Bali, an island of people's dreams. A place where hoards of visitors come to tan, surf and get some zen on.
I've toyed with writing blogs (and actually had one, once, when I loved in London, alas, work, life and moving got in the way and I stopped).
But here I am once more, writing my thoughts and sharing my images in a blog setting - mean I don't give them all to social platforms and rather on my own website.
Travel blogs as we all know are plentiful, the internet is full to the brim with them - this isn't intended to be one of those, but maybe some info here will help others travelling to Bali. It's not comprehensive, I don't have the top 10 beach bars to share, but a little sample of what we go up to that could be useful.
I visited Bali in 2016 and joined the masses in Seminyak, Canggu and Ubud. This time I wanted to get as far from the hustle and bustle so asked a friend who lives in Indonesia where is good and that place was Amed.
Arriving late into Denpasar, we stayed close 'ish' to the airport. I booked a driver through Booking.com when I booked the accommodation, Le Joya Biu Biu Resort.
Most nations can get a VOA (B1 - visa on arrival) before you arrive otherwise you'll wait in line or panic apply with everyone else trying to connect to wifi. The cost was 500k IDR - approx $50NZD per person.
Next stop is customs, you can scan a QR code to fill in your declaration (airport wifi is avail).
It was about a 40 min drive and cost us 120k IDR - approx $10 NZD, the car was air conditioned, a welcome relief to the wet season humidity.
Top transport tip: get the whatsapp number of a driver, they will happily take you virtually anywhere on the island.
The resort was just what we needed - beautiful, clean, clifftop resort with the traditional Balinese interiors and vide - for what it is $180 NZD per night we thought that was pretty cheap for a bit of luxury.
We treated ourselves to a massage which took place in a cliffside hut, with the ocean crashing just below us, it really was a treat, but once again, $500k IDR each - $50NZD - a steal for the serenity it provided.
The north was calling so we messaged the driver who picked us up from Denpasar (Komang Edy) and agreed a price to get us to Bondalem, in hindsight we could have bargained a little but it's not the easiest thing to do especially when it's pretty cheap as it is. We paid 1million IDR - approx $100NZD.
The drive was beautiful one you clear the expanse of Bali, we drove through villages high in the Batur mountain, past the lake and slowly wound down the ridgeline to the tiny village of Bondalem. There is not much there so we took advantage of having no distractions to totally recharge. Other than a trip to Yeh Mampeh Waterfall, we slept, read, wrote and relaxed.
The place we stayed was Selina Villas. Owned by a couple, Matt, the Australian and his Balinese wife Putu and their two kids. It was an oasis with little others around, just ocean sounds and the occasional dog barking and rooster crowing.
Off to Amed, we had Matt organise a driver for us this time. We paid $400k IDR - $40 NZD for an hour and a half journey.
We loved Amed!!! Its not touristy at all, the "center" is literally one road and you might see a few foreigners faces.
Amed stretches multiple bays/beaches and the snorkeling is pretty good. Saw quite a number of turtles and a ship wreck there. For us it was just really chilled! We stayed at a couple of places further east of the "main part" of Amed, at Baliku Dive Resort (the rooms are massive and a huge outdoor area with gorgeous views and friendly staff).
We moved to Arungan Villas which was also really lovely, much smaller with a nice wee pool and good views (apart from some powerlines), plus is a short walk to the best warung! We ate there 3 times and that would have been more if we found it earlier, its called Ibus Seaview Warung and just below it is a little bit of a secret beach (Ibus Beach) that hardly anyone goes to with a nice reef to snorkel, the path is right next to the warung.
For a western food hit we got burgers from Small Time Cooks in the center, can definitely recommend!
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