Archive for December 11th, 2006
Lovina is a sprawling strip of coast, that includes several villages. I have stayed in western and central Lovina, now I wanted to try the central-eastern end. The main road wasn’t that inviting, last night, but I spotted a sign, on the corner of a side street heading towards the beach. The street featured many guest houses and small hotels, and I chose Hotel Banyualit Quality Resort, in Banyualit. A short chat at the front desk got my room price down from 300,000rp to 200,000rp.
The room had AC, satelite TV, mini bar, hot water, etc. etc. It was not a fancy room and the decor was okay. Hotel ground were average and there was a nice pool. Breakfast was included. Would I stay there again? Nothing really drew me about the place, but it was decent, clean and handy. I would stay there if I was swinging through on a quick road trip and needed a place with a pool that is handy. From Singaraja, Hotel Banyualit Quality Resort is located down the first lane to your right after the big Lovina gateway arch. You’ll see the big sign on the street corner.Breakfast is included.
Hotel Banyualit Quality Resort
Banyualit
Bali
(0362)41789
source : www.baliblog.com
December 11th, 2006
Lovina always felt kind of dead to me in the past. The main drag a scattering of hotels and dive places, the warungs never that busy. Nightlife in Lovina was as far from my thoughts, as kangaroos in Kaliasem. Just a kilometer from where I was staying to the east in Anturan, was a German owned place called the Volcano.
This place is quite amazing. Security outside, a downstairs garden with bar, upstairs pool area and nightclub! Grabbing a beer and heading upstairs around 10.30pm, I watched local guys mess around on the pool table. The waiter told me the price was 20,000rp per hour for locals, but 5,000rp per games for ‘bules’. “What about I give you 20,000rp, so the local guys can pay for the table, but I get to play in every game?” I said. After some discussion they agreed, so for the next hour, myself and 8 Lovina locals had a good old time, laughing at each other’s mistakes. I bought 5 of them a beer, and they were great vibes. The weird thing was the whole time, a German comedy routine was being broadcast over the speakers. Sounded funny, I just couldn’t understand it, neither could any of the locals.
The nightclub opened at midnight and I went down half an hour later. Price of admission was 50,000rp for ‘bules’, and inside I observed the circular dancefloor, under a dome like roof. Kind of like the inside of a church, but with thumping techno. Sitting at the bar, I enjoyed watching Liverpool thump Fulham 4-0, Premiership soccer, seemingly available anywhere in the universe, the nightclub slowly filling up. Clientele at Volcano seemed to consist largely of Balinese locals, male and female. There was a scattering of tourists, again male and female. After about and hour and a half, I had to leave. Techno just isn’t my deal, and the smoke was getting to me. All the same, hats off to the people who built Volcano. Its like a ‘mini Double Six’ on the north coast, and for those who want to ‘party like a rock star’, here’s your place.
A large Bintang was 20,000rp at the pool bar and 25,000rp inside the nightclub. There is a decent menu also.
source : www.baliblog.com
December 11th, 2006
Lovina was originally a string of villages, that collectively came to be known as Lovina, after the last king of Buleleng, built his holiday home in Kaliasem, and named it ‘Lovina’. Riding from Lovina towards Seririt this morning, I pulled off the road and headed towards the beach.
Up here its all grey / black volcanic sands, which is still okay. Looking inland from the coast towards the highlands, there was lovely scenery, rice fields, trees and green slopes. It hasn’t rained on the north coast for a long time, but in the Lovina area, they have obviously figured out their water supply.
Seririt is a junction town on the north coast, 10kms west of Lovina. Riding through Seririt feels like riding through any other large Balinese local town. There’s always a market and the remnants of that are left scattered all over the place. There’s a local bank and shops selling fans, pots and pans etc, not much for a westerner. My usual way to view the stretch from Pupuan to Seririt, is by jamming downhill in a car, on my way to Lovina, usually with guests. Having the chance to do a slow cruise the opposite way, heading in from the coast was awesome. Living on the south coast, I think I have some preconcieved ideas about the north coast, (barren, poverty stricken, ramshackle etc.) and some of those are true, but the scenery is lovely.
