The Bukit peninsula

This peninsula is a knobbly bit to the south of the island with a narrow entry point. The places that I have read about that I wanted to see here are called Nusu Dua beach and Uluvatu temple at Uluwatu; trouble is they are at opposite ends of the peninsula. To make matter worse, I didn’t start off until late and I didn’t manage to talk Claire into coming as you have to go too close to Kuta for her liking.

I had an easy run not going wrong at all and was surprised to see how lovely the grounds are; very well kept but it costs 1000 Rupias to get in. Don’t worry; it’s less than 70p in real money, and well worth it with unbelievable views. I took dozens of pictures but not room for more than a few here. If you park and walk towards the beach there seems to be a small island connected to the mainland by a thin strip of land like a bridge. You can walk all around this island with wonderful views of beaches, cliffs, the sea etc. One of these fisherman looks like he’s just caught something.

Once I had walked around looking at the views I headed back to the bike to continue onto my next destination, the temple. It’s a nice journey to ride a bike to get to the temple as there are few cars and bikes and lovely windy, hilly roads lined with colourful trees and shrubs that seem to be in blossom. Difficult to take pictures of them as you are riding along. Finally got there and paid my 1000 Rupias to get in and park. I found the temple area but had to pay a further 3000 Rupias to get in there. I said, “I only want to take a few photos” but they wanted my cash. To add insult to injury, they made me wear this purple skirt with a yellow sash whilst in there to show some respect. Good job Claire didn’t come else she would have taken photos of me. Also they said, “Watch out for the monkeys, as they will steal your glasses or anything loose that you have.

The monkeys were everywhere, troops of them and they weren’t frightened of you either. I had visions of one swinging from a tree and snatching my glasses from my face so held onto them most of the time. Again there were spectacular views everywhere around with all the cliffs on 3 sides but not room for many of them here. Don’t worry, I will show you the others when we get home. It was getting really hot now, especially with all the concrete and stone everywhere which soaks up the sun like giant radiators. There were steps everywhere that you have to walk up then down as they all seem to be dead ends. That dammed skirt didn’t help, making me hotter by the minute and also having to hang onto everything so the monkeys didn’t steal them. As the skirt was silk it kept sliding down so I was also trying to hang onto that. Thank goodness Claire’s not here; she would have had a field day.

Finally made it back, spectacles and all and my bike and helmet were still there. I have done quite a lot of riding these last two days and my bum is so sore. I take a small towel to sit on but its very thin and then you have to carry it around so the monkeys don’t steal it. On my way back I spotted this huge statue and entrance but have no idea what it is, and it’s stuck right in the middle of nowhere. Anyway worth a photo. I had been getting worried as my petrol was very low and no stations on these small roads and villages. Anyway just made it before it ran out and I was soon home. Claire was waiting for me as she was hungry by now and it was about 2pm. I had forgotten to take the breakfast voucher when we ate at the Parrot yesterday so we used it this morning with the other one we got at night so it was free breakfasts all around. Anyway Claire wanted to find a place on the bike to eat so off we went and I got this picture of her with her helmet on in reception; my poor bum. We drove to the south end of Sutar and tried another Irish place called the Rat and Parrot. Claire has seared tuna in a prawn sauce while I tried the Indonesian chicken and vegetable curry which was another good choice and also cheap.

We headed back to our hotel satisfied and noticed that nobody was in the private balcony bit by the middle pool so we got our towels and claimed that while having a relaxing read. They even have an elevated whirlpool at the side of the pool but I didn’t try it as I was too engrossed in my new Dan Brown book; I can hardly put it down. Claire did try it but I missed her and didn’t get a photo in time. We have decided to stay in tonight and have a quiet one reading outside on our balcony. Unless of course I finish it early.

The big bike ride to “Out of the unknown”

As we had agreed, Claire was to sunbathe all day today whilst I tried to find my way up the east coast to see what I could find. I set off about 10am after we had used the wi-fi whilst having breakfast at our new favourite place the Wicked Parrot. The road is busy and few signs around and it doesn’t help that I don’t know any of the places they are referring to when there is one. Anyway, I managed to find the coast road and I was away. I stopped at a sign just to get my bearings when a local pulled up beside me to ask if I was ok. I said yes, I know what I’m doing now and he asked me where I was from. When I said England, he said that his headmaster was from England and he invited me back to his school to meet him. When I asked where his school was he said Denpasar. “I’m on holiday”, I said, “we are leaving soon, but nice to meet you”. I stopped off at two beaches on the way to have a look and both had very black sand that looked volcanic and glistened like little diamonds; I don’t think you can see it in the photos.

