Not a beach for walking. Besides, Doreen’s foot is still bothering her and she finds it difficult even walking on the roads. There was some good snorkeling just to the right of Coral View Villas and we did three trips out there and one in Jemuluk Bay. Better than Pulah Weh and off-the-beach in Pemuteran but a far cry from Menjangan Island.
    The resort has a lovely, little, palm-tree lined pool but the emphasis is on little. They have so many trees surrounding the pool they can fit only four lounges. And the trees effectively screen the area so there was no place to get any consistent sun. A lovely setting but it grew increasingly boring. Enough already. I wanna go home.

To the mountains of Munduk

    A lot less threatening, and a lot greener than the mountains of Mordor. We left Pemuteran on Sunday morning with a driver to take us to Munduk, a small village in the mountains of northern Bali. We stopped along the way to see the monkey temple at Pura Pulaki and, again, at Melanting Temple. Both are fairly small temple complexes but interesting. Pura Pulaki was crawling with monkeys and the worshippers had a difficult time protecting their offerings from these foragers. We spent a short while watching one monkey try to strip a coconut while simultaneously avoiding the assaults of his fellow simians.
     At Melanting Temple we were approached by an old lady who wished to sprinkle us a blessing before we entered the complex. That was a first for us. Usually we’ve just had to wear the sarong. The further we walked into the complex, the more elaborate it got. In the innermost courtyard Doreen was approached by a lady who asked to have her picture taken. She was pleased with the result and Doreen soon found herself in a group of four women and one man. It was a special moment for her.
    We stopped at a supermarket in Saririt to stock up on some essentials before the final drive to Munduk as we weren’t sure what we’d be able to find in the way of ‘goodies’ in the village. We needn’t have bothered. I’m absolutely stunned by the number of small ‘corner stores’ that exist in these Balinese villages. I don’t know how they all survive and make a profit since it seems every second or third house contains a store. Incidentally, I even found one that had plastic ‘water jugs’ so I’m back to boiling water and making tea. (And it cost me about $3 - a lot less than that Austin House kettle.)
    We checked in at Aditya Home Stay. Nice people. The view is outstanding! Hope my panorama works out. Unfortunately we’re back to twin beds and little storage space. The bathroom has an interesting floor with little beach rocks cemented into the floor in a criss-cross pattern (not all of them securely anchored). Makes for a different sensation during a nighttime visit. :)
    We had come to this area to do some hiking so we set off Monday morning to visit two nearby waterfalls. You are encouraged to hire local guides and we had done so for our other hikes which were longer and involved more complex trails. The waterfalls were a short hike and we were told you could do it without a guide. At the time, I believed that. I no longer do.
    We set off with high hopes and a map furnished by Aditya. We actually found the first section of the trail with no problem but, as we ventured further into the forest, things quickly began to go south. You couldn’t tell the trail from the road to someone’s house and people lived in the most unlikeliest of places - and rode their motorbikes to them. We met a couple from Texas (she was originally from Montreal) who were attempting the same trek. Their map was actually worse than ours and it became a case of the blind leading the blind.
    We could hear the waterfall. We could see it through the trees. We just couldn’t find a path that would take us to it. I’m convinced the lack of signed trails is an attempt to ensure that  the guides don’t run out of business. Eventually we found ourselves on a section of the trail that the map indicated would take us to the upper falls so we abandoned the lower ones. It still wasn’t a smooth hike but we finally found ourselves at the foot of Melanting Falls. It was actually worth the trouble.
    Unfortunately, Doreen lost her focus for a moment as we reached the waterfall and  slipped on a bamboo log, jamming her foot so that she found walking on uneven ground painful. So much for our hiking plans. On the way back, we ran into the guide we’d hired, explained the problem and cancelled our hike to the lake the next day. We left the rice field trip open for Wednesday for the moment. Doreen’s foot worsened as the day progressed so it looked like a good decision on our part.
    It looked even better the next morning. I had gone to bed that night feeling fine (Doreen had even tried to convince me to do the lake hike on my own so as not to hang up the guide) but that soon changed. Suddenly I was burning up with fever while my inner core was so cold that I was shivering hard enough to shake the bed and my teeth were chattering. I alternated between fever and freezing all night and got very little sleep. I spent the next day virtually in bed with no energy and little appetite.
    I felt better on Wednesday morning and the guide, Made, and I set out to tour the rice fields we could see from our balcony. Doreen’s foot wouldn’t let her attempt it. Because of my energy level we did only the rice fields and didn’t attempt the hike to the banyan tree which is long and steep. The hike seemed to drain the last of my energy and I spent the next two days drifting in and out of wakefulness. The folks at Aditya Home Stay were wonderfully supportive.
    When we left there on Thursday, we had the driver take us to the medical clinic in Ubud for a consultation. We were afraid I had contracted malaria during our time on Pulah Weh. After a discussion with the doctor and some preliminary prodding, she suggested it was more likely dengue and ordered blood work to be sure. In the meantime she prescribed three sets of medication to fight a mild infection in my throat, to boost my immune system and to fight the fever. When she phoned with the test results on Saturday night it was a relief to learn that it was only the throat infection and not dengue or malaria. For that, the medications were already working. We did, however, lose the best part of a week.

