2 weeks ago we head off on a 3 night, 4 day road trip and although we live in Bali this was our first holiday in 3.5 years so we decided to holiday in Bali and see a bit more of this beautiful island. No shopping, no massages for us, just driving through beautiful scenery, and it's all about the food and Bintang for us.
Have to say, was not expecting it to be so beautiful, due to a very wet 2010 I think we were blessed with the most beautiful green scenery possible.
The drive to Padang Bai once we got past Gianyar (did not take the main highway as we did not want to get stuck in traffic or a flat tire) was beautiful. When we reached Padang Bai we stopped for lunch at Topi Inn at the end of the beach and had a great lunch, very reasonably priced (hubby had a great pizza for 23,000rp + tax, have to now get used the tax for 4 days, we never eat anywhere that charges it). Then we walked up to Blue Lagoon Beach and stared at the blue water promising ourselves we'd come back the next day to snorkel (we didn't end up going back, but will one day). Only negative is that there was no-where to sit on the beach, the locals bless them had obviously taken all the rubbish out of the water, however it was piled up in so many small piles on the very small amount of sand that you couldn't sit down anywhere unless you were one of the ones that had gotten there early and found themselves a little bit of sand amongst the rubbish piles. I was not expecting Padang Bai to be so quaint, had visions of a harbour and fishing village with dirty water and people hassling you for transport but not one hassle and a lovely little spot to walk.
Headed up to Candidasa, what a nice vibe this village has, had 2 hotels in mind, found them on Wotif and thought we'd like to see the rooms first, went to the first place Bali Shangrila Beach Club, drove up and thought it didn't look that great, but friendly staff showed us the last vacant room (upstairs), it was perfect, then gave us the price list and that room was the standard for US$70, we showed them our printed our wotif price of US$55 and they said 'Okay but don't tell wotif'. Room had everything we wanted, Satellite TV plus move hire (not that we used the TV), A/C, mini bar, tea and coffee making facilities and a great beach and pool view. Other rooms were available with seating area around the pool or large balconies. Hubby loved this place, only negative, roosters crowing at 3.30am till 7.30am (so request a room to the right of the beach) and very very soft mattresses (we'd taken our own pillows which made a bit of a difference but we both have bad backs so couldn't stay more than 1 night). Hotel sits on the beach, (well, the sea water, not much of a beach) so we did get one vendor trying to sell sunnies from a distance (we stayed in the pool all afternoon) and one not pushy guy selling snorkeling, which we were going to do but Bingtangs took over, Hubby thought it was 2 for 1 happy hour for 3 hours so made me consume as much as possible, turns out it was 2 for 1 cocktails so he was shocked when he got the bill, but I'd had a lot of Bingtangs so I didn't care at all, I was officially on holidays.
Drove into town and went to dinner at Legong, very nice meals, 1 more Bintang only, reasonably priced, again have to get used to the tax on top, hubby now coming to terms with it, telling me the total price of my meal, not that I cared, we are on holiday after all. Although our hotel was full the streets and restaurants were extremely quiet. The hotel was doing a buffet for 250,000rp but they had a huge pig on a spit and I do not do well knowing my meal had a personality, there was a farm next door (thus the Roosters) and I could hear piggies cousins chatting before dinner time. As we were leaving the hotel for dinner they had a Balinese dance show and Gamelon, very cute but something we see all the time so was nice to leave as they were coming in, great for the tourists though.
Day 2, got up, felt okay for the amount of Bintang so decided to keep driving after breakfast (not enough food for hubby and at 78-98,000 for another small breakfast we decided to eat on the road), stopped at The Water Palace at Tirta Gangga and had brunch at Genta Bali across the road from the Water Palace carpark, cheap eats, good food, no tax, lovely owner to chat with, however it was nearly 11.00am and the welcome drink was Arak, no thanks, not when driving, one smell and I thought, maybe I am hungover. The Water Palace is worth a stop, just tell the guides you don't need a guide. Then we went for a bit of a walk down to see the amazing valleys filled with rice paddies, gorgeous scenery.
Next on our road trip itinerary was Yeh Sanih, we skipped Amed, maybe on another trip, and someone mentioned to hubby it was a good place to do Yoga so may never get him there. The drive to Tulamben was some of the best scenery of the whole trip, actually the best scenery I've ever seen in Bali. I made hubby stop so many times as I was concerned as being the driver that he would miss it, if he couldn't stop I was hanging out the window with the camera taking as many photos as possible so he could see them later. Tulamben to Yeh Sanih was drier and quite boring and it then dawned on me that we had not seen a dog in the last 24 hours. We actually didn't see any dogs until Bedugal on Day 4, very different to the South (strange sight after seeing them every day for so many years).
