The morning dawned and it was another beautiful day. It was Monday 21st January and the day we were to set out to do the east side of Bali and up to Lovina for the night. A fairly long stretch to do in a day.
We bounced out of bed at 6.30 (having only been kept awake till 2am by Musro room) showered, raced down for some breakfast and then back to the room to pack a backpack for our overnighter in Lovina. Well I am not really the downsize kind of woman. To me trying to cram what I might need for our overnighter into a small backpack alongside hubby's stuff is something of my worst nightmare. What about all my body lotions and smelly stuff? What if I don't feel like wearing that particular outfit tomorrow? How was I to do this without causing too much separation anxiety on my part. It was creeping closer to 8am when the phone rang - it was Wayan in the lobby telling us he was here early as we have to leave if we want to get through the Safari Park before the crowds... pressure...I work well under pressure most times but this was not one of them. Hubby started to lose his cool a bit and with a firm tug of the zip to seal the tightly packed backpack made my decision for me, before I could even contemplate what else I might need... So we headed off to the lobby, my mind full of all the things I have left behind that I might need and also of what I might have overlooked but really needed. Oh well I guess we will find out when we get to Lovina.
Into his van and it was off to the Safari Park. Wayan was kitted out in his new leather belt and his Nike cap that we had bought him from Perth - I think the only time he took his belt off was when we went swimming. Wayan with his Nike cap and sunglasses looks the spitting image of Tiger Woods - the resemblance is remarkable and he loves hearing this. We had also bought over some clothes for his two daughters as K-mart and Target had the post-Christmas sales on before we left and we also bought a much coveted handbag for his wife Ida. They were all very happy with their presents.
Anyway back on track.... We hit the Safari Park and of course we were the first ones there - the place opened at 9am and I think we were there about 8.45. Wayan spoke to the staff (its very handy having a local and one that knows these people from previous visits) and they agreed to take us around (just the three of us) without waiting for others to arrive...perfect, our own little safari tour. Wow, what can I say, this place is truly amazing. We got sooo many photo's and video footage from it. Unfortunately the video camera's battery died as did my digital camera battery, but thankfully Wayan was there to pick up the slack with his digital camera, so we got all photo opportunities covered. At this time of the morning, it would be fair to say that the animals are still a bit sleepy, but still awake enough and active enough for some great photos. Hows that Zebra that does a big pussy cat roll next to the bus? We got the best shot of him rolling around on his back having a good old time! It took us 2 hours to go around the park - and to me that was enough, I don't think I needed to see it all again. As we were the only ones in the bus (being the first bus to go for the day), our trip around was at a strolling pace with plenty of stops for photos. It truly was the best way to see it. I won't spoil the surprise for those who haven't been to the park yet, but they do a 'surprise' about half way around the park. Not a surprise I was particularly thrilled about - I am nervy at the best of times!!!
Oh my goodness...before I move on, those villa's - how lovely are they?? They were due to be opened in a couple of weeks according to our guide and hubby and I both agreed that we would definitely be doing a couple of nights stay at the villa's on an up and coming trip to Bali. It would be fantastic to wake up amongst the wild! It is my 40th this year in August and I am currently trying to convince hubby that Bali would be the best place to spend such a significant birthday!
We offloaded from the bus and meandered our way to have a photo with the baby lion. Honestly what a cutie. We were so lucky to be the only ones there at that stage. I was the first to hold this bundle of cuteness and oh my goodness he/she was sooo warm to hold. Now I am a cat lover and so for me this was the thrill of a lifetime. How often can someone say they held a baby lion? With much reluctance I handed the bundle over to hubby for his photo opportunity. We have the best photo of the lion with hubby, about to lick his mouth...hmmm the bubba liked the taste of hubby and consequently subjected him to little nips on the chin and his nipple to the total mortification of my husband but to the gales of laughter from Wayan, myself and the attendants. So funny. Hubby quickly relinquished his hold to Wayan and I snapped Wayan and cuteness itself both doing a lions yawn! Fantastic photo! It was with a drag in my heal that I left the baby lion, but another group had arrived and so it was only fair to share the pleasure. We passed the orang-utan surrounded by people, and decided against waiting to have a photo with it and instead headed for the white tiger complex. Well another photo opportunity was to be had here with the baby white tiger...baby??.. did someone say baby???..anyway with the baby white tiger chained on the slab of concrete having a snooze after its feed and waiting for us to have a photo with it. This 'baby' tiger is about 10 months old I think they said...well it was a fair size - got the photos to prove. Anyway we had to pay for photos with this tiger as we had already used our free photo opportunity with the baby lion. So no worries - money was handed over for the 3 of us and shots a plenty were taken with the white tiger. Absolutely stunning and all this and he/she didn't even blink!
