Indonesia - Part V (The Last Stop)

Amed

As the crow flies, Amed is not that far from Ubud. But driving there is another story. Our driver, Nyoman, suggested a couple of stops along the way - the Goa Lawah temple (otherwise known as the bat cave temple) and Tenganan, a unique and traditional village. 

We were fortunate to be at the bat cave temple when a cremation ceremony was taking place.

It’s difficult to see, but the inside of the cave (by the greenery and elsewhere) is full of bats hanging upside down.

Tenganan is a village that has not changed much over the years. People live simply, mostly involved in crafts such as wood carving, weaving and hand painting on bamboo sheets and on egg shells. Nyoman also told us that should a villager decide to leave the compound, they are no longer welcome to return - it’s a one-way trip. 

By early afternoon, we had made it to Amed, an area composed of several villages. The hotel we had chosen to stay at, the Ocean Resort Amed, was in a village further out. It looked fresh, new, clean and right on the ocean - and when they showed us to our room, we felt confident that we had made the right decision.

We soon met Marie and Alban, who worked for Fun Dive, one of the many dive shops in the area. I quickly set up a dive with Alban for the following morning.

Alban came by in the morning to pick me up for the diving. We were set to go to two dive sites - a wall and a WWII wreck dive. I soon found out that, although there were others diving, they were with their own guides. For my dives, it was just going to be Albin and I - perfect.

Alban surprised me when he told me that the dives were done from the beach, something I had only done once in forty years of diving. It was about a twenty minute drive to the dive spot. It turned out that the wall dive and the wreck dive were next to each other. (The photos below are not ones I took.)

The wall dive was good but not superb. Decent coral and colorful mix of tropical fish. But later, when diving the USS Liberty (not to be confused with a Liberty-type ship), things were way different. Apparently, the wreck had provided the perfect environment for all sorts

of coral and fish to thrive. Beautiful soft and hard coral, fans and other sea life were on display. Colorful fish, slugs and garden eels abounded. Since the wreck was splayed wide open, there were were no compartments or structures to dive into. Regardless, it was a superb dive site that was thoroughly enjoyable.

One late afternoon, just before sunset, we rode our scooter to the Sunset Point Restaurant for a Bintang beer and to view the sunset. With the restaurant being pretty crowded, we opted to leave after the impressive sunset and venture to another place for dinner. That was an unfortunate decision because right after we left, Agun, the enormous volcano that looms over Amed, roared to life. After a sudden burst of thunder, lava and smoke spewed out of its crater. We missed the show but were told about it the following morning. Fortunately, we were on the windward side = several villages on the leeward side had been evacuated.

Agun (means “big” in Indonesian) is the mountain/volcano to the left.

The one outstanding restaurant that we found in Amed was recommended to us by Marie and Alban. The Galanga, a French restaurant with Indonesian fusion flare, is an unassuming looking restaurant. On the day we went, we got lucky - we didn’t have reservations, but got seated at one (of two) private tables (as long as we were done by 8pm). We had one of the very best dinners of the entire trip.



After five days in Amed, it was time for us to say good-bye. Nyoman was there at 11am to take us back to Denpasar. 

Our last evening was spent at the Garden Inn Hilton, which surprised us with how good it was. It had an enourmously long pool, a well-equipped gym, a fabulous breakfast buffet and it was right next to the airport for our long flight home.

Indonesia - Part IV

Ubud

After our arrival at the airport in Denpasar, we hired a taxi to take us to Ubud, a traditional town in the mountains north of Denpasar. Ubud is known for its crafts, temples, markets and home of the royal palace. 

We arrived at the Dewangga Bungalows, in the center of Ubud, after a harried drive of about two hours. Once checked in and settled, we took a walk around Ubud, to get acquainted with our surroundings. Our initial reaction to Ubud was one of shell shock - we had expected a serene, zen-like village with yoga studios and art galleries, but what we found was a bustling community, crowded and touristy, full of scooters and cars whizzing by everywhich way. 

