Sun, see, beach, COCKTAILS, coconuts, fragrant flowers, friendly people. It is was is described as Bali, part of Indonesia, relatively small but still the most visited island of this country. We were eager to find out if all the heard and read clichés about it were true.
Early Tuesday morning, our host from Latansa homestay brought us to the ferry terminal, just a 5-minutes’ drive. We expected a mass of people, but it was very quiet. We went to the ticket counter of the only ferry operator which seemed to be present but were sent back. Not possible to pay by card. They told us we needed to buy a kind of top-up card (like the ones you use for bus and metro), recharge it and come back. Luckily one of the security guards was so friendly to lend us his card, so we walked – no kidding – 20 metres back to an inconspicuous wooden table with two ladies, topped up the card, paying in cash (they also had credit card terminals), retrieved our 20 steps towards the non-cash, non-credit card counter and got our ticket. What a stupid time-consuming system. We boarded our ferry. Me, as part of my former/future profession, I cringed seeing the embarrassing state of the ferry we’d take. Bad or broken welding seems, steel inserts not correctly placed, old and poorly maintained equipment… Lucky the straight between Java and Bali is only a 4 km, 45 minutes sailing. Seeing this – and lots of other ones anchored or waiting – we can imagine why so many fatal accidents with ferries make even the European news. Luckily this crossing is quite safe.
We made it safely to Bali, where we were awaited in another very quiet terminal by our driver to bring us to our next accommodation, the Taman Seline beach resort in Pemuteran, on the northern coast, a half-hour drive from the ferry terminal. Since we left our homestay in Java early, and since there’s a one-hour time difference with Bali – a bit of a surprise to us – we arrived early too, but that was luckily not a problem, and after taking a welcome drink at the hotel’s restaurant, we were able to get into our rooms. And from the moment we saw it, we knew here not much would happen. With the backside of the hotel giving out directly to the sea, it is the ideal location to wind down after those three early-rising nights in Java. So yeah, we changed into swimming gear, ran through the hotel’s garden to the beach, crossed sandy beach and straight into the sea / ocean. Oh no, wait, that’s not exactly how it happened. That was how Véro imagined it. Me, practically as always, insisted on first dropping off our laundry (we ended up giving it to the hotel’s reception), go out in search of water bottles (we ended up with water and fresh fruit), and to get an impression what could be seen here… So, it was only after taking a late lunch at our hotel (chicken sandwich and seafood salad) that we ended up putting our towels on the reclining chairs in the garden, crossing the damn-hot volcanic grey sand and into a surprisingly agreeable sea. We splattered around, warmed up in our lounge chairs and went out for dinner at the beachfront at the Poleng Beachfront restaurant, an intimate setting with a good food, although one immediately notices the price jump after all those cheap warungs in Java.
The next day we didn’t do much else besides going out for lunch to Warung Titra Sari. Note that although it’s also a warung, the setting – at least here in Pemuteran - is much more elaborate and focused on tourism than their Javanese counterparts. The food was delicious though and presented very nicely: Véro’s seafood satay on a small charcoal grill, my vegetable noodle soup in a half coconut. For the rest of the day we just relaxed in and around the sea and hotel’s swimming pool (under the motto that we should try out all facilities). We went to dinner to Amertha beach villa’s seafront restaurant, enjoyed the food, company and the sound of crashing waves and went to bed early…
On Thursday we lazily slept out, since we only had to check out at noontime and still wanted to visit a conservation project here: Reef Seen's Project Penyu turtle hatchery. A nice, small conservation project by an Australian expat, helping both environment and local (fishing) community. We received some small explanation about the working of the hatchery. Afterwards, we went for a last swim in the sea, packed our stuff, got some bakery-lunch from the shop next door, and drove southeast, over the mountains and via very winding and busy roads, to the east coast of Padang Bai.
We stayed here one night. We had booked a room at the very well appointed and designed rooms of Bamboo Paradise, run by a Belgian expat. Nice rooms, delicious breakfast: recommended! Tomorrow our first fast boat experience towards the small island of Gili Air!
