Amed

We left Ubud and traveled to Amed which is a small fishing village on the north side of the island. The drive was about 3 hours and very windy. Everyone seemed relieved to finally be out of the car. We stayed at the Hidden Paradise Cottages. The rooms were OK. They are older buildings made from brick and painted over. That and the tinted windows reminded me of late 70's American subdivisions, not really a good thing. So we spent lots of time at the pool and the snorkeling was pretty amazing right offshore. I don't want it to sound like I didn't have a good time, Ahmed was a very cool place and the HPC were just not up to the same level as our amazing places in other parts. Here are some pics:

 One of the last pictures with Geo in wings, that's right Geo learned to swim solo in this very pool.

This is the result of Lola wearing goggles all day. She had this bad habit of pushing her goggles into her her face to create a vacuum so that her goggles were sealed. All marks were gone quickly but it looked so bad for a bit.

Walking down the beach to dinner.

Enjoying my best purchase in Bali, my 22 ounce Bin Tang beer cozy. Never drinking ever warming beer again, that is my mission!

Rented a scooter and did as the Balinese. We got the whole family on it and explored the local area. There is something magic about a two wheeled vehicle. You are in it, not insulated from it. Your field of view is where ever you turn your head. And the best? The intimacy of it all. My wife is right behind me arms wrapped around me. It is like the intimacy of the bench seat in the huge early American cars. Slide on over baby. Only difference is that you are not carrying around all that pointless Detroit steel. Just the bare minimum of material and displacement to get to where you need to go. The gas mileage you ask? Well lets just say that it doesn't even matter. I could not have emptied the tank during the short time we were here.

 Drinks out on our scooter excursion. Lola slamming a banana smoothy.

That was it, back to Dhaka and our home sweet home!

Ubud

We rented a house on the north end of Ubud, a nice place called the Paper Lotus. To get to it we drove throught the main street in Ubud. We passed the Monkey Forest and were in traffic for a half hour driving past all the shops and restaurants. It became obvious that Ubud has become a very touristy spot. It does not seem as if much remains of the traditional arts except for the antique shops. Lots of western style clothing shops and jewelry and restaurants with international food and free wifi. WE finally arrived at our house which turned out to be the best place that we had stayed yet. Here it is:

We found a very cool coffee shop close to the monkey forests called "Coffee and Silver" it had a great style and good food too but not very Balinese...

We did a bicycle tour that bused us up to a coffee plantation for coffee, breakfast overlooking a volcano, bike downhill for 25 kilometers, and then lunch. There was lots of cool vistas that I did not photoducment... riding through rice paddies etc. George brought his camera so the following pics are courtesy of George Gibbs.

The kids were in love with the helmets!

 Jessica receiving some services from the tour's pit crew.

 Me and my machine... I've had better.

I took a little bike ride on my own to check out the local architecture. I could not find my original destination but here are some pics to give you a feel.

Next stop is the Elephant Safari Park Lodge to see elephants. Lola got to ride one and she was so excited she agreed to go all by herself. Afterward she kept talking about "her" elephant, Ramona, and now she wants to be a zoo keeper.

 After the ride Lola and Geo feed "her" elephant.

We spent went out to a restaurant called Clear for New Years Eve. They are probably better know for their blended drinks (think hippy grooviness like Ginger Mint lemongrass smoothy stuff). The most telling think I could say is that they don't even serve alcohol there... I know! Luckily we stopped and grabbed some brew from the local Circle K before going. Here is the group shot courtesy of Robyn's camera and the hostess as our photographer:

Happy new year! Next stop is Amed.

