Konni & Matt - Perpetual Travellers: 19 Nov

Southeast Asia

Republic of Indonesia

Never mind Indonesia, welcome to Bali, the Island of Gods

Lovina

Kalibukbuk

Hotel Angsoka +6236241841 angsokafamily@yahoo.com

Clean and spacious twin room in a garden bungalow with air-con, breakfast for two and early-morning wake-up calls from crowing roosters and screaming pigs, which were regularly killed at dawn in order to become the disgusting pig roast aka babi guling for the carnivorous Balinese Hindus, for IDR 3,500,000.- or US$ 370.- per month (all inclusive).

Click below for an interactive road map of the Hotel Angsoka in Lovina, which we would highly recommend, and for directions:

S 08° 09.67' E 115° 01.56'

Matt: Driving our reliable 2x4 Suzuki Jimny SJ40 jeep over the mountains and through the daily traffic jam back to Bali Manis Tourist Service +623618580879 in Kuta, the crowded holiday paradise for female and male bogans of all ages, and taking thereafter the comfortable a/c Perama Tour +62361750808 shuttle bus from Kuta back to Lovina (c. 100 km, 2 hours, IDR 120,000.- or US$ 12.50 per person.

Setting up camp for the next couple of weeks at Lovina's friendly Hotel Angsoka +6236241841, enjoying the village's laid-back vibe and the volcanic black-sand Bina Ria beach, and getting plenty of R&R in our comfortable boutique hotel.

Laundering our dirty linen for IDR 10,000 or US$ 1.05 per kg, washed, dried and ironed, at the efficient local laundry on Jalan Bina Ria.

Matt: Relaxing with the regular help of Wati’s traditional, open-air Balinese massage for IDR 60,000.- or US$ 6.30 per 60-min full-body session and enjoying her long soothing strokes from head to toe, her home-made coconut massage oil and her pleasant personality.

DM Konni: Scubadiving together with experienced PADI DM Wayan from Sunrise Dive +6236241182 (IDR 250,000.- or US$ 26.- per dive, all inclusive) the coral-packed southwest walls off Menjangan Island, crowded with plenty of pelagic fish and green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas), and learning that Bali is the place of the most intensive slaughter of sea turtles in the world: more than 30,000 annually are brutally killed and eaten!

Hiring a traditional Balinese perahu fishing boat with dug-out hull and bamboo outriggers (Bambi Eva No. 47) for IDR 120,000.- or US$ 12.50 for a morning cruise (many thanks, Adek, for your excellent service and great skills) and snorkelling over the reefs off Bina Ria beach thus spotting a pointy-nosed titan triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens) and a plethora of smaller fry.

Watching many exotic Balinese Hindu ceremonies with their hypnotising prayers, colourful offerings and graceful dance performances aka legong, accompanied by metallic rhythms of a traditional orchestra aka gamelan, during the biennial festivities at the local Shiva Temple right on the beach at Kalibukbuk.

Touring the mountainous hinterland of Bali’s north coast by means of a hired Yamaha Mio 100cc motorbike (IDR 40,000.- or US$ 4.20 for the 12-hour rental from L.A. Tours & Rental +6281337031942) and exploring (i) Danau Buyan and Danau Tamblingan, two volcanic crater lakes with tiny villages and abandoned temples on their shores, (ii) Bali’s single Buddhist monastery, Brahma Vihara Arama, and (iii) the hot springs at Air Panas Banjar which percolate amid lush tropical plants.

Taking a chauffeured car for IDR 300,000.- or US$ 31.50 (thank you, Alex, for your professional and safe driving) from Lovina on Bali’s north coast over the central mountain range to Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport in the south, contributing to Indonesia’s ongoing democratisation of corruption and paying the newly introduced passenger service charge of IDR 150,000.- or US$ 16.- per person (despite our all-inclusive ticket from Air Asia), flying uneventfully with Air Asia (“Now Everyone Can Fly”) in an Airbus A 320-200 from Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport to Kuala Lumpur’s KLIA-LCCT for the steal of MYR 45.- or US$ 12.- per person, one way and almost all inclusive (see above), thus crossing the Bali Sea and the Java Sea in order to do an visa run and to renew our tourist visas for Indonesia, and being issued with a 90-day-visit pass for a “social visit” to Malaysia on arrival, free of charge.