We got some fantastic shots of mummy and daddy white tiger! How enormous they were - we zoomed in real close through the mesh so we could get every detail - awesome photos. Also got a fantastic photo of that yellow snake - cobra? I cant remember what kind of snake it was but we got a great photo. The attendant was more than happy for us to have photo with snake if we wanted, but we both declined....no thanks! A quick look at the water park and we were off in the bus and on our way to Lovina via the east coast!
So we are on the road again, all of us buzzing from our little experience at the Safari park and chattering away at 100 miles an hour. Wayan speaks possibly the best English I have ever heard from any Balinese and so he was able to keep up with our chit chat and inane humour throughout. In fact in the whole 2 days we were away - we never had the radio or dvd player on. There was no need - we were all fired up for our next experience!
We hit Candi Dasa at around lunch time and so it was decided to make this our lunch time stop. We had a quick walk around and look around and I was amazed at how quiet it was. There was literally no-one around. How sad. Anyway we hopped in the car and decided to eat at the Lotus Pond restaurant which we had passed. It sits right on the ocean front with a fantastic view. What a beautiful spot to eat lunch and again so quiet. Amazing. They gave us some complimentary chilli dips and crackers to start with. The crackers are a cross between a pappadum and a corn chip, if you know what I mean and the chilli dips were exactly that - very spicy and red! I ordered Penne Arrabiata, hubby and Wayan ordered chicken in Balinese spices a small serve only as Wayan was saving some room for what he describes as the best food in Bali, and in his words, that's why I love coming to the east coast of Bali...ok, I'm intrigued, so we shall see what he means later. Well my penne arriabiata was basically like eating a whole chilli...which is exactly what I had done...they had large pieces of chilli throughout the dish and I had scooped up the equivalent of one very hot chilli in one mouthful. I could hardly breathe and couldn't speak - the shock was so great. I had ordered a g&t with my meal and that was gone within a second, and I had moved through hubbys bintang and on to Wayans mixed juice before they could respond. By the time I got my breath back, my face red from exertion and my eyes red raw from the water that had omitted in a constant stream down my cheeks, I was not feeling normal and I was certainly not happy. The waitress tentatively approached to replenish all our drinks and enquired with Wayan as to the problem. Hubby and Wayan were by now in tears from laughing so much whereas I did the most female thing I could think of and burst into tears! This made them laugh harder. Wayan told the waitress what had happened and Hubby then came and cuddled me and told me that it would be ok etc etc. I assume that he realised he was on the very edge of having all of his marital rights removed for the rest of the holiday. The waitress asked if I would like something else to eat instead but by then I was so over it, and my throat was so raw, I decided against torturing my mouth any further. A thought popped into my mind...if I keep on this track there is NO WAY they will call me a Mama! Funny what comes into your head when you are feeling miserable.
Having said all that, I would highly rate this restaurant. The view is stunning (if you get the chance to enjoy it) and the food really is wonderful (if you stay away from the penne arabiatta). I was a little disconcerted to see an old western man with a girl that could not have been more than 16 years old. I really do think its tasteless and from looking at the girls expression on her face, she was both embarrassed and uncomfortable with the whole situation. What can you do though? Not sure.
Back on the road, with a quick pit stop to fill the esky with beers, water and soft drinks. Hubby decided to sample the coldness of the Candi Dasa bintang and I was persuaded to join him...hmmm what happened to 'I'm never drinking again'. So we are off now to Amed. We stop briefly for fuel and so Wayan can buy some pigeon eggs? Now I am not sure if they are pigeon eggs or not - to me they look like quail eggs, but anyway whatever they are, he loves them - be buys two bags of them. He offers us them to try also - no thanks, we both say (I am not that adventurous...yet)! He also bought some sticky rice and other delicacies from the guy that was selling them from his pushbike. We are off again and taking in the scenery on the way and the locals that seem to appear everywhere, even if you are in the middle of nowhere, is something I can never tire of. I love Bali. That's just how it is. We arrive into Amed and head to the shores where all the fishing boats are lined up and take some photo's. Wayan chats to an old fisherman and hubby and I do a quick walk along the shore. Amed is quiet - no doubt about it. There is nothing to do here except scuba diving, snorkelling or fishing. There is plenty of accommodation around Amed for these activities but alas we saw not one single westerner during our brief stop. We climb to the top of the hill and take an all over shot of the waters of Amed and then head back through Amed and back out onto the road that will eventually take us to Lovina.
