Bali: Amed

Amed was a former fishing village in Bali. It remains relatively undiscovered as a tourist destination. It has clear turquoise water and a pebbly beach blackened by the Mt Agung volcano. There were a few bungalows and restaurants along the coast, and a few dive centres.

The most popular dive was a shipwreck dive. I didn't dive as I had a bad cold but my friend went and thought it was a pretty good spot. Good snorkelling was to be had just off the shore. There was a healthy growth of corals, it was fun swimming around with the tropical fishes, and it made it all seemed right with my world.

Jukung boats on Jemeluk Beach, Amed

We stayed in a room by the beach looking on to the sea, newly opened by brother-in-law of the Blue Star bungalow's owner. Prices at the restaurants were almost half that of Ubud. Our favourite restaurant was Sama-Sama which we visited twice - I liked the garlicky butter sauce prawns.

Blue Star bungalow

Prawns with garlicky butter sauce at Sama-Sama

It was peaceful bliss for a few days. Our taxi driver to  the airport on the last day was a young man who had just graduated from university and had written a Balinese song about an island boy moping for his Western girl who had left him. Ah bless.

View from our room

Watching the sunset

Bali: Ubud

I went to Bali for about a week recently with a friend. We went to Ubud and Amed, and skipped party-town Kuta.

Ubud was NICE. It was pretty, so clean and relaxing after India. People made an effort to make things look pretty, sticking flowers everywhere. I revelled in the almost no-hassle environment after India. So it took me a couple of days to realise how touristy Ubud was. There were many restaurants, shops, galleries and bungalows. But they all cater for tourists. As it was low-season, there were more shops than tourists when we were there. Prices were also pretty touristy.

I did a couple of yoga classes at the best yoga studio I've ever been to at the Yoga Barn. It was a wooden building with opened walls, breezes and sunlight. Perfect. Well, nearly except when the builders on an adjoining site started going with their hammers at 8am.

Outside performance space at the Yoga Barn

You can make trips around Ubud e.g. bicycle tours (my friend went on a good one with Bali on Bike) or trekking tours around the terraced paddy fields, and villages. There were also streets of craft e.g. bone-jewellery, wooden furniture makers outside of Ubud. Scooters seemed to be the preferred mode of travel. For the less adventurous, taxis are available at negotiated prices for day/half day/few hours trips.

Dirty Duck

Monkey Forest Road, almost attacked by a monkey near the Monkey Forest (again!)

Flower art

Daily offerings

Art centre

Waterlily pond

Banyan tree

Temple festival