April 2016

For the last ten days, Travelinds has been living the high life with our folks (higher than normal, anyway) and staying in a charming Balinese villa in Gianyar. The colourful buzz of life in Bali is a great cultural experience and we have loved the time exploring this part of the world together.

Thriller Villas

Situated beside the eastern black sand beaches, our villa complex stands in stark contrast to the rice paddies and fisherman huts around it. The imposing Mount Agung is visible on a clear day, soaring above the clouds to the east; and the stars shine brightly our here during the warm (rather hot!) nights.

In Bali, luxury villas are now all the rage for travellers seeking comfort and privacy.  These cosy, stylish holiday homes abound, especially in the busier tourist areas.

Usually situated within a complex of similar units, the villas have high walls, private pools, beautifully finished interiors and crisp white linen.

A villa stay also usually includes a cooked breakfast (brought to you at your requested time and place) by the friendly staff in the mornings.  As an honoured guest one is treated to the famous Balinese hospitality with utmost respect.  The beautiful home seemed to clean itself everyday, in a silence and serenity, as we lounged in the pool.

It’s a pricey way to travel, but it sure was luxurious.  If you are looking for a quiet and isolated vacation to unwind, we stayed at Villa Kori Maharani.

Tours and Taxis

Since we chose a location as far out of the madness of the main tourist area as possible, we needed to take a taxi to get anywhere (other than the beach).  There were three taxi days and one tour day during the week, enough to keep us busy and wanting more.

Day 1: Taxi to Amed (Snorkelling and Beach)

After reading up on a few places where we could snorkel right off the beach, we hired a taxi for the day (at 400,000 IRP) to Amed.  A minimum two-and-a-half hour drive from Gianyar, there are three main beaches at Amed to swim and snorkel, but we only had time to try one of them as the drive had taken longer than anticipated.  The scenic drive winds through juxtaposed greens, blues and black as the jungles and rice paddies rise between sparkling ocean and volcanic rock faces.

Jemeluk was all we’d hoped for, enough to keep us there for two hours, and the coral was colourful, too.  After a scrumptious (and cheap) lunch at Warung Made, the drive home took us back through the hills.  A bustling crowd delayed the trip with cows, motorbikes, cars and people as we passed at least two festivals along the way – the men in their turbans and traditional linens, the woman in lacey outfits with colourful skirts and jewelry.

TIP: Look out for the East Bali Cashews and buy some to support this great local initiative.

Day 2: Taxi to Ubud, Mount Batur and Tegalalang (Countryside)

Another day we wanted to follow a tourist route without being packed like sheep in a bus or van, so we hired a day taxi again and set our own route.
First on the list was Mount Batur, the impressive (active) volcano that boasts a beautiful crater lake on one side and black lava slides down the other.

The viewpoint for this volcano gives a wonderful panorama of contrasts and the cloud cover lifted enough for us to capture a few shots for the memory bank.

From the volcano, we headed down to Ubud through Tegalalang, famous for its tiered rice paddies and quaint cafe lunch spots.

Also in the area is the popular Luwak coffee plantations (literally civet dung coffee – yes, dung!) that produces some of the most expensive (and sought-after) coffee in the world.  Somehow, it didn’t appeal to us once we had read up on its origins.
Ubud is full of arts and crafts, cafes, temples, shrines, curio stores, yoga and tourists.  A picturesque little village making full use of its appeal and setting, it is a perfect place to gain insight into the cultural and spiritual side of the Balinese people.

Day 3: Snorkel Tour to Nusa Penida

The only official tour we took was to Nusa Penida.  All4Diving did a fantastic job keeping us safe and happy, and of course, providing the highlight of our trip as promised – we snorkelled with Manta rays! Amazing! The Nusa Penida tour to Crystal Bay and Manta Point was a truly wonderful experience.

Crystal Bay was beautiful in both coral and creatures with amazing visibility.  Manta Point is a cleaning station (where the Mantas come to the surface for fish cleaning) and as snorkellers this was a once-in-a-lifetime sighting.

Swimming just above the 4 to 6 metre wide mantas, watching them glide majestically within touching distance, looking into their wide open mouths all the way down their empty bodies (like whale sharks) as they feed – all of it was unforgettable!

Bucket list item – check.

Day 4: Taxi to Blue Lagoon (Snorkelling)

The last outing was to Blue Lagoon Beach, the well-hidden eastern neighbour to a bustling Padang Bai beach (Bali’s main ferry port).

A fantastic little cove, protected on both sides by forest and cliff, the vibrant coral reef in the small bay was full of life.

Turtles, eels, puffers, large schools of reef fish and trumpet fish are only some of the residents here.  Before ten o’clock we had the beach to ourselves and there are two restaurants side-by-side with a range of Indonesian food, desserts and drinks.

It’s possible to walk from Padang Bai to Blue Lagoon – head east along Padang Bai beach road up a steep hill that winds between a few houses and down the other side.  At the parking lot head down a flight of steps on to Blue Lagoon beach (don’t forget to take a photograph on the way down to capture the sparkling aquamarine bay through the tops of the palm trees).

Taxi and Airport Transfer

During the week we used Waylan’s Taxi (private) and were impressed with his professional service, clean van and informative, friendly tour guide skills.  Give him a call on (+62)85737010230

The airport transfer from Gianyar was around 250,000 IRP (before bargaining it down a bit).