Notes from Stephen, Wan, Kweilin, and Li

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Ubud, Candidasa, Tirtagangga, Amed: bakery; riding; Sunshine hotel

We bought day-old scones and banana bread at the Bali Buddha bakery this morning before setting out from Ubud. The bakery sells day-old stuff at half price and it tastes great. We were happy to have the bread on the scooter ride and in Amed, a small beach town.

We spent a few hours on the scooters today, riding from Ubud to the eastern coast of Bali. Most motorists drove safely and gave us enough room but a few crazy car drivers scared us a bit. One car honked at me to get out of the passing lane as I passed a motorcycle and then he cut off my sister. On a windy road, another driver overtook all three of us in succession and barely squeezed through my dad and an oncoming car. To stay safe, we'll continue checking our mirrors constantly and letting aggressive cars pass.

Our first stop of today's trip was Candidasa. I could tell when we neared the town because I started seeing signs in English advertising tourist services like scuba-diving. Candidasa is a relatively small beach town. We slept here seven years ago but this time we just relaxed for an hour and moved on.

My mom bought sunglasses for what she thought was a great deal in Candidasa. She thought she paid 20 cents but she actually paid $2. She got confused by the zeros: 2,000 rupiah vs 20,000 rupiah.

We saw only a handful of tourists during our break in Candidasa. We saw more shops than tourists. My mom asked a shop owner, "Do you get many tourists here?" "Are you thinking of opening a business here?" he responded. "You'll go bankrupt."

Internet access in Candidasa is twice the price of internet access in Ubud: 400 rupiah (4 cents) a minute.

The road from Candidasa to Amed has beautiful vistas. Tirtagangga has the most expansive valley of rice paddy terraces that I've ever seen. The beautiful panorma flows from the hills to the sea. Another pretty view was a dam that feeds a river that feeds a lush, green valley and forest.

My mom bought some grilled fish in banana leaf for 1000 rupiah (10 cents) from a roadside stand near Amed. It tasted like it was half hot sauce, half fish. I guess they like spicy food here.

We're staying in the Sunshine hotel in Amed, a small beach town with several snorkeling and dive shops. We have two air-conditioned rooms, each at 125,000 rupiah per night, including breakfast. The hotel is right on the beach: I can hear the ocean waves crashing as I write this in my room. The fresh water swimming pool is a refreshing antidote tot he heat. Jumping in the pool was our first order of business upon arriving.

We spent a lazy afternoon reading and napping by the pool. We took a short walk at sunset to explore neighboring hotels and their gardens.

On our walk home, we came across a local man named Ketut who is building a boat. He's been working on it for two months and he's built a wooden hull. It's a 15-foot fishing boat that he'll use himself. He said that he's teaching himself how to build the boat.

Ketut carved his own tingklik, which was sitting next to his boat. I surprised him by playing the three songs I learned from the tingklik man in Ubud.

We jumped in the pool again to cool off upon returning. The water is the perfect temperature.

My dad and I had fish for dinner at the Apa Kabar restaurant nextdoor. A few other tourists had dinner there. It looks like the only place around that has any business.

Tourism seems slow in Amed right now, but I'm sure business has improved since the Kuta bombing. Balinese have told us that tourists stayed away after terrorists bombed a night club in the Bali beach town of Kuta. I don't know how these businesses in Amed and Candidasa survived that period.

Tomorrow we're going to watch the sunrise, eat breakfast, and explore the area.

posted by Unknown at 3:20 AM