Thursday, July 9, 2009

Bali - Mountain Life around Gunung Batur





We planned to climb the vulcano, so we took the amazing drive up the mountain ranges with our faithful moto - such a cool ride! It got colder and colder the higher we went and we ended up taking out out sweaters and boots after spending the morning diving. It was quite funny... :-) Sadly, the day ended on a bad note... We had heard the guides down in the vulcano valley which guide you up are difficult to aggressive... When we got there, we were intimidated by the different gangs that circle you in the towns... after one hour of discussions and pretty agressive behaviour through the locals, we packed up and left... and it was better that way - i really don't want to support the strange structures that rule the village(r)s down there and not walking up the vulcano with their guides shows just this! We would not recommend for anyone to go there, but rather support the wonderful people we've met on the East Coast and in actually all other regions of Bali! And we'll check out a vulcano in Lombok for you next week as an alternative :-) To end the day, we swung on the bike again (in the dark), got some hot tea from a little women and then drove down to Ubud, where wonderful Wayan helped us get a great place to sleep on short notice, as Bali seems to be filling up!
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Bali - Tulamben


The most amazing swrms of fish you could swim right next to - wow wow wow!!! We snorkled though, instead of diving.


This was spoooky, but way cool! Snorkling around a reaaaal ship wreck, of the 'USS Liberty', which lies 50m off the coast and is now visited by the most beautiful fishlies every day.
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Bali - Amed





Moving further North, we stayed for the night somewhere close to Amed (this is the night of the day we were in Tengnan, White Sand Beach and Tirtinganga). There are several little towns lining the coast, which offer all sorts of accomodation and food. We really liked staying at Teman-Teman Cafe, run by a young crowd, and with one hut all for ourselves right behind the beach bar they have. We even had our own garden!! After dinner at a local Warung, we spent about an hour looking for a place to watch the Wimbeldon final - yet the region has no TV, let alone satellite TV!!! But we found a resort and could watch the first set sitting on cushions 20m from the beach - hurrah! Later, kati crawled into bed, but mattes still had the energy fro some night time jam sessions with the locals in our Teman-Teman Cafe and followed a few hours later (after singing Eric Clapton half the night :-)).
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Bali - Tirtanganga




The Balinese have numerous temples and one is more fascinating than the other... This was the first water temple we visited and it was beautiful - even though it had moved out of sunlight by the time we were there. There are figures and water all over, and the locals bathe in some of the pools to cool off. As it is on a hill close to the ocean, it shows beautiful views over farming land towards the water... A nice stop, next time we'll be there earlier!
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Bali - East: White Sand Beach





Thanks to Sam for this one!! This little hidden paradise is the official beach of Candi Dasa. Since almost all the coral reef in front of Candi Dasa has vanished due to dynamite fishing and cement production their original beach has been washed away by the sea. Now people have to go 5km up the coast to sunbath, and apparently almost noone does it...

Located just on our way, we enjoyed one of the most fantastic beach days so far. Very quiet and yet offering everything you need, from fresh fish to coconut milk out of the coconut opened before your eyes by the coconut guy...



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Bali - Tenganan





Bali's origins... or so these villagers feel... they call themselves the original balinese and to protect their traditions, noone is allowed to join the village or marry into the family. However, there is less offspring with each generation and everybody that ever leaves the village cant return, therefore incest is their biggest threat at the moment...
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Saturday, July 4, 2009

Bali - Padang Bai


Following our many advisors, we decided to focus on Bali's east coast. In the next days we will take our little Yamaha around the Gunung Agung, Bali's highest mountain and ex-vulvano (3142m). we will be snorkelling Padang Bai (blue lagoon), white sand beach, amed and go wreck diving at tulamben. Just enough beach and sun to climb Gunung Batur (1717m) which seems more reasonable, given that we have zero preparation... but hey, all plans, all subject to change...
Hope you are all doing fine...
hugs
k&m*
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Bali - Ubud Pura gunung kawi (contd)




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Bali - Ubud Pura gunung kawi




With ou little Ymaha scooter, we went for an exploration of Ubud's surrounding temples... most impressive was Pura Gunung Kawi.
Rice field temple, stone carvings and a nice little hike to a waterfall, ole!
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Bali - Ubud downtown


Not only is Ubud full of art and artists, but you can also find a lot of cosy eateries. We spent the afternoon checking out the place with the best cake in town (they say), wayan cafe, and as you can see above we found a cosy table to enjoy mango cake and lassies. At night we hit the 2-floor lounge of an expat hangout to watch some wimbeldon semi (or samy as they write here) finals. The crazy bunch had lots of tips for what still to see in our time here, and the food was yummy, so it was a good evening!
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Bali - Ubud Bali Moon





Thanks to stefan loose, we found the outstanding to marvelous homestay in Ubud. Bali Moon is probably the best value for mony you can get in the universe!! Its located just off the center, close enough to do everything walkng, but far enough to be away from the hagglers in dwontown and surrounded by rice fields. the (3) rooms are incredibly spacious, with himmelbett, kieswegen into the bathtub and a private terrace to enjoy the local breakfast... whenever you go to ubud, its worth calling Wayan under ??? 0361-978293
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Bali - Nusa Lembongan Sunrise




yes, we really got up at 6.00 am (again!). After this, we already left the island again and made our way up into central Bali, to a small artist town named Ubud (or as I call it, the Berlin of Bali)
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Bali - Nusa Lembongan Local Life


Willi - so gehts!! schoen boxen egal wo...

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