Not far from our hotel was the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. We spent several hours walking through the lush and enormous park full of entertaining monkeys. At times it was hard to tell who was the observer because often, monkeys would sit and stare at the humans passing by. Sometimes they’d sneak up on an unsuspecting woman and try to snatch something out of her purse. We really enjoyed the sanctuary.

We had arranged for Nyoman to pick us up for a day’s journey to the areas surrounding Ubud. We visited the Nungnung Waterfalls, then drove to the Ulun Danu Beratan Temple (which resides on Lake Beratan) and lastly, drove to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Jatiluwih Rice Terrace, where we walked along the lush rice fields.

The next day we took it easy, walking through the main market and later in the evening visiting Ubud’s temple. We had lunch at a restaurant Nyoman had recommended - the Warung Babi Gulung. The restaurant is known for  “Babi Gulung” or suckling pig, serving only lunch. They prepare one pig a day, and when it’s gone, it’s gone.

The temple in Ubud was holding the monthly full moon ceremonies. To enter men needed to wear a sarong, a colorful sash-like belt and a cap. Considering the ceremony was held monthly, it looked like quite an undertaking. Afterwards, the people all gathered to eat.

The next day, Nyoman again picked us up for some more adventures. First on the list was the Mas village, the center of the furniture and wood carving crafts. We had hoped to find a dining room table to ship home. However, we never found anything that suited our taste. Afterwards, we then stopped at a huge and impressive batik store. 

Next, we went to the 9th century temple of Goa Gajah. The compound has a cave, known as the Elephant Cave and a pool in which there are statues of women holding urns that pour water. As you approach the cave you can see eerie looking faces carved at the entrance of the cave that are meant to ward off evil spirits. Inside the cave it was pretty dark and smoky from the incense. It had a mystical feel to it. Note the photo stating that women who are menstruating should not enter the temple. 

The last place we visited with Nyoman was also a temple. Founded in the 10th century, the Tirta Empul temple is known for its holy water spring that, to this day, produces water. People bathe in it for cleansing of the soul. The spring water eventually finds its way to nourish the rice fields. 

Nyoman wanted to take us to yet another temple, but it required walking up about 750 steps. It was hot and it had been a long day. We were templed out and opted for the comforts of our serene cottage with a pool.

Indonesia - Part III

Komodo and Rinca Island.

Komodo Dragons

When we got back to Bali from Kalimantan, we opted to stay near the airport, in Jimbaran. The plan was to stay for a few days then be off to Flores to mingle with the Komodo dragons. Jimbaran is on the west side of Bali, so this time we got to see sunsets. 

We stayed at the Keraton Jimbaran Beach Resort, a bit more plush than were used to, but Bali prices made it quite affordable (and it too, like most places, included a fabulous breakfast with our stay). 

Breakfast was served buffet-style at the building to the left.


Sunsets were spectacular.

Nyoman, who had become our de facto driver, came and picked us up on one of the days to take us to the very southern tip of the peninsula to visit the Uluwatu Temple and stop at a couple of the well known surf spots such as Suluban and Bingin beaches. 

The days went by fast and before we knew it, again we were heading to the airport. This time it was a flight from Bali (Denpasar) to Labuan Bajo, Flores. 

We arrived in Labuan Bajo in 1 1/2 hours. Our hotel had someone waiting for us at the airport to pick us up. The Wae Molas hotel is a quaint little oasis in the midst of a somewhat impoverished looking area. The hotel is owned by an American (Michael Lederer) from Wisconsin. It was very a comfortable and friendly place with a good restaurant and bar.

View of Labuan Bajo.

A street near the Wae Molas.

Typical shop on the street.


There were many of these “pop-up” shops along the street. It appeared to be a special occasion.

Like in Borneo, all the islands except Bali are Muslim - that means Ramadan, fasting during the day and lots of call to prayers.

Marsy, our guide from the tour company, soon arrived to acquaint us with what was going to happen the following day, when we were to board the the boat to Komodo Island. That evening we had dinner by the pool at the Wae Molas.

