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Published: December 20th 2023
Even ivory has its cracks… ~ Indonesian Proverb
HE SAID... Today we were travelling to the coastal town of
Sanur– by road.
Locations > Lovina is a relaxed coastal town in northern Bali.
> Bedugul is large town in Bali’s central mountains.
> Saba is a village in southern Bali.
> Sanur is bustling coastal town in southern Bali.
Transport We travelled from Lovina to Sanur (via Bedugul and Saba), by minibus.
Wide awake at 4:45am thanks to a very loud call to prayer, we prepared our packs for the final road trip of our Indonesian adventure. We were travelling from the northern coast to the southern coast of Bali, and our southward journey was taking us through the island’s central mountains. We had a long day ahead. After settling our laundry bill and relaxing briefly in our upstairs villa, we left Hotel Rambutan (and Lovina) at 8:15am.
We climbed out of the coastal township for about 45 minutes before our first stop – GitGit Waterfall. We clambered out of the minibus, crossed a busy highway and trekked a sealed trail to the waterfall. We passed a plantation of clove trees along the way. While the waterfall was interesting, I’m not sure it
warranted an hour out of our day. However, the trek in was fantastic, so the stop was worthwhile.
After retracing our steps along the sealed trail, we clambered back into the minibus and continued our ascent into Bali’s central mountains, catching a glimpse of the glistening Bali Sea every so often through gaps in the clove trees. After winding upwards for what seemed like an eternity, we finally started to descend into Bedugul, a large town on the edge of an equally large lake (Danau Bratan). We’d passed through this lakeside town a week or so earlier on our way from Pemuteran to Ubud, but this time we were stopping to visit Ulun Danu Bratan (a picturesque Hindu temple which I describe in the
highlights section below).
We left Bedugul around midday and continued our southbound journey to Sanur. Clove tree plantations dominated the landscape, and we discovered that strawberries are grown in the area. We descended from the mountains on a narrow, winding and very crowded road which eventually emerged into a large valley filled with rice fields, forests, villages and towns (all of varying sizes).
We pulled into a sprawling roadside eatery (Waroeng Billys 69
Resto) in the busy village of Saba for lunch, then continued southwards to Sanur. We arrived at Bumi Ayu Bungalows, our accommodation for one night in Sanur, in the mid-afternoon.
Accommodation …Bumi Ayu Bungalows, Sanur…
Bumi Ayu Bungalows promotes itself as a bungalow-style hotel surrounded by lush tropical gardens. This sounds great on paper. On the positive side, our room was large and comfortable, and the staff were friendly and accommodating. On the negative side, it felt like walking into a retirement village for bogan Australians. Our room opened onto the hotel’s popular communal pool, which was full of leathery-skinned Australians talking loudly about sport. Luckily, we were only here for one night.
We’d booked a private villa at The Pavilions for our last few days in Bali (as a treat for my birthday), so we decided to see how far it was from the Bumi Ayu Bungalows. Luckily it wasn’t far. It would be an easy walk with our packs the following morning, and we couldn’t wait to get there. It was hidden away from the bustle of Sanur. We just had to get through one night in this gaudy retirement village.
We found an ATM,
checked out a few potential eateries for my birthday, then walked back to Bumi Ayu Bungalows. On the way to our room, a loud Australian woman was telling everyone in the pool that Fremantle had beaten Melbourne by seven points. I had to concentrate and remind myself that I was in Bali. I wasn’t in Australia. It was difficult. A recurrent voice in my head kept saying: ‘Just one night. Just one night. Just one night.’
Cuisine …Breakfast (Hotel Rambutan, Lovina)…
After waking early and preparing for our lengthy north-to-south road trip through the mountainous heart of Bali, we walked to Hotel Rambutan’s large open-sided dining area for breakfast. I enjoyed fresh fruit, pancakes with honey, mixed fruit juice and coffee. It was a perfect start to the day.
