Next stop was Amed, situated on the NE corner of Bali Island. The area is setup to handle hoards of tourists in the busy season (June-Sept) but is very quiet this time of year. We found a beautiful bungalow right on the beach. The first morning we grabbed a couple of snorkels and jumped into the ocean right at our hotel. The underwater life was incredible!!! There were 25+ species of fish and massive formations of bright colorful coral.
That evening we ate at a small (4 table) restaurant “Warung” owned by a local couple. It was fantastic, very authentic. They convinced us to come back the next night by saying they will prepare a Balinese specialty for us “Black Rice Pudding” (Takes a full day to prepare). The next day we got our treat, it was terrific. We found this restaurant along with most of the others to be very comical in that immediately after ordering a meal they jump on the scooter, headed to the nearest market to buy all the ingredients. It takes a while for the meal to come, but it’s always fresh! Funny sight is to see a 3 foot barracuda sitting at their feet hanging 1 foot off both sides driving down the road.
The last day in Amed we rented a scooter for ourselves touring the area up into the hills off the beaten track. Here we found quiet villages surrounded by green terraced rice fields. The locals seemed to always be watching us, but maybe it’s because seeing 2 - 6 foot white people on a tiny scooter wobbling down the road at 7 km/hr isn’t something they are used to seeing in their mountain village?
From Amed we boarded a “fast boat” ferry (25 seater – 50 feet) across the straight to Gili Island (25 km). About halfway the sea got extremely rough with large swells. We realized how rough the water was when the captain came to the back of the boat, made a prayer to the Hindu Gods, and then tossed some flowers and eggs into the ocean as a sacrifice. Must-of worked as the sea calmed down as we made our way to Gili Islands.
COLIN
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