JBR 2 - Pemuteran to Anturan/Lovina via Belimbing and Banjar Hot Springs/Singaraja
Tuesday 2 January 2007 - Overcast, Slightly Humid, Windy
Woke up early as usual in Bali - 5.30 am to local sounds of chooks, pigs, people talking in the family compound next door to Jubawa - I discovered later that they were preparing for a ceremony, that's why they were all up so early. I go to see if Doug is awake and realised that I have woken him - it's not 7.45 am, it's 6.45 am - sorry Doug!
I went for a walk to a nearby shop and after quite a bit of miming, and being offered nail polish remover, eventually I am able to buy a few rolls of sticking plaster to bind two toes together, it helps my injured toe considerably and makes walking bearable. I buy a banana for 1,000 rp (compared to current Australian prices it is good value) at a little local stall set up in a bale out the front of a house selling mainly fruit and vegetables.
After breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast (spread with my usual jar of vegemite) I take Doug next door where the ladies are busy grating coconuts using traditional coconut graters - sharp spikes impregnated in the length of the wood. I gave out small toys to the children and they all want photos taken. They invited me in for bali kopi and gave me some interesting little colourful squares of jelly mixed with coconut - it's quite a common dish for breakfast in balinese homes. As I am taking photos I hear the crys of a pig and yep, they have just caught the pig ready for slaughter - babi guling here we come! And this is all happening just behind me! I decide this is just too close for me to feel comfortable so I hurry away down the road, fingers firmly in my ears telling Doug I can't stand this I'll be back when they have done the deed! Anyway, I don't hear anything (Doug tells me later that the noisiest part is when the pig is actually being caught and trussed) and I wander back to Jubawa after 10 or so minutes feeling quite silly. I peek over the fence and take some more photos, the men have fired up fires under huge saucepans and everyone is busy; satay sticks are being made, as well as lawar. The family dogs are eagerly hanging around no doubt for any stray bits and pieces of the feast being prepared.
Alex (Nyoman Oka) arrives at 9.45 am to pick us up, he has driven from Kuta, and we made our way through Seririt, then winding our way high up into the mountains, to Pupuan, where the rice terracing was spectacular. We stopped for lunch at the very scenic Cafe Belimbing, located 300 metres above sea level and enjoyed delicious Nasi Campur 24,500 rp, hot tea 7,000, small Bintang 12,000 rp, banana juice 15,000 and I ordered black rice pudding for Doug to try for the first time 12,500 rp - it was a lovely lunch, good company together with a terrific view - couldn't get much better than that!
To get to Anturan we retraced our route and detoured off to visit the Banjar Hot Springs. On the way Alex stopped to buy a durian (at my request) so we can try one. On previous trips Alex's brother Made had told me that Alex would never buy a durian, so I was quite surprised when he obliged! I gave Alex 20,000 rp. and it seemed that he negotiated with the lady stall holder for quite some time before a deal was done and the selected durian was packed in the back of the Kijang to be eaten later. By the time we got to Banjar we could certainly smell the fruit, it's aroma was quite pungent. Alex got out a little knife and cut open the durian in the car park at the Hot Springs. It was quite sticky and messy to eat, and I found it too sweet for my liking. I think that all the hype about durians tasting like heaven is overrated. At least now I can say I've tried it.
After making our way past persistent stall holders we paid 3,000 rp entry fee each to enter the Hot Springs and even though the water was warm like bathwater it was still refreshing and underneath the statues of the Nagas where the water spouted into the baths were popular spots with the bathers.
Arriving at Villa Agung I felt like we were at one of our favourite homes in Bali again as Gus the owner welcomes us and we share bali kopi together. Gus explains that they have been having quite windy weather so have put protective covers down at the front of the restaurant for the day. The next day they are rolled up as the weather fines up.