…Lunch (Waroeng Billy’s 69 Resto, Saba)…
When we stopped at this sprawling eatery on the side of a busy highway in Saba, a lurid
Billy’s 69 Bali plaque grabbed my attention. ‘That’s a strange name for a restaurant’, I thought to myself. ‘Either Billy was born in 1969, or Billy and his mates had a few too many when they came up with it.’ I decided not to think
too much about the name. I also decided to look past the ubiquitous wood art. The place was chock-full of it, and it tended to generate a claustrophobic ambiance. When they built this restaurant, I reckon Billy said to the designer: ‘You can never have too much wood art.’ 😊
Anyway, enough about Billy. We settled at a long wooden table and ordered the following:
> chicken curry (I asked for the local hot version, and it was seriously hot and seriously tasty)
> soto ayam (this chicken soup was pretty good, but not the best we’d had to-date on this trip).
I refreshed with a small Bintang beer, while Ren opted for a hot lemon tea. We left Billy’s in the early afternoon and continued our southward journey to Sanur.
…Dinner (Retro Kitchen, Sanur)…
We made our way out of Bumi Ayu Bungalows via a long narrow laneway, walked along Jalan Danau Tamblingan (a busy street that runs parallel to Sanur Beach) and arrived at Retro Kitchen for dinner. It was only a short distance, but any distance between us and the bungalows was a good thing. We settled at a long table and ordered the
following:
> nasi goreng pork belly (crispy pork belly, pork belly satay and fried eggs served on Chinese-style fried rice with bacon, chilli, ginger and coriander)
> sate ayam (marinated Indonesian chicken satay with peanut sauce, crispy shallots, vegetables, rice and rice crackers).
I refreshed with a large Bintang beer, while Ren opted for a watermelon juice. This was a great meal, despite the crispy pork belly not being very crispy. The only downside was the rat in the staff room. We could see it scurrying around, and when we told the waitress, she looked horrified. Her solution? To shut the staff room door and continue working. I couldn’t help but wonder what the rat was getting up to in there, and whether the kitchen was accessible from the staff room…
After bidding farewell to our fellow travellers, we walked back to the bungalows in the mid-evening.
Highlights …Visiting picturesque Balinese temples…
Ulun Danu Bratan, a popular Hindu temple perched on the edge of a glorious lake (Danau Bratan), sits high in Bali’s central mountains. When we arrived in the mid-morning, the mountain air was cool and the wind off the lake was cold. This was a
first for us in Bali!
The place was crowded with Balinese families and a smattering of foreign tourists. We arrived during an important purification ceremony, so there was a lot happening. Each family made an offering and presentation at the temple, which they supported with their own musical performance. This created a very dissonant tone, as different families were playing different musical pieces – concurrently! Children were also playing traditional Balinese instruments poorly. I think the importance of religious tradition overrides the sharpness of musical talent on days like these. Family members were dressed in traditional costume, and every so often a group of women would slowly emerge from the temple, chanting softly and melodically. The swirling clamour of drums, gongs, xylophones, cymbals, voices and mantras all contributed to a very heady atmosphere.
The entrance to the temple felt like a kitsch theme park, and while this was initially disconcerting, it provided endless entertainment for the young Balinese children visiting with their families. We also discovered that a significant Muslim population lives in Bedugul, many of whom work in the tourism shops that surround the Ulun Danu Bratan temple.
Lowlights …Getting sick on holiday…
I woke in
Lovina with a gravelly throat, faint headache and touch of chestiness. Unfortunately, I was feeling a little under the weather. Ren was also feeling a bit raspy, and she had a cough. Hopefully it wouldn’t develop into anything major. We hate coughs and colds when we travel. Thankfully, it wasn’t COVID.
…Obnoxious foreign tourists…
If there is one certainty in travel, it is the actuality of objectionable tourists. They exist in varying shapes and guises, and you cannot avoid them. They just have a knack of popping up in every corner of this beautiful planet. We’d experienced our fair share on this trip, but nothing compared to the antics of Instagrammers at Ulun Danu Bratan – a picturesque lakeside temple in Bedugul.
For a start, they were inappropriately clothed for a temple. There’s no excuse, but feigned ignorance is their modus operandi. ‘Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t think this would cause offence. I wear it all the time at home.’ Bullshit you do. However, it was their selfish entitlement that took the cake. Three women in particular were pushing people out of the way to get their Instagram shots. I watched on in horror as one of them
gestured wildly at a local Balinese man posing for a photo in front of the temple. When he failed to comply with her demands, she walked over and pushed him about two metres to the left so he would not appear in the frame of her shot. She was so repulsive.
