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Published: December 20th 2007
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On the 25th we traveled various back roads to Amed, on the N.E. coast of Bali. One town we drove through is famed for carved wood products and we laughed at a sign proudly declaring "Antiques made to order". Amed is an area described as "rustic Bali from 30 years ago" and we were really looking forward to snorkeling, as well as hiking in the foothills of Gunung Batur. On the way we visited Boseki - the Mother of all Temples, located on the upper slopes of the extinct volcano, Mt. Batur. After a long uphill hike, made all the longer by various touts attempting to sell us service or products to no avail, we reached the temple but a ceremony precluded our entering the main grounds. We are feeling "templed out" and find the temple oriented culture here in Bali inaccessible in large part; this temple left us feeling quite let down as well.
A further 2 and a half hours driving brought us to our "resort" called Vienna Beach located at the extreme end of an obscure bay 4 kilometers east of the of the fishing village known as Amed. I had pre-booked this place on the strength
of strong reviews on-line, the stellar price of $37 Cdn. night for beach front room with a/c, breakfast and dinner for two and hot and cold water in the shower, not to mention the supposedly wonderful reef directly off-shore superb for snorkeling. Well, we viewed a couple of rooms in the place and settled for one with stained and peeling wallpaper, grotty bathroom where shower head was 12 feet away from the drain located directly beside the toilet. During our tour, Made (the manager) took pains to point out to me the "hot and cold" taps for the shower. What convinced us to take the room though was a lovely stone balcony hanging directly over the ocean with wide open vistas. The first night we sat out on the balcony and watched the moon rise, the sea and stars and debated whether or not to find another place the next day.
The next morning the snorkeling proved acceptable off Vienna Beach, yet the shower proved to be a farce. The hot and cold taps did nothing as the shower ran directly from the sea. Bathing in sea water is not a great way to start the day. Additionally, we
needed fresh water to clean off our snorkeling gear/bathing suits as salt water is corrosive and stinky. Helen began feeling sick as well and ended up with flu symptoms accompanied by a very sore throat. Time to move on despite booking for 5 nights. We hiked the 4 kilometers into and then again out of Amed in the 38+ celsius temperatures with out any hint of a cooling breeze and no trees to provide shade. This coast is dry and dessicated and we were informed that the rainy season was already two months delayed and likely would not take place this year. The farmers and farm animals are visibly suffering and with a dearth of tourism the whole area appeared economically deprived.
Happily we located a lovely place called Villa Santai where we had a great ocean view bungalow built in Sulawesan style with high pitched roof on the front and rear, loft and open sky shower for less than $20 more than we were paying at Vienna Beach. High vacancy rates result in low room rates. We arranged to move the next day and while returning to our increasingly grotty digs for a final night, stopped off at
Amed
Great balcony; room not so pleasant but nice people working there. a Swiss run Ayurvedic spa located in a stark seemingly God forsaken dry and dusty hillside where Helen bought traditional remedies for her throat and fever. The Swiss woman running the "spa" has lived here 20 years and did not seem to like dealing with customers which is an odd attitude for a business owner.
Our star gazing during our last night on our stone balcony at Vienna Beach proved superb. We watched the moon rise and then sat with our binoculars oohing and ahhing at the gorgeous star filled sky. Many of the stars pulsated and we kept seeing green and red lights blinking around some of the stars. This was not rum-induced as Helen was off alcohol due to her throat and the Ayurvedic advice received earlier that day. Perhaps some scientific types out there could explain what we were seeing. From our perspective we decided that we were viewing Celestial Christmas Lights as "Tis the Season of Christmas".
Early the next day we moved to our posh ocean bungalow much to the disappointment of the Vienna Beach crew, especially the massage lady who kept accosting me in odd locations (came out from under the stairs
to our room, slipped out from behind a statue as I was going down to rocky shore for snorkel, etc.) and kept insisting that she come to my room and massage me. With Helen's help I resisted the massage offers.
At Villa Santi we snorkeled twice our first day and encountered myriad coloured fish, eels and some sea snakes; however, the changing offshore current brought in swarms of small and medium sized jelly fish. Individually the jelly fish are not too bad but increasing numbers of them blocked us when swimming and the stings proved quite bothersome. Helen in particular reacted badly with welts and informed me that some of the jellyfish encounters resulted in painful stings as bad as horsefly bites or bee stings. The next 2 days I tried to snorkel each morning, but increasing numbers of the jellyfish and repeated stings across my forehead while snorkeling led to my retirement to the lovely pool shaded by frangipani and three large palm trees. Accompanied by books and regular infusions of fresh tropical fruit juices life was pretty nice for the next couple of days. Helen still unwell so welcomed the chance to sleep in our clean fresh
smelling bungalow or doze by the beautiful pool. The restaurant serves very good food, especially the yellow fin tuna cooked in banana leaves.
Finally on Thursday the current changed and most of the jellyfish swept out to sea. We enjoyed the snorkeling and the work out provided by swimming in the current. I did not have swim fins with me so used a lot of effort doing Aussie crawl against current during my lengthy swims which felt good after two lazier days. This is a lovely place but Amed itself is very quiet and one of the locals told me that people come there to snorkel, go on one or two hikes and rest of time "relax". It was time to move on and with Helen's throat beginning to feel better (judging by the increasing volume of chatter) we really are looking forward to our 10:15 p.m. flight to Singapore on the 30th.
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