I had decided to either go to Semarapura and drive towards Sideman like it said in the guide book, or drive to the port at the end called Padangbai but as I missed the sign to Semarapura I carried onto the port. When I got there, there was a big no entry sign on the main road ahead and the only other way was to go into the port where they charge you for your ticket. I sat there for a minute and saw another bike go up the little track to the right so followed it. It was narrow, windy and steep with plenty of pot holes and gravel. It soon got smaller and more rural with nobody or nothing around. I had a few decisions to make with the turns but felt that I could get back. Another decision ahead where the road split into two but the right hand route had a sign that I couldn’t understand so I went that way. That came to a dead end with a barrier and no entry and it looked quite official so I turned back and took the other route. That also came to a dead end but, at last I could see the sea through the trees. Again I turned back and thought that I would head back down the way I had come again but to my surprise, that too came to a dead end with a house at the end; it looked like a small holding. I thought I was going mad how did I get there with all three roads coming to a dead end?

I must have made a mistake so decided to try each of them again systematically and making sure that none of them had any turning from them. Once I had been down all three routes 3 times each I got scared; it was like something from “Out of the unknown”. My petrol was really low by now and I was getting worried so I decided to drive the house route and ask there. I headed down the road with the house and when I got there, the road went around the side of it which wasn’t in view a little further back; phew!

I managed to get back down to the port and again spotted a bike going down a little lane by the side of the port entrance so followed it and managed to get some pictures of the sea and ferry at last. Time to head back getting petrol on the way just in time to meet Claire at 1pm to have lunch in the wicked Parrot. Claire had the rib eye steak while I tried another local dish called Ayam Bumbu rujak which is chicken in a sweet and spicy lemongrass and tamarind sauce with rice. Yummy, finally I made the better choice.

In the evening we, once again popped into the Wicked Parrot to watch the delights of some local musicians playing Irish music; this time by request. Claire ordered the dish that I had at lunch time while I requested “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues. I have never heard of anything like it, although they played the right notes (ish) I don’t think they had heard it before. I’m so glad we came down, we had a great laugh. They made a much better job of Claire’s request for “Dirty Old Town”, also by the Pogues and had everyone joining in. We were the closest thing to Irish in the place.

Sitting a couple of tables away was a guy that was the splitting image of “Donk” from Crocodile Dundee, but I hadn’t the nerve to get a photo of him, for obvious reasons. I’m hoping to persuade Claire to come with me tomorrow as I wanted to drive south around that knobbly peninsula.

Nightmare in Kuta and Denpasar

Having decided yesterday that I would have a drive up the east coast northwards today, Claire thought she might like to see what we were missing in Bali’s main resort of Kuta. We started off with a JJ special breakfast before setting off but again there are very few signs and lots of decisions to make so it’s only a matter of time before you go wrong. I thought it would take about 15 minutes to get there but it took us an hour in crazy traffic and it seemed town all the way there, no country side. When we got there it was even worse than I expected, wall to wall stalls and hawkers and a ridiculous one way system that has the cars crawling along bumper to bumper while the bikes swarm around them. We parked when we got to the beach and discovered why Kuta was the first tourist attraction; the spectacular beaches, but why were they so empty? Because everybody is on the roads.

We had a quick refreshing drink in a little Italian place where we decided that we would go no further and head back home instead. If we had gone further up the west coast we would only have had to go back through Kuta again on the way back. Again the lack of signs made choosing the right direction difficult and the only place I wanted to avoid was Bali’s capital Denpasar. How did it happen? I’m sure Claire thinks I got there by purpose. I imagine it would be easier driving around Deli on a motorbike than Denpasar; the only saving grace was that it is better signposted. However, if you have to turn right, you are in trouble getting across the queues of traffic blocking the whole road with bikes filling the gaps. They drive on the left over here like at home but I am glad we didn’t house swap with someone from here as my car wouldn’t have lasted long. When they get to a roundabout they usually go right around it, leaving the left rout for turning left and straight on. It doesn’t work, think about it. If you have a 4 way junction and everyone goes left and right around it from each one, it doesn’t work. Imagine the chaos they would cause in Milton Keynes.

Somehow we found our way back to Sanur but only by turning the way I thought and then stopping to ask the way after each decision without a signpost. Claire has decided she doesn’t want to go on the bike anymore. We found a little Thai restaurant on the outskirts of town by the Hyatt that we thought we would give a go. It is called Ulu and it is new and has only been open 2 days. We had our old favourite Thai Green chicken curry with extra spice. It came out in an empty coconut which was a nice twist; good job I stopped off at the ATM this morning. No, it was only about £10 for the 2 of us with drinks and well worth a try; Claire said it was the best meal she had eaten since she got here.