To rub salt into the wound, a small group of inconsiderate tourists were hooning around the lake in noisy speedboats during the family offerings and private ceremonies. Bloody hell! How clueless and tone-deaf can you be?
…Local hustlers…
I love using local currency (cash) when I travel. I know this is a little idiosyncratic in the modern age, but it draws me closer to a culture. I’m not sure how or why, but it does. When you swipe a card, the transaction is automatic and immediate, and you’re not required to calculate the conversion. When you use notes and coins, the transaction is a touch more intimate. I’m not really trying to justify this. I’m just trying to introduce the following story.
When I lined up to pay for lunch, everyone was paying by card (which is a quick, convenient and mostly safe option). When I
paid by cash, I was short-changed. It wasn’t an honest mistake, because when I queried the amount, the notes were snatched from my hand and replaced with the correct amount. Without explanation. Without a glance. Not even a contrite smile. She was an unapologetic hustler. We were 20 kilometres from Denpasar (the sprawling capital of Bali), and it was beginning to show.
SHE SAID... We were again woken at 5am by the call to prayer from the nearby Lovina mosque. Our time in Lovina had come to an end, and we were heading to our last stop on our Indonesian travels –
Sanur. We were facing a full day with a couple of stops on our drive south, but after that we had the luxury of a few days of rest and relaxation before our trip home. I couldn’t wait! 😊
We both realised pretty quickly when we woke that our colds and coughs had progressed to a point that was beyond trying to stop or sidetrack them; we now had to grin and bear their germy lifecycle. I oscillated between kicking myself for sharing my water bottle with someone else, and berating myself for even
considering that I shouldn’t have been kind to someone who didn’t have water on a hike (a few days ago in Sibetan).
I suppose if I’m being very honest, I’d have to confess that the underlying issue for this push-pull in my head was that the two people concerned hadn’t had the grace to say a proper ‘thanks’ for the gesture. Even Andrew, who is usually very generous in making allowances for bad behaviour, commented on it. I try to believe that a good deed is its own reward, and I also try to never have expectations of gratitude… but… it’s hard not to get slightly shitty when someone can’t take two seconds to say a genuine ‘thank you’. And to add insult to injury, I suspect we got our colds and coughs from not sterilising the bottle properly before we used it again. Ok, I’ll stop moaning now. 😊
At 7am we meandered through Rambutan Hotel’s beautiful gardens to the restaurant. I hadn’t loved my omelette the day before, and had fully intended to order the banana pancake after Andrew’s rave reviews. But at the last minute I had a change of heart and ordered the
nasi goreng (fried rice). Most of you would know that it doesn’t take much for me to suffer option anxiety with menus, and I’m not a stranger to food envy when I order the ‘wrong’ thing either. As the waiter walked off, Andrew grinned nervously at me. I think he had visions of losing half his banana pancake. 😄
I’m happy to report that despite my
nasi goreng being blandified for tourist tastes, it was very tasty. And as with the day before, the fresh fruit platter and the fresh banana and papaya juice were both delicious too! Andrew enjoyed his banana pancake with honey, safe in the knowledge that I wasn’t eyeing it off. 😄
We were a bit delayed in leaving Rambutan Hotel. Everyone seemed to be a bit low on energy. The general sense was that Lovina hadn’t been as relaxing a stop as it ought to have been. When we finally piled into our minibus and drove through the string of small coastal villages that make up Lovina, I wondered aloud if we’d ever consider Lovina as a return destination. We both agreed that we probably wouldn’t.
On our long drive from the north
coast to the south coast, our first stop was at GitGit Waterfall. On a dusty street, the minibus pulled into a carpark in front of a small supermarket. We crossed a surprisingly busy road (for a quiet small town) and commenced our walk to the waterfall on a concrete path. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised to see that many sections of the 20-minute walk were lined with tourist shops. Luckily it was still early, and most of the stalls weren’t open – so we basically had the path to ourselves, and could walk without hassle.