Villa Agung is a small boutique hotel right on the beachfront at Anturan. They have about 5 - 6 rooms, one room is a family suite as well as a few bungalows. They have a small pool surrounded by a garden and my favourite jepun trees, and a marvellous lounge room well stocked with games, jigsaws and books above the beachside restaurant where you can sit and enjoy the view of the sea in peace and quiet. Villa Agung is all about relaxation but Gus and Sandy can help guide you with local attraction information. Their Manager Nyoman is always willing to help you and can organise snorkeling or dolphin trips if you wish. All the rooms have airconditioning but if you want to negotiate a cheaper price you can use the ceiling fans and if you have the rooms upstairs you simply open the back door and front door and a refreshing breeze cools the rooms. The beds are comfortable and there are sitting areas at the back verandah which overlook a rice paddy with a view to the mountains, and also out the front verandah towards the sea. Some of the rooms have refrigerators but the staff are happy to dispense drinks from the kitchen fridge and their prices for meals and drinks are very moderate and excellent. If you want to explore there is a seaside village to the east along the beach and there is a village with a few restaurants to the west as well as a warung on the main street with internet. http://www.agungvilla.com or email Gus and Sandy at villaagung@hotmail.com for accommodation bookings or queries, tell them Anne from Melbourne, Australia has made a recommendation.
Doug and I walked to the internet warung and send our first email back home. The first hawker we see, Ketut, tries to sell me pearls which I decline. Over the next few days I made re-aquaintance with the hawkers along the Anturan strip of beach, and they don't give me a hard time when I decline to buy shells, paintings and carved dolphins (we do buy some on our last morning) I looked for Warung Nyoman (I usually visit Nyoman each visit to Anturan and he cooks us barbequed fish at his warung). We were told his warung had washed away with the stormy weather so I decided to look for his son in law, Marcus. Marcus is a very hospitable german chap that I met through Nyoman last year with my son Sam last March. Ah yes, Marcus is home and has some Bintang dingin, so we enjoyed having a chat and few Bintang. He now has two children with his balinese wife, Nyoman's daughter. Nyoman and his family have just moved into Marcus' place today due to the storm damaging their place on the beach. So Nyoman got busy and cooked us up a huge feed of barbeque tuna on the coconut husk bbq in Marcus' backyard, served with spicy sambal and rice. Doug is very impressed when Marcus hunts out his lost bottle of cognac and we have a drink to the new year together. Marcus has built about 3 - 4 guest rooms which are very nicely finished and there is a large pool to use as well as a well built restaurant bale for relaxing. Pondok Wisata Mumbul, just near the bridge at Anturan. stanovitch@yahoo.com phone: (+62) 08 174 197408 Afterwards Nyoman dinked us on his motorbike one by one back to Villa Agung where the night watchmen had just started duty.
I went to sleep listening to the wild crashing of waves, the wind is still quite strong and the fishermen are not going out in that weather tonight. Another interesting day in Bali!
Wednesday 3 January - Singaraja and Full Moon Ceremony
After a nice breakfast at Villa Agung of scrambled eggs, their 'signature' banana bread, fruit and bali kopi we caught a bemo (2,000 rp) to the bemo terminal west of Singaraja. To get to Singaraja, you need to catch two bemos, one to the terminal and then transfer (easy because bemo drivers will 'transfer' you to their friend's bemo) to another bemo that goes through Singaraja. The second bemo (3,000 rp)drops us off at the central market (pasar). Doug had been feeling 'lost' without a watch - he left his good watch back in Australia and as there were no hawkers in Pemuteran and none in Anturan selling watches, one of our first jobs is to buy him a watch. He had a wide choice of watches and selects one for novelty value more than practicality - it has a small calculator on it's face as well as digital time. I forget what the initial asking price was but I had decided I wasn't going to be too hard with bargaining in Bali - people are still doing it hard, so agree on 40,000 rp ($A5.71). As we walked along the street I saw a man with a few unusual looking bits and pieces of dried items set up on a step and I go to take a closer look, thinking he is some type of medicine man. To my surprise he lifted off the lid of a container and it's a snake awakening from it's curled up state .... yikes ..... I took a step back and am quite happy to walk away from that one!
It's Doug's first experience of a large market in Bali and he is impressed by the variety of stalls selling fruit, rice, vegetables, meat, fish, live and dead poultry, bootleg tobacco, and the man selling all types of interesting knives and cutting implements. We had a look at the little pasar temple, crammed in amongst the hussle and bussle. We don't see any other tourists or ex-pats, as a matter of fact we don't see any at all out and about until we were on the road to Ubud - they must all stay in their hotels if they are there at all. We sat down on the side of the road watching the activity and make a deal - a glass of arak to the first one who can take a photo of five on a motorbike - it adds a new dimension for our photography efforts for the rest of our trip. Doug indicated that the most likely opportunity would be to find a corner where the motorbikes have to slow down considerably for the photo to be taken. Wouldn't you know it ... when you want five on a motorbike there are always four! But more about that later!