Snorkeling in the Northwest

    On Tuesday morning we checked out of the Amaris Hotel in Legian and had a driver, Wayan Merta, take us to Pemuteran in the northwest corner of Bali. Pemuteran is a resort area near the marine reserve at Menjangan Island. Doreen had booked us into the Adi Assri Resort and had arranged a package of five snorkel trips with a local dive shop, Sea Rovers, who promised groups of six or smaller.
    It was a lovely drive up through the middle of Bali to the north coast and then west to Pemuteran. Wayan is the best driver we’ve had in Bali. His English was very good and his knowledge of the island and enthusiasm for sharing were remarkable. He made several suggestions for stops and they provided excellent picture opportunities. We stopped along the way for lunch at Sanda Villas, a lovely setting. We’ll use Wayan again when we get to Jimbaran.
    We had a big room at Adi Assri with a separate washroom and an outdoor toilet/bath/shower (the shower area was roofless). The room had plenty of storage space but was dominated by a very large four-poster (I think Doreen and I were in different area codes). What it didn’t have was a single chair. There was no place to sit except on the bed and there was no desk area where I could work on my pictures on the laptop.
    It was a nice resort with gorgeous views, two large pools with plenty of lounges, a nice dining area and a friendly. helpful staff. The beach was pebbly, black sand - not great for walking. Your feet got so dirty when you walked the beach that the resort provided foot baths at each beach access point. It was the only way to keep the black out. One trek of the beach for me and, from then on, it was a pool lounge.
    The trip took another major downturn on our third day at Adi Assri when my new travel kettle died (or fried itself). For years I’ve used a heating coil to ensure access to a good, hot cup of tea. That’s also why I always carry a supply of tea bags (PG Tips or Tetley). This year Doreen spotted a dual-voltage Austin House travel kettle at CAA and we decided to try it. Like an idiot, I didn’t bring the heating coil as backup. After a night of abject despair, I discovered that I can get lots of boiling water at the bar. All is not lost!!
    We ate most of our meals at the hotel (breakfast is part of the deal) but Doreen had compiled a list of recommended spots in the area from her enquiries on Trip Advisor and we got a chance to try several. We enjoyed a dinner at Warung Susa, a lunch at Taman Salini and a dinner at Frangipani was so good that we intended to go back for our final night. That changed when we went to Warung Tirta Sari for dinner on Friday night. The setting was lovely, the presentation was awesome, the food was delicious, the service was wonderful and the prices were outstanding. We were back again on Saturday night for another great meal.
    But we came to this area for the snorkeling and, so, much hinged on our experiences with Sea Rovers. On Wednesday we did our first snorkel tour to Menjangan Island and discovered we would have one diver as well as six snorkelers. At least they sent along two guides as well as a boat driver. When we dropped off the boat at our first spot it was very deep (great for the diver) but we quickly reached an area of great coral with lots of fish. The only drawback was an absence of soft corals but that’s nitpicking. A good start!
    After a beach interlude and a somewhat mediocre lunch, we went to our second spot. This was even better. Pretty much the same as the first spot but a little more coral, a few more fish and a lot less water. A great way to spend an hour and a half!
    The next morning we went off again with Sea Rovers to snorkel the local reef. This time there were only four of us with yesterday’s diver and his partner joining Doreen and I. This was the major disappointment of our five tours. It was a divers’ spot and the water never came close to snorkel depth. Everything was so far away I didn’t even turn on my camera. Then we came to a dead area and our guide seemed to disappear, leaving us swimming aimlessly over rubble for half an hour until the boat finally showed up again and we could get out of the water. That afternoon my kettle died. Talk about a bad day!
    Friday we were back at Menjangan Island. Again we had the diver along with three other snorkelers. Again we had a mediocre lunch, this time amid swarms of flies. Again we had a very rough, wet ride back. But, today, none of that mattered. Our first stop was marvelous, easily the best we’ve had in Bali and as good as just about anything we’ve ever done short of Raja Ampat and Palau. The second spot, after lunch, was a drift snorkel and, although not as good as the earlier one, was quite enjoyable. A great way to finish!
    So, five snorkels and, on a scale of 1(poor)-5(great), I’d say we had a 1, two 3's. a 4 and a 5. Can’t ask for much more than that. I wouldn’t rate Sea Rovers as high. I’ve mentioned the mediocre lunches–the boat leaves at 8:30 am, we eat at 11 and they’re serving cold, soggy french fries. They’ve dropped the fresh fruit. Too expensive I guess.
    More importantly their customer service was minimal. The owner with whom Doreen had corresponded was never around. The lady at the office was very friendly and helpful but the other crew did not impress.    There was minimal information about what to expect to see on each snorkel and where to look. Just basically–we’ll drop you here, pick you up later, there are fish and coral in the water. We were supposed to have a snorkel guide for each trip but the diver’s partner was an uneasy swimmer so she got a personal hand-held tour and the rest of us could follow along at her pace or go off on our own.
    After the last snorkel of the day, they never give you enough time to get settled away before they blast off for home. They pride themselves on their fast boats but they don’t adjust for ocean conditions. On the trip out in the early morning the ocean is glassy and speed gets you to the snorkeling quicker. With the waves up on the ride back, speed get you a sore rear end and a good soaking. Especially when the boat driver seems to be doing his best to get his buddies wet, to hell with the paying customers. Not very professional.