This area was full of clove trees. Cloves have been an important part of Indonesia’s trading history from the time of Dutch colonial rule. However, its recent history has been turbulent. It appears that the ex-president Suharto’s son had been running a monopoly on the clove industry and had dropped the buying price to rock bottom. In the ultimate form of protest, the clove farmers cut their trees down and moved to other crops! Thankfully, with shifts in power and removal of strongholds, the clove farms have slowly been built up again.
Despite the level of commerce and the sometimes-dishevelled nature of
the path to the waterfall, I really enjoyed the walk. For sections of it, we were enclosed by large clove trees, all manner of tropical jungle and beautiful flowering plants. We were still quite high on the path when we caught our first glimpse of the top of the waterfall through the tall trees. It was very pretty.
The only animal life we encountered was a handsome and lively rooster who seemed chuffed by all the attention he got from us! I like eating chicken, so I’ve never considered them as pet material; but I could clearly see how this one had an affiliation with humans.
We navigated the small inclines, steep slopes and many steps to the base of the waterfall. The main objective was to avoid the slippery mossy sections on the concrete path. It was by no means the nature hike it was advertised as, but it was nice to stretch our legs and see the waterfall.
The waterfall itself was beautiful. It fell with a roar into an area of small rock pools that were surrounded by large boulders. None of us were dressed to rock hop to get closer to the waterfall,
but given how slippery the rocks looked, it probably wouldn’t have been wise anyway. There were a few shrines of different sizes guarding the entrance to the waterfall. I’ve come to realise that no matter where you go in Bali, there will always be a shrine or two, or at the very least, a sign of an offering. No place, however deep in nature, has remained untouched by religion in some way.
A small side note about me and waterfalls – I like the idea of walking to a waterfall, and I also acknowledge that they can be spectacular and/or pretty in their own gushy kind of way… but I always get there and have an ‘Okay we’re here, now what?’ kind of sensation. We have some pretty spectacular waterfalls in Tasmania, and the journey always feels more amazing than the destination. Andrew heartily disagrees with me on this. 😊
We only stayed about 15 minutes at the waterfall, making it about an hour round trip from our minibus. It was a nice enough side trip, but not one I’d have gone out of my way to do. Even though it was an overcast day, the humidity levels
were very high and we were so happy to get back into the airconditioned minibus. I had missed our drive into Lovina from Mount Batur, so I was adamant that I’d stay awake for this section of our drive.
I was rewarded with lovely views as we climbed up high into the central mountains of Bali, with vast valleys spread below us. The vista was of clove plantations, rice terraces and wild jungle vines draped over any trees and shrubbery they could find. We drove on a new highway that had been cut through the hills. It was the first time on our trip in Bali that we found ourselves on long stretches of roads without any houses or shops. We eventually drove down to the lakes in Bedugul. We’d driven through this area on our way from Pemuteran to Ubud, and I was happy we were stopping to explore it this time.
We were visiting Pura Ulun Danu Bratan Temple on Lake Bratan. This is an important Hindu temple in a very picturesque location, so I was expecting that it would be somewhat crowded. But judging from the very large and very hectic carpark we pulled into,
it was going to be extremely crowded! We walked to the ticket office and met our local guide. Yet again Susi (our group leader) had chosen to work with Wayan. We’d had him twice before already and we knew his love for detail, and that he waffled. My internal monologue of ‘Oh no, I’m really not in the mood for information overload’ was almost word-for-word whispered by at least two people near me. It was funny, and I was glad I wasn’t the only one feeling that way.
Wayan told us that this was a very important temple for purification ceremonies after cremations, as well as for the purification of equipment used in village holy ceremonies. As luck would have it, we had arrived on an auspicious day and there were many ceremonies taking place. We entered the outer section of the temple and saw a sea of people in traditional outfits who had apparently made pilgrimages from all over Bali. There were a few other tourists, but we were barely noticeable in the throng of pilgrims.
Not surprisingly, Wayan wanted us to stand in one place and get a history lesson, but we were itching to walk
around and have a look at everything that was happening. It looked and felt like a massive carnival. There were small groups of four or five people sitting under shady trees; there were excited kids running around in small groups or climbing over the playground equipment; there were costumed musicians and dancers resting in between performances; and there were many large community groups congregating in the pavilions or preparing for their ceremonies. There were five or six different shrines within the temple complex, and each had a different purpose. I imagine it took a lot of coordination to get every group to their correct shrine at their allocated times. It looked like chaos but there seemed to be a system I couldn’t see.