In the morning, Marsy was at our hotel promptly at 8am. He drove us to the busy harbor in Labuan Bajo and boarded what was to be our home for the next couple of days. The boat was configured much differently than on our previous excursion in Borneo. It had a single deck, with two cabins (one for us and one for Marsy - the crew slept wherever), a bathroom, galley in the back, and a sitting/dining area positioned in front of the steering house.  

Home for the next two days.

We were quickly underway, deftly maneuvering between the dozens of boats all berthed around us. Marsy brought out a chart of the area and showed us the proposed itinerary. Our first activity was going to be snorkeling with the turtles.

We weren’t alone when we arrived at our snorkeling spot. Several other boats were anchored, some with snorkelers while others were diving. After getting our snorkeling gear on we ventured into the water - it was warm, probably around high 70’s to low 80’s. The coral was quite good and we soon started spotting lots of fish and a number of turtles.

The water was only about 20-30 feet deep. Great for snorkeling, although there were some diving groups around.

Next up was a spot where the manta rays congregated. It was only a short hop and we were in the water again. Diane and I both commented how spectacular the coral appeared - colorful, a huge variety of soft and hard coral and lots of fish. We did find some small manta rays but the highlight to us was the vibrant coral. After the snorkeling we anchored by  a tiny, eyebrow-shaped island, where we had lunch.   

The tiny, eye brow shaped island.

Only a slight tinge of pink was visible from Pink Beach.

Marsy and I took a short hike up a hill top for a panoramic view of the bay.

The last activity of the day was to go to a pink sandy beach and take a hike to the hilltop. The sand on the beach is mixed with small parts of pink coral, giving the sand a slight pinkish hue. The view from atop the hill was excellent. That evening, we anchored at a nearby cove.

In the morning, after a strange breakfast (it consisted of toasted slices of bread - no butter, no jam, no fruit, no eggs, nothing - oh yes, there was coffee), the boat got underway. We arrived on the island of Komodo around 9am, docking at a big, concrete pier. We were greeted by a national park guide, who told us about what to expect and what we’d see.

Our guide explained to us, the habits of the dragons - what they eat, how they hunt, how they procreate and otherwise explained their behaviors. The Komodo dragons live a pretty solitary existence, except for procreating and eating. The female is in gestation about the same length of time as a human - 8-9 months. They lay between 18-30 eggs. The moment the eggs hatch, it’s every dragon baby for themselves. Weaker babies get eaten by their siblings or by an adult male dragon or even the mom. The live in the trees until they are two to three years old. Out of the 20-30 babies, perhaps two or three survive.

On our walk we didn’t see any dragons until we got to the compound’s restaurant. They don’t feed the dragons, but they tend to hang out in the area because they’re attracted to the smell. Only three dragons were lazily hanging around.  On our walk we did encounter a huge mound of dirt that was a “nest” for dragon eggs. But as soon as the eggs hatch, the baby dragons climb up nearby trees for safety.

After our walk in Komodo National Park, we returned to the boat and headed for Loh Buaya National Park, on Rinca Island, another place with Komodo dragons (there are four islands in total where the dragons can be found). 

On our way to Rinca, we made a stop at an iconic national park with a spectacular panorama (after an arduous climb).

Once there, we again met with a nature guide who took us on a tour. On Rinca we encountered many more dragons, but again, most of the ones we saw were at or adjacent to areas where humans consume food. The guide explained that the dragons stalk their prey and when the opportunity presents itself, they’ll bite them and “inject” a lethal venom and bacteria mix into their victims blood stream. The prey (deer, buffalo and wild boar)  don’t immediately die, so the dragons follow them until they succumb to the lethal dose of venom. That’s when the dragons begin their feast.

As we approached an area habited by the dragons, we were greeted by monkeys and water buffaloes (not pictured).

Upon leaving the island reserve, we stopped at one more beach that offered great panoramic views of the area. It was a small island about half an hour away from Labuan Bajo. It was then time to head back to Wae Molas hotel for one more night in Labuan Bajo before flying back to Bali.