West Bali

Our first trip through the Central Mountains of Bali was actually on the way to the beautiful North-Western coast - to which I had never been before!




We were really spoiled and stayed in some totally swank hotels!




... and enjoyed it to the fullest and had an absolute riot!




Both places we stayed had incredible sea-side pools....




... on the characteristic black-sand beaches of North Bali.




... and backed by a mountain-view!




The staff and everything about the area followed along in our 'perfect holiday' vein! Upon checking in, our welcome drinks arrived on the doorstep...




After our first night in the Lovina area, we wandered our way over further toward the West Bali National Park... we made a short side-trip to stop at the Sacred Hotsprings at Banjar...




... where mom got a little bobo, but no big deal, and the response of the security guys was full of typical Balinese goodness.




We found a solitary special spot near our hotel in Pemuteran to watch a beautiful sunset over Java...



The next day we spent the better part of the day in the national park with a Spanish couple... We went on a boat trip to Menjangan island to go snorkeling... (and the first chance I'd had to test my underwater housing)!





I got excited at seeing a shark... but instead of taking a picture of what I was pointing AT, Dad got a great shot of me, pointing! Hahaha...




... and visited a temple (thought to be the oldest on the island of Bali), and we even did a geocache!






We also saw the island's namesake: the Javanese deer (or, Menjangan, in Indonesian)...




On the way home from our full day, a random pull-off at a spot near the coast turned into an extra-ordinary experience. We visited the local sea-side temple, and met the local priests, who invited us to be blessed in a very special private ceremony at their sacred spring (like 'la source' at the lake!)...






The next day, on the way home to the south again, we stuck to the white roads, and went through some very extreme terrain, riding along ridges between two sheer mountain slopes overlooking deep valleys, and also overlooking some precipitous drop-offs! It was the steepest road I've been on to date - EVER! Everyone along the road asked us where we were headed... because they couldn't imagine that we were going on THAT road! What adventure!








... and of course, in what became our usual style, before we'd even really gotten ON the road, we had already made at least 5 stops, most of which involved temples or monkeys... or both....







aaahhhh... what FUN!