Although I didn’t sunbathe at all yesterday, my forehead and neck are sore today. Claire was out by the pool for ages yesterday and is back there again today and she’s ok; how does that work. I suppose that she has hair to protect her. Well it looks like today’s plan will come into action tomorrow now, I will try and find the coast road north along the east coast first thing in the morning while Claire tries to put her towels down before the Germans get there.

In the evening we tried the Triana to start with as they had live music on. The Triana is a Spanish bar where they serve tapas and other Bali style Spanish food. Although the band was supposed to be playing Spanish music, all we heard was the usual Bob Marley and the Beatles; they didn’t look too Spanish either. That was fine but we had been dying to try the Wicked Parrot as it had been recommended to us and it is right next to our hotel. We have a security station to get in and out of our hotel where they raise and lower a barrier and check cars with one of those things that they put under the car. Trouble is, the entrance to the Wicked Parrot is before the security so it’s easy to avoid it. They were supposed to be playing Irish music, but again they neither looked nor sounded Irish but they were good and we enjoyed it. Claire decided to try the fish pie so I had the avocado prawn salad just to be sociable. The best food in Bali so far and we noticed that they had wi-fi there and breakfast started at 7.30am a full hour ahead of all the others. They also gave us a free breakfast voucher; no prizes for guessing where we will be eating breakfast tomorrow.

Bali, Bugs and Bike’s

Not a great start to the day as we found a huge bug just outside our door but Claire is getting used to those now after watching “I’m a celebrity get me out of here”. We tried the hotel breakfast which was a little pricey but lovely, juice, fresh fruit, coffee, tea and bakery for the continental or add a fry up for the full. We settled for the continental and I had a lovely plate full of fruit while Claire swallowed her head ache pills. The funny speckled fruit is called a dragon jack fruit which I have never seen before but I know that Jack fruit is the biggest in the world.
We had a quick walk around the hotel galleria before heading into town to pick a bike up. We had originally decided to wait a couple of days before getting a bike but the hawkers are so bad and it’s easy to keep out of their way on a bike. I managed to find one for 50,000 Rupias (about £3.35) a day for 4 days. That’s not bad and was the cheapest I could find. While I was getting it we had a funeral procession come past the shop. Back to the hotel to drop off our bike and helmets before taking a walk North along the beach before it got too hot. The sand was very sharp as it had lots of corral in it which had broken down to sharp sand so we decided to walk along the promenade.

The trees are just like parasols with their branches spreading out and a thick layer of leaves covering the top. I suppose that the leaves maximise the sunshine whilst giving some protection from the heat to its branches and shades the roots so it doesn’t loose so much of its precious water. I have never known the sun so high and when I looked down at my shadow, I couldn’t see it; I had to have a look at Claire’s to see that her shadow was between her legs. We walked all the way to the end of the prom where some locals were having fun in the water before the long walk back in the mid day sun (mad dogs). There are quite a lot of hawkers along this route too and we had to promises to go back for several massages, boat trips and to look at peoples shop another day. I hope they are not too disappointed. We saw some fishermen up to their waist in water and all along the waves seem to be breaking further out which could be a reef maybe?

We set off on the bike but Claire was very frightened with the heavy traffic and we soon abandoned our venture for this day. Tomorrow Claire can sunbathe while I head out to find my way around first before collecting Claire. There seem to be very few signs and lots of junctions and road decisions; nothing like the map I have in the small tourist book. It looks like there is a coastal road all around the island which I thought would be easy to negotiate wrongly. We managed to find our way back and stopped for lunch at the extreme south end of the town where we tried two local dishes. That’s how lost we got; we headed off to the north of town and found our way back from the south. Claire had a chicken dish that was cooked in a sweet soy sauce with vegetables and white rice while I tried the Balinese favourite Nasi Goreng which is fried rice with meat vegetables and prawns all served up with a fried egg and a big fishy crisp on top. It looked alright, but wished I had the chicken. Balinese food seems to be a mixture of South Indian, Malaysian and Chinese which comes together with sweetness to it and I’m not sure yet if it works.

In the evening we started the night out across the road at JJ’s and thought we would have a walk along the prom and have a drink with a sea view. Having walked to the south and back to the north there was very little that took our fancy so we came back to the main road and had our last drink in Kafe Aladin where we spoke to big John, the owner from Perth at the bar.