The surf side of Bali

    We flew from Yogyakarta to Denpasar with Garuda Air and took a taxi to the Hotel Amaris in Legian. This area is the surf center of Bali and very popular with Australians. The beaches all seem to run into each other from Kuta to Legian to Seminyak and you can stroll for miles if you’re so inclined. This would usually be right up our alley but Doreen has developed a real concern about sun exposure so our usual beach walks have been curtailed significantly.    Besides which, though the waves may be very enticing to surfers (and obviously so from the number of boards in the water and around town), the beach itself is not all that appealing. It’s definitely not the North Shore of Oahu. It looks great from a distance but, up close and underfoot, it is a light, sooty color and you come off the beach with very dirty feet. The sand is also strangely resistant to being brushed off. At low tide, the beach is very wide and you have to walk a long ways to get into waist-deep water. It reminds me somewhat of the beaches in northern Queensland or Daytona Beach in Florida.
    We went some time strolling the shops along the main road as Doreen looked unsuccessfully for batik material that she could buy for her quilting. The only batiks available were as sarongs. She did, however, find a couple of beachwear-type dresses so all was not lost. We also picked up a cell phone in Seminyak for use in Indonesia. It’s an unlocked phone so we should be able to buy a SIM card for Singapore if we need one.
    We did have some good meals particularly a lunch at Sang Ria and a dinner at Warung Patrick. Our last night we ate at Mozarella’s-by-the-Sea. Great food, great setting. Not the greatest sunset. The place is so underlit that, when the sun goes down, they bring flashlights with the menus so you can see the choices. Breakfasts were included with our hotel package so we ate there. The eating area was lined up along the pool so the ambience was a little unusual. Only one morning was anyone swimming laps.
    The food was pretty good once we got used to the routine. The first morning we took the omelet pieces that were displayed. Bad choice - cold and all stuffed with so many vegetables (including onions) you could hardly taste the eggs. We learned to wait a few minutes until an employee showed up who would cook your eggs fresh. Much better. Lots of fresh fruit and juice.
    The hotel itself was just a step up from a hostel (though a rather big step). Clean, modern look with an excellent staff. A fairly nice room but small with two twin beds and one chair. We had problems with the wall safe and when the desk sent somebody to fix the problem he blithely said the instructions printed on the safe were wrong and showed us the correct procedure for re-setting the password. I don’t understand why they don’t change the instructions. How often do they face this problem? Or are we the only paranoid travelers who use these room safes?