I mentioned earlier that I had brought heaps of clothes & bra donations(about 18kg), and Dave also took about the same amount in August and left them with Gus & Sandy at Villa Agung for me to sort out and distribute when I arrived in September. I had some lovely teenage girls clothes donated by friends, and all the girls at Villa Agung benefitted from these(they are such tiny girls), great excitement when they saw all the bras! I also had plenty of other clothes for my village friends, along with the bags of rice and other food I bought down south at Macro. One of the families I know has a little boy who is just starting school, so took them into Singaraja one day and purchased school shoes, socks and a backpack for him. More excitement!
Aussies a-plenty have been staying here at Villa Agung during my visit, and have given this great little hotel their thumbs up for the hospitality, friendliness, great food & drinks and reasonable prices. Its a very relaxing place for those who want to get away from the hustle & bustle of the Kuta/Legian areas. I would highly recommend it for those 40yrs and up who don't have any teenagers in tow. Not a lot for them to do here. There is a pool, but is only small.
I have been to see a great little guy Made(and he is little - the top of his head only reaches the top of my thigh(he is height challenged!). Made is a Therapeutic/Remedial Masseuse, and does a full body massage(Panti Pijat) working on all the pressure points in the body, from the tips of your toes and even to the end of your nose. He has been doing this form of massage for 10yrs or more, and studied for 18months in Java to complete his Massage Diploma. I had four sessions all up with Made - he sorted out the swollen feet and ankles which had plagued me for the first two weeks I was in Lovina, and also the painful shoulders and neck I have had for years. I'm sure he found every painful spot in my body, working through my pressure points! Ouch! Definately not a relaxing massage as such, as I kept jumping every time he worked on the pressure points LOL! 75000rp/hr, and great value. Recommended to me by Moira from Bali Chat.
SHOPPING IN LOVINA/SINGARAJA - plenty of the usual market stuff, but there are also some nice little shops that sell some better quality clothes. You do have to bargain quite a bit, as they start pretty high. Met a great lady, Rosalita from Holland, who showed me how to bargain really hard, as she reckons I was too soft, LOL! Divide the first price by 3 she said, then never offer them more than half the original price(I think that's what she said). If you don't like their price, just walk away saying "mahal"(expensive), and they will come back down to your price.
I also found a nice little Silver Shop(love my silver). This is in the street going down to the beach(turn right at the traffic lights if you are coming from Singaraja way), and is next to the Barclona Restaurant(I think it is supposed to be Barcelona, but probably a Bali mispelling) - good food here too by the way. I bought some nice hand made rings here, had my wedding ring stretched, my Om bangle fixed. Very reasonable prices in my book. Barclona Restaurant also has some lovely clean rooms out the back, and there is an awesome Bungalow/Villa style accomodation as well(no pool, but very close to the beach. This is on the same street as Rambuttan Cottages.
11/09/09 - Leo, the driver from Villa Agung took me to Ubud for one night to catch up with my sister Robbi(aromatours), who had just completed another successful Bali Women's Retreat at Ananda Cottages(across the road from Indus Restaurant) with 15 lovely women from Australia. When I went in 2007, I met women from all over the world. Only stayed one night(free bed, yay!) before Robbi headed back to Bali Mandira Hotel in Legian prior to heading back to Oz.
12/09/09 - Headed back to Villa Agung about 1.30pm, but went back via a different route up through Tellalagang(sp?) where all the art markets are. Didn't buy anything though, just window shopped on the way through in the car. Looks like a great place to buy all your home decorating stuff.
Went out to the North Sea Pearl Farm one day. It is out towards Permuteran, and is quite interesting to see how they seed the Oysters, and also the pearl harvesting process. The countryside is quite dry looking out that way. It does not cost anything for the tour of the facility. There is a small cafe area there, and you can also buy some of the very expensive Pearl jewellery if you have the loot. I also noticed some accomodation there for Divers.
I was going to get Leo to take me up into the mountains to a Coffee Plantation to buy 4kgs of pure Bali Coffee, but one of the locals obtained it for me. Its the no. 1 Bali Coffee from Banyualit. Love my Bali Coffee in the morning. Got it for 40,000rp/kg. Got ripped off though as the weight was way below the 4kg I ordered. LOL! Never thought to go and weigh it with Villa Agungs scales eh? Not to worry, I'll sort it out next time.
Went into Singaraja a few times, went to the markets(very hot in there) and found some nice clothes. Went to Hardy's Supermarket for large flagons of drinking water, snacks etc. I haven't done much exploring in Singaraja. I think I need to do a bit more research and see what is worth looking at there. There doesn't seem to be many tourists around. Went for luch one day at one of the restaurants situated over the water. Food was nice, and the sea breeze was lovely.
The rest of my time here was spent having a few swims in the pool, walks along the beach, meeting plenty of nice people from all over the world. It was just a totally chill out type of trip. I'm not into traipsing all over the place and doing tours. Did the hot springs, Munduk Falls, Buddhist Monastery, Coffee Plantation etc etc, last year. I'm sure there are plenty more places to visit in Lovina, and also the surrounding areas, just couldn't be bothered this year.
Headed back down to Jambu Inn at North Sanur on 30th September for one night(late checkout on the 1st). Did plenty of walking and some more shopping. Flew out at 12.30am on the 2nd Oct. Arrived back in Adelaide 1/2 hour early, arriving at 7am. Declared stuff for Quarantine, but a lady asked me what I had in my bags to declare - I said Bali Coffee, Incense, one small wooden Komodo Dragon, and I was sent straight through, didn't even have to go through the Quarantine Section, Yay! Got a taxi out to Broadview to pick up my car. Drove 3 hours back to Renmark. Too easy! Looking forward to my next trip now. Hope this hasn't been too boring for you all. Cheers Cheryl