...Back to the family vacation...

Eastern Loop

Our last trip away from home was to the Eastern-part of Bali... probably the area least-visited on the island.

We definitely took the scenic route on the first day of our trip, winding through the central mountain region, and ended up staying the first night on the road just south of Padang Bai (a major port in Bali) in Mimba Village. Deciding that the homestay listed in the guide book with an addendum* like this was right up our alley, that's where we headed! **'secluded on a black sand beach - if you want real peace and quiet, this is the place to be'!



...and it was! We had a lovely evening, with nice company, and a 'classic' dinner of grilled fresh fish, cap cay (veggie stir-fry) and rice... and of course, lots of sambal (spice)! The rooms themselves were a bit dodgy, but at least the lighting was poor enough that you couldn't really see just how dodgy! At least mom and dad got to experience having a real cold-water 'mandi' (showering with a scoop) at least once!

Getting to said homestay was a bit of an unsure process, and we think ours might have been the only car down the road in quite some time! But we made it.



Another beautiful East-coast Bali beach... this one is actually a little closer to home, and a spot Martin often goes surfing at.




Anyway, our tour carried on up the East Coast via several beautiful sites...

Another Water Garden Temple, whose spring is the source of holy water for the region. We enjoyed the tiered gardens, and the lily pad meditative stepping stones through the fish pond (all I could meditate on was 'holy SHIT, those are some BIG fish!')!






A King's Water Palace at Ujung...




(a beautiful setting for having wedding photos taken, like this couple!)







We ended up in the Amed area, most appropriately, we think, at a set of cottages called Good Karma.




On our rustic little porches we enjoyed fresh young coconut with lemon gin, while watching the millions of ants go about their lives oblivious to our presence, and a Balinese family celebrating their daughter's six month temple celebration.




The small black sand bays of the entire area are filled to over-flowing with small colourful jukung fishing boats.




We came back through the central mountains again, and on our way, passed the scenic high-altitude Lake Batur...




... and many beautiful rice paddy terraces.