Amed

Amed and a number of villages along the eastern coast of Bali are commonly referred to as Amed. The area is mostly arid and volcanic. The beaches are of black stones rather than black sand. The area is very hilly with accommodation from the foreshore below the road, where we are, up to places perched high on the hillside. As well as paths, we have a climb of 43 steps to get up to the road.

Lots of eating places and dive shops. All activities seem to be centred on snorkelling and diving. Further up the coast is the wreck of USAT Liberty and a little further south we saw signs regarding a Japanese wreck.

Upon arrival at Rising Star Beach Resort (hahaha) we were offered one of two rooms that involved a 15 step climb. That was after the 43 step descent from the street. Both had a septic smell about them so we were eventually upgraded to a better room. They did try and get an extra Rp200,000 per night, but that wasn’t to be. Even with the room upgrade it’s very ordinary. Nicely located but well overdue for major renovation or a re-build.  Even the garden needs work. Very disappointing after the previous accommodation which was cheaper but so much better.

Yesterday, Thursday, we headed off in the car along the coast road going south. It was a very narrow road for about 30km and the average speed would have been less than 30kmh. The amount of rocks was amazing. With Bali you think of terraced rice fields. In this district the hills were terraced with rocks. You wonder how the people there eek out a livelihood.

We were taking the scenic route to Amlapura and from there onto Tirta Gangga. Amlapura is the main town and capital city of Karangasem district. A very tidy town and most unlike typical Balinese cities and villages in that regard.

Tirta Gangga (Water of the Ganges) is the site of a holy temple, great water features and magnificent rice fields. The water palace was originally built in 1948 by the last king of Karangasem and then extensively damaged by an eruption of Mt Agung in 1963 and since rebuilt.

On the way back to Amed we came the quicker inland route where we were treated to some of the typically lush tropical vegetation and terraced rice fields.

Back to the accommodation. Last night more than 10 men from Jogjakarta came and occupied the four rooms, two of which were previously offered to us. They kept Heather awake ‘half the night’. The French family have twins and one of the twins seems to have woken up grumpy, presumably the result of last night’s noise.

Still on the accommodation, the power went out each night on a number of occasions and the free wifi only worked the first day after they topped up the credit. I feel bad reviews coming up on airbnb and Trip Advisor.

Our next overnight is the Bukit peninsula, the southern end of Bali. It’s about a 100km journey so we shall leave about 10am. Two nights there and then back to Legian.