Nusa Lembongan

We left our home in Sanur on Christmas Eve Eve and took a ferry out to Nusa Lembongan. It is a small island east off the southern tip of Bali. We used Scoot Fast Cruise, which was nicely run and not too expensive. It was another example of the great dichotomy of travel. We arrived in a cove that was full of floating water slides and large party boats. Luckily they were just there for the day, you know to get sunburned and drink beer. After getting off the ferry we were shuttled in the back of a small truck up and over the hill to the next cove over. A fun ride that the kids loved. Took me back to the days as kids when we used to ride in the back of pickups all summer. Here we are in the shuttle (Photo courtesy of George Gibbs)

We stayed at the Waka Nusa Hotel which we booked through Agoda. Cool overall experience. Once you leave the road it is all sand paths through the huts to the office. We were greeted with cold towels and fresh watermelon juice. Here is a picture of our room:

There is an air of going back in time (no TV's annoying alarm clocks, telephones or internet) and yet it was comfortable (hot water, AC, and electricity). Of course, no one would come here for to stay in their room all day! So here are some pictures of the real reasons to come here: White sand beaches, clear water and nice views.

Waka Nusa was a great place to stay. They have free boat rides out to good snorkeling, free kayak rental, free bikes and a great complimentary breakfast. This is the only picture I have of the pool which does not really do it just justice... but I am looking good! (Photo courtesy of George Gibbs)

We found a favorite local restaurant and ate there a lot because the food was good, the Bin Tang was cheap and the view was great! Here a few pictures:

I love this picture in the restaurant. Notice the sand floor, perfect for letting the kids play so we could focus on the beer and the view. (Photo courtesy of George Gibbs)

Thanks Robyn for getting this fabulous family portrait! Also at our favorite hangout. Love it when the kids are so tired from the day that they pass out at diner.

We had our Christmas morning here in front of the Christmas tree the Hotel had up. It is such a weird feeling to have Christmas on a beach in perfect weather but we made due...

Kids with presents and the parents with coffee.

The hit was the fake mustaches...

What beach Christmas is complete without a Santa sand sculpture? For the next couple of days it was "Dad, can you make Santa and Miss Claus again?" (Photo courtesy of Robyn Gibbs)

Jessica arranged for me to go surfing Christmas day. I rented a short longboard and went out to a break called "Playground". It is a reef break which I was very nervous about but the swell was mellow and I actually got up. I road some white water and actually caught one wave. Surfed until my arms felt like they would fall off (not very long) and my ribs hurt. Good day! Sadly it was time to move on, I would have liked to have spent more time here though. Next stop, Ubud.

Sanur

Sanur is a cool little town that is close to the airport on the East side of the Southern Tip of Bali. It is coastal and the pace of life is nice and mellow. The architecture is fun. Everything is detailed, the smallest railing is flourished, any visible piece of wood is carved and painted. Here is a pic of a standard wall in Bali, obsess much?

Its Scooter mania here. Not quite as bad as Thailand but they've got it bad for their scooters, Let these pictures do the talking...

 But this one is my personal vavorite... This guy seems to have the goods the ladies need...

The religious beliefs dictate that the people leave offerings to the various gods. They are these little baskets made of palms that have banana leaves, rice, flowers, sometimes money, sometimes cigaretts. here is a good one. This stone sculpture has been rapped, given many offerings and seems to have quite the smoking habbit.

Food was reasonably priced and decent. It was a great place to start our vacation in Bali. We stayed at the Villa Warna which I would recommend to anyone. It is southern Sanur nestled in the residential area. It was very quiet and comfortable. The web site claims that it is only 200 meters to the beach which is way off (it is more like 750) but it was easily walkable. We walked to most of our meals and enjoyed daily tropical rain storms. My only complaint about Sanur were the overzealous taxi drivers. We were asked almost constantly if we needed a taxi and when we said no, they would ask, "Maybe tomorrow?" The local people seemed to be very friendly and love their island. Our favorite places to eat were the Massimo Italian Restaurant. The food was amazing and they have a gelato bar! We also ate at a restaurant that I cannot remember the name of with tables on the beach that had a great whole snapper. Here are some pics from our restaurant on the beach...

 The local Balinese gas stations are great! They are clear bottles that they fill with gas. They are placed in these simple racks on the side of the road. The best ones use absolute vodka bottles. I think it is some sort of commentary on fuel being the alcohol of of transportation... or maybe they are just the right size.

During our stay in Sanur we took a day trip to Changgu to go to Des Ex Machina's Temple Of Enthusiasm. Check out the next post for more on Deus.