Heading through Tulamben and it is obvious that Wayan is itching for something. He keeps slowing down as we pass the little roadside shacks and peering closely before accelerating and moving on. Eventually he finds the one he is looking for and duly pulls up. I guess these little roadside stops are called Warungs? I am not sure if that is what they are called given that they are nothing more than a table, wood oven and a slab of wood over the top as protection, and have no doors, walls etc. Anyway this was the one he was looking for. How he could tell the difference is beyond me as the ones we passed every 5-10 metres or so all looked the same. Wayan knew the difference though and this was the person he was looking for. She was an older lady, spoke no English whatsoever but had a very beautiful smile. The delicacy that Wayan was after was smoked octopus and fish covered in fish eggs and spice in Banana leaf. This lady was the chef de parte of all the roadside warungs we passed and it was clear that she was a pro at it. Across the road which looked to be nothing more than a dirt shack, her family sat cutting the octopus and skewering them. The flies were out in force and all buzzing around in the 30+ degree heat. An automatic swoosh of the hand from the old lady cleared them for a second before they resumed their positions over the octopus waiting to be cooked.
Wayan explained the process while we waited for her to smoke cook our octopus satay. The octopus caught fresh from Amed, bought for I think he said 30,000 rp per kg and is boiled and then marinated in spices. It is then chopped into bitesize pieces and threaded onto a skewer. The lady then smoke cooks them on a makeshift grill over a wood pile and with a piece of board she uses in her hand to pan the smoke backwards and forwards. Fascinating. The fish is is covered in fish eggs and marinaded in spices and wrapped tightly in banana leafs before being thrown on top of the makeshift grill over the wood fire. The first two batches of octopus ready, she hands them to Wayan and beams in hubby and my general direction and continues with her process. I need a beer! Hubby collects us drinks all around, coke for Wayan and bintang for hubby and I and Wayan tucks in. Hubby is not far behind after little encouragement and declares the octopus delicious. I am not so game. I don't like baby octopus at the best of time and even though this is something I am probably never going to get the chance to try again, I am still not game. The fear of Bali belly can be a damaging thing - it really can be a mental challenge. I wish I had tried the octopus now, just so I could say I had! The lady beckons and Wayan retrieves 2 parcels of fish and another batch of octopus sticks. The fish is baked with spices and fish eggs. They didn't tell me about the fish egg bit until after - otherwise I wouldn't have tried it. I did try the fish though given my 'clueless' state and declared it delicious. The boys finished the octopus and the rest of the fish and we sat back and watched the family across the road replenish the old lady's stocks of octopus sticks whilst people stopped on and off to claim a feed of octopus before hopping on their bikes and heading off. Time to pay the lady and resume our trip. Now as we were in a village it was local price only and so for about 20 octopus sticks and 2 fish wrapped in banana leaf we paid 25,000 - I wanted to give the lady more but Wayan advised me not to as it would 'spoil them'. So I settled for giving her 30,000.
A big smile from her and we were off on our way. Wayan and hubby were sated with full bellies and both advising that I should have tried the octopus. My vocal fear of Bali belly were quashed by both of them with no obvious signs of damage to either of them, I became remorseful. I did declare the fish a winner and Wayan grinning at my husband said 'should we tell her'? 'Tell me what?' I demanded. Hubby turned around and said honey, you ate fish eggs for the first time - how do you feel? 'What?' I am confused now. It was fish I ate I know it was because it tasted of it. 'The fish was coated in fish eggs babe,' hubby advised. 'Oh....' was all I could manage. I will not think about it, I think. Hmm time to change my thought process....my bladder feels like a balloon by now and I think its time to tell Wayan I need a toilet. He laughs when I say I need a toilet and pulls to the side of the road and points across at the shrubbery that surrounds us and says toilet. That done and we are off again.