At one point a large procession started up with identically dressed pilgrims holding banners and offerings, and others beating drums and striking gongs. In true form, Wayan was so intent on his story that he kept trying to talk over the din. He was no match for the extravaganza of colour, music and traditional activity that we were drawn towards, and he had to admit defeat when only Susi was left listening to him. When the
procession had passed, we found him sitting in the shade of a tree waiting for us. I felt bad and apologised for our rudeness, but he admitted we were very privileged to see these religious activities taking place on such a large scale.
Wayan wrapped up his guided tour and we walked around for a while, absorbing the atmosphere and taking photos of the different shrines, including the iconic
meru (multi-tiered tower shrines) on a small island in the lake. The setting was very pretty and quite stunning. But what wasn’t so stunning was the behaviour of three European tourists. They were ridiculously dressed in matching gowns, and they were acting super-entitled. We first noticed them when one yelled ‘stop’ at a group of pilgrims about to walk into their staged photo, and much to their credit, the pilgrims stopped and waited patiently for multiple shots!
There were many such rude acts, but the one that shocked me most was when one of them physically shoved a guy away from ‘their’ photo area. He was taken aback, but apologised and walked away. His wife (who was about to take a photo of him) wasn’t so impressed, and I
would have very gladly supported her if she had chosen to tell those three narcissists to rack off! As in the temples of Ubud, I had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before idiots like this led frustrated locals to ban us all from entering their holy spaces.
We eventually exited the temple and walked around the shops that bordered the carpark. We were at that point in our travels when we were looking for souvenirs, but the stuff in these shops were low quality and ridiculously priced. The shops were virtually on the perimeter of the Hindu temple, so we were surprised that all the shop owners were Muslim. On mentioning this to Susi, she explained that there had been an army settlement in the area, and many Muslim families had relocated from East Java and never left.
Our tiny minibus slowly made its way out of the chaotic carpark and drove along a road clogged with long convoys of massive buses. Susi made the observation that one pilgrim group can arrive in as many as 15 buses, and we saw evidence of this at the gigantic roadside restaurants. For the first 20 or so minutes of
our drive, these restaurants formed a chain along the road, and all their carparks were full of buses.
My heart sank a bit when we stopped at one of these roadside restaurants too… but thankfully it was a much smaller establishment. We were led through a labyrinth of small semi-outdoor rooms to the back of a very calm and serene space. Warung Billy’s 69 was set around a shady garden with ponds, and it was obvious that Billy or someone close to him loved wood carving. And I mean REALLY loved wood carving. In the back pavilion we were in, there were four life sized horses, a full-sized chariot, a large carved screen with a dragon and a chicken, and lots of other random carved faces. Other pavilions were equally decked out with chunky solid carvings. I was very hungry by now, so the crazy wood work was a welcome distraction while I waited for my
soto ayam (chicken soup). 😊
I had lived on
soto ayam in Java, and while this wasn’t as good as the ones in Java, it was the perfect comfort food I needed. It unexpectedly came with a side serve of rice that
I couldn’t even touch (as the soup was very filling with generous servings of chicken and noodles). I know it’s considered rude to waste rice in Asian countries, and I felt the reproach when the waitress ‘pretended’ to tell me off for not having it. The same waitress had raised an eyebrow when Andrew had asked for his chicken curry to be ‘Indonesian spicy’. They certainly delivered on the chilli, and Andrew loved it!
After lunch we started heading to our hotel in Sanur, but first we had to navigate the notorious traffic jams of Denpasar (the capital). Very slowly we inched our way through traffic, and the dreary experience was not at all helped by a truck right next to us filled with durians! We cheered when that lane moved forward, but our relief was short-lived when the truck pulled into our lane… right in front of us! Durians were in season, and we’d been putting up with its stench (of sickly-sweet rotting biological matter) for weeks. However, it was another level of gross to be sitting right behind a truck loaded with the stinky fruit on a hot afternoon.
