Amed, don't play with your food.
We arrived ln Amed and looked for a place to stay. We got a deal which was even cheaper than Lovina (damn I can negotiate), however when we moved in we discovered holes in the ceiling, no water in the toilet or over the basin, and a short mosquito net that ended up strangling us both in the middle of the night. But being stiff upper lipped Kiwis (whoosees) we didn't say anything and in doing so maybe pulled back a few Karma points (I needed them). I wanted to see the manager and quietly point out to him that we have seen the panels on the halls of justice ceiling in Klung klung depicting what happens to those who tell porkies, just to keep him on his toes. Ha ha the scarey mother-in-lawy looking thingies were gonna roast his bits and bobs well and truly I can tell ya.
Note to self. Drongo, check out the bloody room first next time before you start negotiating.
Said the Kiwi equivalent of 'go away and have sex' to Gusti our driver (who did) and we all settled in for a bit of a bo peep around. Bugga, wore my Team New Zealand yachting shirt so went through the Ki ora Bro routine with the staff of the restaurant. Ah Bali, same same but different.
We snorkled the bay and coming back I was still looking for Nemo when I heard shouting in Balinese from someone and shouting in Kiwi from Emms. I glanced up in time to see that I was heading straight for a fishing boat and was about to torpedo him with my head. On reflection, if I had of, there would have been another wreck to dive. I don't know how popular it would have been but the Lonely Planet might have written it up like this 'Just in the bay at Amed there is a 52 year old wreck, partially submerged about 30 meteres from the beach. It can be recognised by its large belly and shorts with the zip down, well worth a look due to the prolific barnacle growth around its nether regions'.
R 18 Next bit please don't read due to the content if you are sensitive. You have been warned!!!!! I didn't know whether to include this as you all know how culturally correct I am!
That arvo we wandered along the road looking for a spot to have a bintang or three when we came across a young local boy (6 or so yrs old?) in the middle of the road (about where the pig pens are, on the beach side). He was stroking a dogs tail vigorously (yeah its second tail) to the encouragement of two 30 odd year old local guys sitting up on steps opposite him who were egging him on. When they saw us they growled at the boy who stopped his performance, much I must add, to the disappointment of the dog.
Walking off to the music 'Duelling Banjos' from the movie Deliverance playing in our heads we concluded that it was a pretty poor area and maybe kids don't have many toys to play with, nor is there much in the way of entertainment for adults around the place.
Please don't jump up and down to me about this. It was disconcerting.
So with that little scene stuck inside our bonzes we settled down to see if it could be flushed out with 11 or 12 binnies each.
After the beers we decided that some photos were necessary and boy aren't they always great after a few too many. Heres one of my foot, ohh that was a great shot of the bay but that wall got in the way. Wow nice picture of the ceiling, well it was of a gecko, but he moved.
Having learnt a lesson previously we ordered dinner in English this time and I hoed into a good feed of chillied Cumi Cumi with a side of sliced chilly, all of the meals this trip were great and I was averaging two complete chillis a day. Mind you, that made for delicate patting of ones derierre the next day, but that too is a story to be told only to the grandchildren on a dark and stormy night when the powers off.
Anyway next morning after deleting the photos we headed off toward Padang Bai. I looked behind me as we left Amed and wondered if I would ever get back there, was it the elusive Real Bali? Not for me I suppose, we passed the salt farms and escorted by a frustrated dog we thundered on at 35 km to our next adventure.
Ianz