We drive through Kubu, Tianyar, Lupak, Geretek, Tejakula before ending up at Air Sanih to visit the spring water pool. This was the longest stretch we did in the car and although our conversations never ceased, it was with relief that we alighted from the car. We paid the 2,000 rp (I think) required to enter the spring water pool and I made off for the toilet again. Well the sight of locals enjoying the pool was a heartening sight. We were the only westerners there and although we could have gone for a swim with them, it felt a bit like we were invading their space and so we just wandered around and eventually left them to it.
Back in the car and we are getting closer to Lovina - thank goodness! We head into Singaraja and listen to the history of it as explained by Wayan. It is an enormous city and it has a very obvious Dutch influence. You can still see the influence the dutch had in the houses and buildings. We stopped for a quick walk around the town centre, noting an enormous amount of buildings that were boarded up due to lack of occupancy and then headed back to the car and on the homeward stretch to Lovina. It was getting quite late now and so any thoughts of having a swim in daylight were fast becoming out of reach. We hit Lovina and Wayan asked where did we want to stay. I said I didn't mind as long as it wasn't too budget. We drive past the Melka and Wayan said what about here - they have dolphins you can swim with...I duly advised Wayan that I didn't think the attraction of swimming with dolphins in an unnatural environment like a pool was something I would like to experience. He agreed with me but with a curious about turn we headed back to check out the Melka accommodation so I had something to compare it with. Well I wasn't impressed. It appeared so dark and gloomy in the foyer. We were shown a room, which was obviously not prepared for a guest and which smelt musty and just felt horrible. Now I know there is no reason to make up rooms if you haven't got bookings, but some effort could have been made here. How are you supposed to sell a room to a blow in without a little bit of effort! The spiel that was programmed into the lady about the dolphins etc was also a little bit forced and so without so much as a backwards glance we were out of there.
Wayan then took us to a lovely beachfront hotel called the Aditya Beach Resort. What a refreshing change from the Melka. It had a very warm feeling to it. I negotiated a price for 2 rooms with the receptionist and after a quick browse of a Standard Room, Garden view room and Ocean front room it was decided that we would stay in the garden view rooms with a request that they both be next to each other. Payment was made and we all walked away happier and all for 800,000 with breakfast included. The rooms had international tv channels and a mini bar. The bathroom was on the basic side given that it had a bath and a hand held shower (with nowhere to hang it!) and a basin. It was clean though and we were happy. We changed into our bathers and even though it is dusk we headed to the pool...STOP!...where's Wayan?? We knock on his door to hurry him up and he tells us he didn't bring his bathers! 'No problem, I say, here is 50,000 go buy some'. Off he goes with hubby and they are back in a flash with some basic shorts for Wayan and some change for me. I am already in the pool and so after about half hour of frolicking and drinking bintang, we finish our swim as its dark now and head to the rooms for showers and out for dinner. I sit on our porch waiting for hubby and I notice a couple coming out of their ocean front room with a dog. Strange I thought that you could bring a dog to a hotel, but then again it is Bali. I couldn't really see the couple as it was so dark except that he appeared to be an elderly westerner and she appeared to be Balinese. I smiled in their general direction and left them to it.
We head out of our hotel and drive for a short distance, turn left down a lane and we are greeted with the eatery strip of Lovina along the beach. We find a suitable restaurant and sit down to enjoy our dinner. By now it is about 8 hours since I had eaten, so I am getting a little cranky and ready to chow down on anything. Drinks are ordered and so is the food - Wayan gets Balinese mixed seafood in spice, hubby gets fish in spice and I get pizza....its what I wanted given my penne experience hadn't quite left me. We all chow down when it arrives and there is no noise at our table except for the little guttural noises of pleasure we are all making. Wayan finishes my pizza after he finishes his seafood and we sit back and watch the rain that has started. It is the first time it has rained in Bali since we have been here - so it was a nice cool change. Not for long though...
Back to the hotel and after another bintang on our porch we say goodnight and head into our respective rooms. A quick gander at a movie and its lights out and our busy day ends with some restful snores after hubby claimed his marital rights that were supposed to be withdrawn due to penne incident.
More to come.... Sorry its so long.