When we finally arrived in Sanur, the
first thing I noticed on the main street was a Starbucks. There were other international chains as well as boutique local shops, restaurants of all sizes, bars, many money changers, and souvenir places. There were also a few pockets of major construction going on. The construction site of a gigantic mall, with what looked like towers of apartments and new bars, seemed to go for many blocks. There was no doubt that we were now in the ‘tourist central’ area of Bali.
We pulled into the small lane that our hotel – Bumi Ayu Bungalows – was on. With villas set in a garden and around a pool, the hotel should have been lovely, but it really wasn’t. Very unfortunately, our room was in front of the pool, which meant we had zero privacy. The pool was packed with an older clientele, and every single voice we heard was loud, brash and Australian accented. Worse still, they were yelling Australian Football League (AFL) scores across the pool. So here we were, in the midst of the famed ‘Bali bogan’. Sigh. But very very thankfully, it was only for one night, so we decided to grin and bear it.
We had a few hours before dinner, so we went looking for an ATM. We generally find one or two banks that talk nicely with our bank back home, and we stick to using only them. In Indonesia, Susi had recommended we use the blue BCA ATMs, and it turned into a bit of a hunt to find one that worked in Sanur. On the plus side, it was a good exercise in getting our bearings. Our next task was a reconnaissance mission to find out exactly where our next hotel was, and as we’d guessed, it was only a five-minute walk away. I was feeling pretty tired by this stage and would have happily showered and gone to bed for the night – despite it not even being 6pm! 😲
However, in the spirit of it being our last night with the group, we both showered, popped some cold and flu tablets and headed out at 7pm for our last dinner together. Shorter trips (like this Beautiful Bali one) don’t always give people long enough to really gel, but it had been clear from about Day 2 or Day 3 that certain personalities were going to divide the
group and make group dynamics tricky. On the whole, things had gone smoothly, but it certainly hadn’t been the most easy-going of groups. On a personal note, having two loud talkers with no sense of an inside voice made some minibus trips quite annoying… although as Andrew pointed out, even that hadn’t stopped me from napping. 😄
Susi had booked dinner at the lovely Retro Restaurant, not far from our hotel. This restaurant operated in a ‘fusion’ space that can sometimes be hit-and-miss, but my
sate ayam (chicken satay) dish and Andrew’s pork belly dish with
nasi goreng (fried rice) were both very delicious. Last group dinners are usually very relaxed and joyous events, with reminiscences about the trip highlights and plans to keep in touch etc… BUT… there had been an altercation of sorts between two group members just before dinner, and it cast a strained light over our last meal together. We’d strategically sat away from the drama queens, so our side of the table had a lovely chat about the trip with Susi. Susi had been an excellent group leader who had taken great care of us on our travels through Java and Bali, and we
were very grateful for the amazing experiences we’d had with her.
There was one other incident at dinner, but it wasn’t group-related. When I first heard the words ‘There’s a rat in that room’, I half wondered if it was a euphemism. But no, there literally was a big fat rat sitting on its haunches in a small room just off the dining area where we were eating. Susi quietly whispered this to a waitress, who decided the best course of action was to close the door and walk away. We laughed nervously and kept eating. What else could we do? I wonder if the rat was a regular visitor who was given leftovers at the end of the night, but had got its timing wrong and arrived a little early that night. I pictured him waiting patiently for the small takeaway containers the kitchen staff would hand him at the end of each night. 😄
Not much later, we bid goodbye to the group and returned to our not-so-great hotel and settled in for the night… all the while reminding ourselves that we were moving onto much better things the next day.
See you around Sanur!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Sanur Beach
I laughed early in this blog when Sanur was called a bustling town. Many of these photos are not reminiscent of what we saw and experienced in 2007. Time marches on and progress is made. We were on a ten month sojourn around the world and spent a week in Sanur resting from our travels. We booked into a new hotel resort that had two large pools and a swim up bar. We spent our first two days in the pool before venturing out. We saw all there was to see in a short period of time. We enjoyed the temples and headed back for more R&R. Sanur gives us a smile as it refreshed us. We were happy our room was far from the pool. We enjoyed walking the beaches.