We walked down to the waterfront along a street mainly filled with furniture shops, bit like a street full of Harvey Norman's. At the waterfront the waves were crashing up high against a sea wall and we spent a bit of time watching the kids climbing over the sea wall and jumping back just as the waves crashed, sending spray 4 or 5 metres into the air - I was a bit worried that one of them would get caught and subsequently washed away but I think they were quite experienced at playing this game of chance with the sea.
We decided not to bother with visiting the lontar palm museum so commissioned a bemo 'direct' back to Villa Agung, and negotiated 15,000 rp for both of us. I should know by now that 'direct' is never 'direct' in Bali; another passenger is picked up along the way and when he gets off I jokingly ask him for 1,000 rp for his share of the fare (which of course he ignores and pays the driver 3,000).
In the afternoon I went for a wander up to the little seaside village east of Villa Agung and find the little girl I had taken a photo of last year and she is thrilled to be given a barbie doll with a complete wardrobe of clothes. The family lived very simply in a one roomed little house and I was glad I had more toys and clothing to give to them. It doesn't cost much in Bali to spread a little cheer and it certainly brightens my day as well. Luh Kompyang Taman and her husband who have a little warung in the village explain that without many visitors to Lovina business is slow and they couldn't afford to stock the warung which I must say looked very depleted of stock.
When I arrived back at Villa Agung I find a note from Doug to say that he is out looking for a non black sarong to wear to the Full Moon Ceremony tonight - he has read somewhere that the ceremonial sarong I had packed for him from Australia may not have been appropriate for tonight's outing.
After an early dinner at Villa Agung, as arranged the Manager Nyoman arrives to take us into the main temple at Singaraja. He 'dresses' Doug in his very flash bright yellow and orange tie-dyed sarong (complete with tassels on the edges) and Nyoman's wife Pennie and the kitchen girls helped me dress in my traditional outfit - sarong and kebaya. I always seem to 'start' winding my sarong around me from the wrong side and end up with the edges in the wrong place! Thank goodness I have one of those black girdle thingies that keeps it all together to stop me unraveling at inappropriate moments!
When we arrived Nyoman bought us each an offering basket with different flowers to use during the prayer service. A flower dropped from my basket onto the ground but I knew not to pick it up as it is soiled so cannot be used for prayer once dropped on the ground.
It was a still night, the wind had died down and when the night clouds parted the full moon was in view. We sat for ages at the back of the temple listening to an address from a religious educator who was telling the young people present what they should be striving to achieve during the coming year. Looking around me I saw youths who have become 'trendy' and have bottle bleached blonde hair but still wearing traditional temple dress, evidently enjoying spending time with the young girls who I notice now wear their temple sashes around their hips instead of traditionally around their waists - it must be a wonderful opportunity for the boys and girls to meet in a socially acceptable way! The occasional mobile phone chimed away in amongst the crowd. The educator was quite adamant in what he was saying. When he finished, the crowd moved forward to the offerings table and then we moved forward in readiness for the next prayer service to begin. On this night there is a continuous succession of prayer services for the worshipers so everyone gets an opportunity to attend.
As usual prayer services are usually brief and after receiving holy water and with rice stuck to our temples and foreheads Nyoman, Doug and I made our way out through the narrow temple gateway to the outer courtyard and weaved our way through the chaotic traffic of people, cars and multitudes of motorcyclists accumulated around the temple perimeters. When I stopped to take a photo I lagged behind Doug and Nyoman and thinking I would lose them in the crowd, I called out 'Nyoman' before realising that at least ΒΌ of the people present would have the same name - I expected them all to turn around, but no, not one, thank goodness .... that would have been embarrassing! On the way home we drove around Singaraja as I'd never driven around there at nighttime to look at the neon signs and we stopped in the middle of a roundabout to take a photo of fancy neon palm trees - yellow, green and red lights pulsating up the trunks and palm boughs, and although I know it is inevitable, commercialism is well and truly taking hold in Bali, I felt sad that some things never stay the same.
A bali kopi and then bed. It had been a brief but enjoyable stay at Anturan and once again I have enjoyed a full moon ceremony in Singaraja as well as catching up again with friends.
Tomorrow we are off to Ubud via Bedugal. I'm keen to show Doug another interesting part of Bali.