Yesterday's evening at the sunset temple was much better than I'd been expecting. Possibly even worth the hour's very slow journey on the back of Akak's motorbike!
Now personally I'm not a huge fan of temples and the like and I'd been expecting something similar to those earlier in the day. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that this one was basically just a very nice stretch of black beach with various templey-like buildings 20 or so meters out to sea (you could swim there, but I didn't fancy it myself) and some more on rocky outcrops that you could walk up to. 'DO NOT ENTRY' was the sign at most of the buildings and I happily complied.
The beach itself was heaving with people and there something extremely unexpected, but not entirely unwelcome, happened. I'm kneeling down with my camera trying to get a photo as I so often do and someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn around and there's a group of about a dozen local teenage girls all staring at me and giggling. 'Foto foto' was all the girl said to me, so I presumed they wanted a group photo against the sunset and they want me to take it for them. A group photo was what they wanted, but apparently I was to be included. So I had to stand and pose amid a rather large pack of girls (yes girls, you come in packs) while half a dozen cameras were produced and handed to another bemused Westener, so they could have their photo taken with me. Now let's face it, you can't blame them... you'd be hard pushed to resist a photo with me, but this was slightly over the top, I'm sure you'll agree. Despite their pleas and possibly against my own better judgement, I managed to escape, but from then on the rest of the evening seemed a slightly more pleasant affair than it otherwise might have. It's always nice to be appreciated.
The journey home was much faster and more pleasant and it being night time, the roads were less crowded and the air significantly cooler. Plus the stars were out in force and if you hadn't gathered by now, I quite like a starry sky, so I quite enjoyed the journey back to Ubud.
That night I ate in Warung Kaca, which was a very cheap place I found in a tiny little back street about a kilometer from the town centre. It was fairly empty bar a small Indonesian family and some half a dozen cats and some very friendly dogs, but the food was, as it usually is here, excellent.
The journey to Lovina the following day took about 3 hours and would take us through some stunning landscapes of mountain bordered lakes, and smoke and cloud tipped volcanoes. At one point we drove through a thick cloud for a good 3 or 4 kms. The bus itself was pretty empty with only myself, a Japanese couple who didn't speak any English and a Swedish couple called Daniel and Lydia, who spoke perfect English. So I spent the journey talking to them about the sort of things backpackers talk about. I.e. backpacking. They're heading out to Thailand and Cambodia after Bali.
Once in Lovina, we split up since they were staying with some friends, who came to collect them from the bus stop and I would be staying at Gede's Homestay, right on the beach, about 2kms East of Kalibukbuk - the centre of Lovina.
This is by far the cheapest place I've stayed and for once I thought I'd go for the cheapest option available, just to see what it's like being a proper backpacker. So no air-con, no hot water and not even any toilet paper. Just a bed, a ceiling fan and a toilet/shower room complete with it's own population of mosquitoes. Still, it's only costing me about 4GBP a night. Having spent one night there though, I think it might be worth the extra 2 quid for an air-con room in future. I had about 3, maybe 4 hours sleep in total last night.
I'd only been there for 20 mins or so and was sitting at the table outside my little bungalow when Mr Gede, the owner, came and introduced himself to me and sat down to have a little chat. He's an old man (probably 70 or so) and very friendly and open, with lots of good advice about the area and which activities to do and what touts to avoid. His family runs the homestay, with nieces, nephews, grandsons and granddaughters milling around the restaurant, cleaning rooms and fixing broken motorbikes. He asked how I found out about his place and I told him I'd found it in the Lonely Planet guide, which seemed to surprise him - I thought the majority of his custom would come from people like me, sticking religiously to everything their guidebook says, but apparently not. So I showed him the page in the book and he read it with interest, occasionally asking for definitions of some of the longer words and at the end his face lit up as he saw a mention of himself and the free rides on his motorbike that he gives his guests.
Also staying here are two dutch couples, who are very friendly and chatty, a middle aged guy from Hounslow, who's cycling the circumference of the island (about 300-400 miles and he's taking two months to do it, so I didn't like to mention Bike Europe) and is very knowledgeable about the whole of southeast Asia and an American girl who's quite good looking, but so far seems very quiet and unwilling to join in conversations, unfortunately.
As for Lovina, it's not very big, but it seems a very nice place and isn't as touristy as I'd expected it to be. There's still lots of touts around though, offering dolphin watching trips and cock fights. My ability to say no to things is fast improving and I can even speak some very basic Bahasa Indonesia now, and they bother you less when you put the effort in to say no in their own language. It usually evokes a smile and lots of 'well done, well done!!'s.
This morning, on a recommendation from Mr Gede, I went snorkling and it was absolutely breathtaking! It's something I've never done before, but it's surprisingly easy to pick up and the coral reef to the northwest of Lovina is spectacular. Perfectly clear waters, thousands of psychedelically coloured fish and weird looking coral thingies sticking up from the seabed, at times only a foot or two from my face. For about 6 quid for half an hour in the water, I was pretty chuffed with my morning, even if I didn't get to see a giant turtle, which supposedly are quite common here. The only downside being my now slightly rosy coloured shoulders, but it was well worth a bit of sunburn.
Tomorrow I head back to Kuta for a few more days and I have a flight to catch on Monday into Jakarta. I'm now more prepared for the mayhem that is Kuta and I'm going to try and make more of my time there than I did before.
That's all for now. Photos will probably have to wait until Jakarta, where they (hopefully) have broadband.
So until next time, selamat tinggal and selamat malam!
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