Food glorious food:
We first ate at Warung Apple and we all agreed that the food was great and the price was amazingly cheap. The owners and staff are wonderful. We said would definitely return and we did.
On Valentines day we booked dinner at LE JAENZAN, WOW, the food is simply amazing, we would keep going back again and again. Ketut the owner & chef was head chef at Damai Villas Lovina before opening his restaurant. Prices are high for Lovina but definitely worth every cent.
We ate once at Tropis, the food was good but except for the wonderful staff nothing to rave about.
Warung Jegjeg, another wonderful little place to eat. The location looks hot and noisy as it's right on the main road, but it isn't. It was really quite cool and relaxing and the food was really good. We would definitely return. Another lovely little family run warung.
Spice Beach Club, we would never ever return. They are promoting an all day long dining, drinking, relaxing environment. The staff doesn't understand the concept at all. We totally threw them when they showed us to our table. After reading the brochure we had gone there mid afternoon to have a few drinks before dinner in one of their four dining areas?? and maybe a swim in one of the plunge pools??. We moved to the bar and the staff were totally confused, 'don't you want to eat' we were asked, we replied 'yes but later'. This made them uncomfortable and so we felt uncomfortable. After being constantly asked did we want to eat we finally returned to our table and ordered an early dinner. We could only see one other dining area and the plunge pools were one pool circling the main dining area. The food was really bad, one entree had to be returned as it resembled a piece of dirty dish sponge. The main courses were all overcooked. We complained but the owner was not really concerned. She did offer us a free drink, we declined as we really just wanted to leave by then.
Rubbish:
We walked the black sand beach down the laneway from the villa many times during our stay. For the first week and a half while the weather was hot and humid people were swimming, there was some rubbish but it wasn't overly bad. When the weather became stormy the rubbish was extremely bad. Each morning the gardeners from the villas along the beach would do their best to clean it up but the next morning there would be piles of it again. The day that we went to Spice Beach Club we watched as piles of rubbish were collected on the beachfront. A man dug a huge hole in the sand and we thought they were going to bury the rubbish in the hole. We were horrified to see them then bury only palm fronds and pieces of timber. The rest of the rubbish was then swept back into the sea.
Snorkelling & Sightseeing and more rubbish:
The day that we went snorkelling on Menjangan Island was a clear day. Our driver took us to the boat dock and arranged a boat for us. Three of our group went snorkelling. I stayed with the boat or sat on the Island watching . The general consensus was great snorkelling, both along the wall (lots of fish and coral) and in the sea (lots of fish not a lot of coral). Our group snorkelled happily for about two hours. The guide had a plastic bag and was collecting rubbish as he snorkelled, H grabbed a plastic bag that floated by and also started to collect rubbish. On the island I watched as local people gathered rubbish in large green bags. They are obviously trying to keep the island rubbish free.
We also visited the Banjar Hot Springs, a coffee plantation in Munduk and the Munduk & Git Git waterfalls. The gardens are beautiful at the hot springs . You need to walk a gauntlet of very desperate stall holders if you go in the quieter wet season. Also lots of children being extremely persistent that we buy postcards and bracelets. The springs themselves were extremely slippery once in the water and you had to be careful not to fall. The restaurant was good for a snack and a couple of quiet drinks.
The coffee plantation that we visited was a smaller not so commercial place and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Our guide from the plantation took us walking through the slippery grounds. He had an amazing touch when assisting you over the steep slippery ground, he would gently place his hand under your arm so that you barely felt his touch but he had total control. I with my injured leg and hand was a bit concerned at first but quickly put my trust in his safe hands. Along with coffee this plantation grows a large variety of spices and fruit. The guide explained what each was and how it grew. At the end of our walk we all tried Luwak and Bali Coffee and some Bali Tea. I really wasn't impressed with the Luwak Coffee, certainly wouldn't buy it. Overall a great experience, we all came away with a lot more knowledge than we went in with.
The waterfalls.
The walk down to Munduk Falls was quite steep. There is a good pathway but motorbikes also use it which amazed us at first. We thought it was really worth the walk though going up was a bit of an effort. There is nowhere to sit and relax at the bottom and it was a bit too dangerous to swim as there had been a lot of rain. I have been to Git Git many times and our visit there was after my fall so I sat in a little warung at the top. The rest of our group enjoyed the walk down. When they reached the falls they found that a full moon ceremony was taking place. They stood and watched enjoying this special treat immensely.
We were all sad to leave Villa Beranda Lovina. I hope to return but if I don't I will never forget my time there.
One last thing before I move on to Sanur:
I have never watched a lotus flower bloom and die before, It was so very beautiful and lasted such a short time but lives on so vividly in my memory