Travelled from Lovina to Wawa WeweII Villas at Lipah Beach near Amed and stayed three nights there. http://au.geocities.com/wawawewe1_2/index.html
We stayed in Room 8, the Seaview Room nearest the pool, and the sea, and restaurant. (350,000 night as it was high season. The other rooms were 250,000 for two people).The villa actually has two double bed rooms, each with a bathroom, plus a lounge area and a porch with chairs and a day bed to relax on. (Was formerly a home villa so has staircase to a top storey that is empty). We only used one room. Electric mozzie thingy supplied. Bed was comfy and as well as aircon there was a net if you wanted to use it. No fridge. Bruce had to explain clearly that Bintang had to be COLD, but they got the message quickly. One early evening they brought two bottles over and one was not chilled (as I think there had been a run on the fridge), so I took the room temp one and Bruce got the cold one, and we went for dinner next door as we knew it would take an hour or so for the beer just put into the fridge to get chilled.
I discovered the shower had a habit of taking up to 10 mins for the hot to come through, and then if everyone else was showering early morning we missed out on cold water flow completely and only got scalding hot water. If you were quick you could shower with the first lot of warm water in the pipes. I tried to explain to the boss, but he checked it in the afternoon and assured me there was cold water coming through. Well, by then there was. I decided not to complain again and just adapt to the circumstances. Strangely, no matter what the shower was doing there was always cold water coming plentifully from the washbasin tap (different supply perhaps) so I just combined hot water from the shower with scoops of cold water from the basin in the big laundry bucket, and washed myself the Balinese way by soaping and scooping water over myself. Even washed my hair this way - easy peasy.
The infinity pool was so peaceful to swim in at night. I saw a few sunrises followed by the sight of hundreds of fishing boats first appearing like tiny sticks on the horizon, then all travelling closer and from right to left across the sea with their sails bright triangles to bays further along. This is the most relaxing place I have ever stayed at. The staff were wonderful.When we arrived early afternoon we had lunch and the Nasi Campur and Barbecued fish dishes were wonderful. Other meals we ate there were Thai Green chicken curry (hot, but good) and Chicken noodle soup (hearty chunky bowl for lunch - a meal in itself). Their BLT sandwiches made a nice light lunch too. Their breakfasts (included in the price) were good too. Yummy banana pancakes. The restaurant has tables and chairs but also some low tables with cushions all around them...very cosy.
That night we chose to wander along the road to the left a kilometre or so (at some places it was almost pitch black so next time I would take a torch). We ate at WawaWeweI restaurant that night as they had a band playing. Same menu, same owners! I ordered a rum and coke and it took a while, with apologies, as they had to go get some more rum. Later when we walked home I ordered another back at our villa for a nightcap, but they could not oblige as the rum had gone. (Realised someone must have hopped on a motorbike or in a car to swiftly go and get the bottle from our WWWWII earlier on!). If you want to sit and watch the locals go by, then a beer at Wayan's Warung next to WWWWI is in order. Watch out for the local 'yobbos' - young lads on motorbikes as the sun is setting or has just set. They whizz along the road, sometimes without lights! There are quite a few eateries along the road that runs from Amed along the coast. We ate at another place beside the driveway down to our villas, called Double One. Okay food. Bruce had king prawns and I had Nasi Goreng. The holiday places called Dancing Dragon Cottages and Hidden Paradise are also along this stretch of road.
The day before we left I went snorkelling. Bruce's ear was still playing up so he did not come in the water but sat in the boat. It was organised the Balinese way. The villa lets you borrow mask and snorkel and flippers for 20,000. One of the guys at the villa has an uncle who has a boat. 125,000 rupiah per person to go to Jemeluk and go snorkelling. Would he take less, I ask. Okay, because it is you I think he would do it for 200,000 for two people. (I was happy to pay this much for the experience but later learned we had been 'overcharged' by snorkelling standards).Well, uncle arrives at the shore in the boat just alongside the hotel beach area. He introduces us to Ketut, young guy who takes us out in the boat for half hour or so trip along coast to Jemuluk. (I gather the local banjar-kind of local village collective- has a system where you book someone and they take turns at who gets the jobs, to be fair to all - at least that is how I interpreted what I was told). Boat anchored and I get in. Where we anchored the sea floor dropped dramatically. I saw very few fish. Started to swim towards shore a bit away from the boat and all of a sudden I was in huge tropical fish paradise. Little vivid cobalt blue fish, schools of black and yellow zebra fish, 30cm fish coloured all the pastel colours of a paintbox, bright blue starfish, a barracuda 40cm long that hovered within arms reach just looking at me, black fish with bright orange fins like dart feathers sprouting from where their tails fanned out from their bodies, just amazing. I came back to the boat when my legs started to cramp from all the sudden exercise to muscles that had not been used for a while. Now came the embarrassing bit. Bruce has middle ear imbalance and could not stand and balance in a rocking boat to help the young guy assist me back into the boat. Young guy was too scrawny to lift me and I did not have the upper body strength to lift myself in, and there was no ladder. Eventually we had a bright idea and I sat on one of the outrigger poles, legs up on it too, holding onto the strut and we motored the short distance to shore, me hoping all the way that there was no coral underneath me as we came into the shallows! Then I casually hopped off the pole and into the boat, trying to look like I had done it for fun. Later I thought of buying a model of one of the little boats, making a tiny rope ladder and photographing it on the model and sending the picture to the guy at the hotel for his uncle. I think I will just make my own portable ladder and take it back with me for next time! The next day I sure could feel my calf muscles, but what a brilliant experience.
We negotiated the price of 250,000 for a driver from the hotel to take us to Sanur the day we left. It was an interesting trip. We stopped first at the local school but there was a ceremony or something and no-one was there. Looked in the windows. Poor is an understatement. Like something from Charles Dickens. Was SD No 1 Purwakkerti Di Biaslantang (I think that is the name of the school). Young waiter, Wayan Juni, at the villas used to go there and two of his brothers go there. If you wanted to make a difference in this area then some teaching/sports supplies for this school would be much appreciated I would imagine. As we left (we dropped the supplies we had brought to the next open school we saw) I saw a guy at the side of the road making satays and commented to Bruce that the smell was quite yummy and I could smell it from the car. Then I looked down and the driver had four hot satays on a banana leaf sitting on the divider between our seats. This was his village and as we had returned from the school grounds he had picked up his 'meals on wheels' brunch! He proceeded to munch happily on each satay in turn, dropping the sticks at his feet, as he drove along, while I tried not to giggle.
We stopped at the Water Gardens..fascinating place. Was built as a royal picnic venue. There is a pool you can swim in there if you don't mind sharing it with little fishes. A guide attached himself to us and carried my water bottle like it was a precious vessel as we walked around. We saw a bunch of hippies - I swear, they looked just like Sixties hippies with flowers in their hair - sitting crosslegged in the shrine area there chanting a Hare Krishna chant. I muttered to Bruce that it seemed rude for a bunch of tourists to appropriate a holy area to do their meditation. Bruce asked the guide and he said No, it was okay as Krishha was good.
The stalls outside the water gardens (which are between Amed and Amlapura)had some good fruit. I bought some lovely fresh salak there. We gave our guide 20,000 as we were feeling generous and he had given us some useful information.
Well, that is all for now...next post will be our impressions of Sanur and Respati Hotel there, and our visits to Sammy and Suzie and fellow forumites.