Yeh Sanih, not on the map in our Bali street altas, but managed to find it, had to see where the water comes out into the sea from lake Batur, we work at Lake Batur and we've heard the story so many times about the Lake draining out to the sea so had to see it for ourselves. Ate lunch at the pools there, back to cheap eats, no tax, hubby happy.
The road to Singaraja was of the poor quality of a Southern Bali road and hubby had to drive a lot slower, not like the road we had been blessed with the last 2 days. ‘Why can't all roads in Bali be this smooth', was the comment of nearly every hour for the first 200kms.
Arrived in Lovina around 3pm and pulled over to check wotif, no good deals for tonight so tried Trip Advisor for a referral, within 1 minute we were driving through Lovina past the centre and out of town 2 kms, drove into a place recommended called Cleopatra, no-one else staying there. Checked the rooms, first room lovely and only 370,000rp, second one with beach frontage and large terrace next to the pool for 500,000rp, hubby wanted the cheap room, I wanted beach front, I won. Owned by a Swedish retiree, only 9 rooms and when we spoke to him he said he'd spent 2 years doing it up (obviously as the quality was 100%). It's his little hobby and he likes it not busy. Not one beach vendor out the front, nice pool with jacuzzi over looking the very flat ocean. Time for a Bintang, mini bar prices were same as bars but they had turned the fridge off so better jump in the car and go and get some.
Bintangs at the pool all afternoon again until dinner time. Drove into town and went to dinner at a Tropis Club, had a lovely grilled calamari and more Bintang, very reasonably priced, everywhere in Lovina had happy hours from 6-8pm, enough Bintang in fact for hubby to convince me to get up and sing, which I did and then the guys who were being paid to sing decided they wanted to start drinking and wanted me to continue, time to leave. Dropped in at another bar for 1 more Bintantg and then back to the hotel. Woke up to a beautiful morning and decided we would stay another night in Lovina. So after breakfast (big enough for hubby) some sun baking (or burning in my case, those places that haven't seen the sun on a few years). Then a storm came in so drove into town for lunch and watched the rain with some Bingtangs of course, once it cleared we walked around for an hour or two to check out real estate (maybe we can retire here in 10 years time, have to say it's a bit of retirement village, we're just not quite old enough to retire yet, looked at a few businesses for sale.). Got hassled by an Australian Real Estate agent who did not understand the words ‘just looking', turned us off a bit as she seemed to have no concern the Balinese when I asked a few questions about buying a hotel and relocating the family temple or employing the family already there (as we have experienced in the South), her words were "to kick them all out like all the expats around here have done and employ Javanese as they show up to work every day', and she got the temple removed from her house for AU$30, I was a little shocked, thought of our Balinese family being ‘kicked out'. The afternoon cleared so good time for more Bintangs watching until the sun come set and then drove into town to for a buffet BBQ at the Steak House for 75,000 IDR, no tax (owned by an Aussie). Hubby was in heaven the words buffet, meat and all you can eat are his favorite, I even ate a lot as I hadn't had BBQ'd food in 6 years, and the potato salad was just like mum used to make with canned peas in it, I felt a little homesick for Australia, but then just started to feel a little sick as I ate far too much meat. Then a walk, please a long walk to walk this meat off, so a couple of laps of the main town until hubby got sick of being asked if we needed a taxi, made me feel like a real tourist, haven't been asked that in years, loved it on the first round, bored of it on the second. Stopped to watch a movie on the second floor of a place I cannot remember the name in the strip where all the bars are, but they had couches set up like a cinema, and as no one else was there so we got to choose the movie. More Bintang, oh, then I spotted the cocktail menu, cocktails were all under 38,000rp so had to have one, on holidays after all.
Day 4, headed off about 9am and went to Git Git waterfalls, great to get there early as the stalls are just opening so you don't get hassled as much as I can imagine you do. Gorgeous waterfalls, if you like walking and don't mind lots of steps you can get to all of them, worth the steps. More beautiful scenery but a very windy road after that.
On to Bedugal on the winding road, stopped at the Strawberry Stop for lunch, very cheap meals and bought 1 kg of strawberries for 30,000rp great to snack on, on the drive home. Started to notice more family temples, had noticed that the Lovina area had hardly any family temples, made me think about what the Australian Real Estate Agent had said, really hope they were just not visible from the road as in the South.
Hit the Denpasar traffic at 3pm and wished we could just turn around, cannot wait for the next trip, maybe another 3 years, what a beautiful part of Bali!