Heading up the slope, the curving roads were not so much switchbacks, but bends, allowing a decent speed to be maintained. Either side of the road were often wonderful views, which gave way to steep sided forest and tighter bends. Land prices must be cheap up there, as there didn’t appear to be any indication of westerners.
source : www.baliblog.com
December 11th, 2006
A pitstop made in heaven is too good to miss. Sanda Bukit Villas, just south of Pupuan, has been mentioned on this site many times, and today I visited while passing through. A pot of ginger tea and a large bowl of potato and leek soup were just the ticket, for a warm up after the cloudy nature of the highlands took a few degrees out of me. The owner, Ted, from Holland, told me yesterday they had some Balinese guests, who were on their way to a ceremony. Sanda Butik Villas is the place that travel writer Bill Dalton, told me he goes to for relaxation. That’s a guy who wrote THE BOOK on Indonesia, talking.
We chatted for a while and I told
Ted and his wife, they should give
Poincianna Resort a try, next time they are on the
NE coast.
Poincianna is another little haven for a weary traveller, run by the lovely Nyoman. Hey I’ve even got the coords (
08 09.124S, 115 25.127E). The place is located on the NE coast south of Tejakula.
Rain was not looking like a probability today, so I said goodbye to Ted and his wife, leaving my poncho tucked inside my motorbike seat, heading downhill towards Antosari.
source : www.baliblog.com
December 11th, 2006
Call me an inquisitive devil, but I can’t resist riding my motorbike down narrow country lanes. Not exactly sure waht I’m expecting to see, or even hoping to see, but the draw of discovery pulls me along. After Sanda Bukit Villas, Antosari, a junction on the busy road to Tabanan, was my next point. Riding the main road east for a few kilometers, a narrow side road presented itself, and off I went. Craters and bumps quickly replaced the smooth tarmac of the main road, local Balinese people doing a ‘double take’, of this weird looking dude, all wrapped up, going past their house.
The road I took ran directly north, parallel to the road coming down from Pupuan, but this one deep into kampung Bali. Old ladies carring sickles, bare-chested men, strolling around in sarongs, shacks with mud yards, it was all here. The route narrowed, giving me an indication of the traffic. Tarmac was replaced by 2 muddy tire tracks, which eventually became 1. At that point I called it quits and turned back, my wheels slipping a bit due to their ‘city style’ tread. Off to one side of the trail, was a valley dotted with palm trees, extending to the horizon, not much happening but plenty of space to build.
The side trip took around 45 minutes and I was glad I did it. Back on the main road heading towards Tabanan, the local pecalang (banjar traffic cops) had created a temporary raodblock, to allow a procession of Balinese women, carrying bantens of fruit, on their heads, to pass. It was a great sight to behold, as they wore white kebayas and were all in perfect order. Having a camera dangling around my neck, allowed me to snap a photo over the heads of the pack of riders surrounding me, with the engine still running. Further along on the road to Tanah Lot a Barong, was going for a stroll, together with accompanying musicians. Some great sights to be seen on a sunday in Bali.
source : www.baliblog.com
December 11th, 2006
Just out of Seririt today, I stopped at a petrol station. Man, these things are popping up like villas (I can say that in Bali!). You will find sparkling Pertamina stations all over Bali, along many main roads. In Seminyak there is a relatively new one at Jl. Kunti / Sunset Rd. Riding a motorbike you have 2 options for petrol, go to the station and line up, or buy it from the racks on the street.
Station sell petrol cheaper and of better quality, though can, take longer to fill up, as all the locals use them. The deal is you look for the bike lane, get in line, put the bike in neutral, with the kick stand down and the seat up.
Everytime someone gets served you can roll your bike forward one place. Pushing in line, is something locals sometime do, with ‘bules’ and each other. Its not meant to be aggressive, so try not to overeact. The price of petrol on the street racks is 5,000rp per liter. My 100CC Honda Supra Fit holds 3 liters. I’ve seen some crazy things in my time, including one petrol vendor across from Bintang supermarket, who didn’t have a funnel, and couldn’t be bothered to go over the road and buy one. As he tilted the Absolut (they love these bottles) over to get to my centrally located petrol tank, half a cup of petrol splashed all over my bike. He repeated this 2 more times. If you are driving around Bali in a hire car, and have to top up with the bottled petrol, don’t worry, it won’t kill the car.
source : www.baliblog.com
December 11th, 2006