Blogs from Lovina, Bali, Indonesia, Asia
April 27th 2012
Canyoning day was amazing. It sort of goes against my climbing instinct to go down rather than up but it was verty enjoyable. I'm now qualified to do adventurous canyoning. Have my part 1. We jumped, slid, floated, plunged, dived...you name. it. Flying fox was my favourite. 25m jump aswell down a waterfall! I got swept under the current and swallowed a lot of water. This crazy French guy, Mika, lead us. Ah the crazy French. He know's the singer if anyone's made the link. Also a camera crtew for Indonesian SCTV was there/ A famous newsreprted / journalist named Louisa was presenting. She interviewed me. I'm going to be on the Indonesian news! National news from Jakarta!!! x... read more
March 24th 2012
While this is primarily a trip about relaxing, we are rarely a couple to sit around and do nothing for too long and after a week or so we tend to find relaxing, not so relaxing. Not being our first trip to Bali, we've already seen many of the typical highlights - Tanah Lot, Uluwatu, Mt Batur, The Monkey Forest, The Elephant Cave, markets, markets and more markets, temples, temples and more temples. We've never ventured much further north than Mt Batur though, so setting off with Katuk, our driver, we decided to explore the area around Lovina. This coastal strip stretches about 10kms westward from the city of Singaraja. Singaraja, known as the Lion City, was once the main port in Bali, during the Dutch occupation prior to WWII. Port traffic has since moved south ... read more
January 25th 2012
I contemplate the scene ahead. The stormy sea intent on intimidating me with its towering walls of brine which gratuitously display their raw and savage anger. Arching waves lunge desperately trying to grasp me, yet despite their immense power, they fail to reach. Its blustery companion, the wind, blows like a tempestuous maiden carrying on her breath the umm.... heady scent of brassicas and other organic matter entering its final stages of decomposition. My gaze averted, I look down to behold the .......err....ahh.....bloated, putrefied remains of a once beloved pet being limply tossed back and forth by the reciprocating surf, my leg subsequently being gently embraced and caressed by a week old sanitary towel carried on the incoming tide........no, no more, I can't be dealing with this pretentious b s and overly contrived clap trap. As ... read more
December 3rd 2011
During our time in Bali, we managed to see quite a bit, which made for a lengthy blog. So, I've decided to separate it into 4 sections: Southern Bali, Central Bali, Northern Bali, and Diving in Bali. At the end of each I'll include my do's and don'ts. This is Part 3, North Bali. Enjoy! We spent our time in Northern Bali in Lovina, a beachside city with black sand and a much more relaxing atmosphere than beaches in southern Bali. Ask the driver to take you to central Lovina, where you’ll find plenty of hotels to choose from. The waterfront is reminiscent of the waterfront in Seminyak, but much less developed and even less overrun with tourists. I highly suggest saving northern Bali for the end of your trip so you can come here to ... read more
October 13th 2011
Not much to update today. We drove from Amed to Lovina in 2.5 hours. Our guesthouse is a lovely place with only 4 rooms. Are room is very big with a king size bed, tv area, and outdoor bathroom. The swimming pool is nice with lounge chairs all around. We watched a couple movies today, and swam in the pool. Tris has started reading another book as well. Tomorrow we plan on renting a motorbike and checking out the surroundings! Apparently we survived a 6.0 earthquake today. We were in the car at the time it happened so between all bumping and shaking from the pot holes on the road...we didn't feel it. We bought our flight leaving the Philippines and it looks like we are heading to CHINA Dec 1! We were just reminded that ... read more
September 19th 2011
Bali… Assez evocateur comme nom… on pense tout de suite a la magie et aux mysteres hindous… en effet, nous n avons pas ete decus par notre arrivee dans ce petit monde completement different de ce qu on avait vu jusqu ici… il y a des temples balinais partout… dans chaque maison en fait, et partout, que ce soit sur les routes, dans des escaliers ou simplement par terre, on voit de petites offrandes fleuries que les balinais font quotidiennement a leurs dieux... Vraiment special comme ambiance! Le 15 septembre 2011, Cette fois, on fait presque la grasse matinee. Le reveil est programme pour 5:00, et cette fois, c est pour aller voir les dauphins sauvages et le lever du soleil en mer. On vient nous chercher directement a notre hotel. Plusieurs personnes patientent comme nous ... read more
August 27th 2011
Hi from Bali! I had a busy 5 weeks in Oz, plus not a great deal of cheap internet, hence the lack of contact. I really enjoyed my time there, but I think the east coast definitely lives up to the backpackers' stereotype of being all about beaches and goon (ridiculously cheap wine - 4 litres for $11). Starting off in Melbourne, I had 4 days to do everything and I really jammed it in: the Melbourne Museum, Australian Museum of the Moving Image (really good - I played Sonic for the first time in a good few years!), the final Harry Potter film (where were you when I needed you Hannah?!), visit to St Kilda, the Neighbours locations tour and meet a star (anyone remember Stingray?? Now starring in a panto near you...), seeing Love ... read more
August 12th 2011
Tahiti has been spoiled for many years, but Bali is one of the few cultures with origins in one of the great ancient cultures which is still alive. Arthur Erickson We left Legian, Kuta and Seminyal behind . We drove thru winding roads with Lake Bantan on one side and the mountains on the other. Lush green villages dotted with stone temples; square columns with triangular roofs outfitted in sarongs and sash announced by weaved palm leaves like giant arches. We have started our road trip with plans to see three more cities and everything the roads have to offer on the way; temples and hot springs , markets and monuments. Balinese Hinduism is very different than what I have seen before . Today we saw the god of the book in the 2nd most important ... read more
July 20th 2011
After the epic morning up Mount Bromo, the trip to Lovina, which took us across a ferry onto the island of Bali, was a needed rest for the group and I. The highlight of this commute came when Betsy spotted, in the lonely planet book, an interesting type of female cleansing supposedly offered in Lovina and agreed to be the guinea pig! Without going into too much detail, the treatment involved steaming, aromatherapy oils and was not available to men...... ;-D Needless to say we had a good laugh about it and it was part of many comedy gags over the next few days. Upon arriving in Lovina in the evening, we freshened up and went out for dinner. My first impressions of Lovina was that it was a really quiet seaside village and, after a ... read more
July 7th 2011
The bus took about an hour and a half to Lovina and I decided to stay at the first place I looked at being that it was quite good value at $5.50 a night with a basic breakfast. I decided that I would spend a bit of time here and recuperate after having quite a busy time the last week and a half in Java. Of course the first thing I did was to have a walk around town and I came to the conclusion that it hasn't changed a great deal since I was here for New Years Eve 2001. It has a nice and relaxed feel to it and it is not full of tourists. Which is probably not a great thing for all the vendors who are trying to make a living. Saturday ... read more
