Bali Baybay

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2011

So we've been in Bali for a little over two weeks.  I must say, Bali is one of, if not, my favorite place so far.  We arrived on the 4th, spent a night in Kuta, which is the beachside tourist enclave.  You'll walk down the streets being harassed with a few phrases, ultimately saying the same thing: Please spend your money here.  A few of my favorites: you buy? transport, transport? massage? cheap cheap (which sounds more like chip chip).  Anyway, after one wild night in Kuta and nearly escaping a night in a bed bug ridden room by the skin of our teeth, we headed out on the four hour ride to Amed through the tiny winding mountain roads framed by terraced rice paddies.

Katy, breaking it down in Kuta like only she can

The thing to do in Amed is chill, chill and chill some more.  Squeeze in a few awesome meals (gado-gado being my favorite), a game of chess or two, a cup of Bali coffee in the late afternoon and a long seaside walk if weather permits and you've got Amed all wrapped up.  There is also supposed to be really beautiful at a big wreck a short boat ride away, but the seas were too murky because of the rain the whole time we were there to do any diving.  No matter though, I still thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Amed, taking in the scenery, talking to locals and watching the sun move slowly across the sky.

Photo by Katy: Local kids flying kites in Amed

Marcelle and the rice paddies

Meet Gadi, a Berkley man who Marcelle and Katy met at some other point in the journey.  He spent a few days chilling with us in Amed.

Our little bungalow by the sea in Amed

Kids playing with water bottle boats in the black sands of Amed

Mama Warung, our home in Amed for a few days

One of the main industries in Amed is salt making.  These large structures are used in the salt making process.  Apparently, they need four consecutive days of sunshine to make salt, something that Amed hasn't had in 2 years.

Their other industry is fishing, which has also been affected by the consistent rain that Amed has seen for the past years. Sonny, the owner of our bungalow is a fisherman and salt maker by trade.  He says he hasn't been able to fish for at least a year because of the change in weather patterns.

Little hams, on their way to fly kites.  Tons of people would get together every day on the beach and fly kites for hours.  It was a lot of fun and harder than it looks.  I tried once and just kept nose diving my kite into the ground again and again.

Just a little porch chillin'

The family that owns Mama Warung flying some kites shoreside.

This was the walk we took to get from our bungalow the road.  That is the only road that runs through Amed.  It was really funny walking along the road because everyone would always ask you where you were going, and not in an attempt to sell you transport or get you to go to their place, they were genuinely interested in where you were off to 9 times out of 10.

Fishing boats framed by the sea and the volcano which is the highest point in Bali.  It's hard to see it because of the clouds, but you can just trust me that it's there and that it's huge.

Sonny breaking out the motor bikes for our little joy ride.

Strange fruit.

At one point, Marcelle stopped, turned off her bike, and then it wouldn't turn back on.  I had to wave a friendly moto rider off the road to help us start it after about ten minutes of failed attempts at starting the bike.

It was raining more times than not while we were in Amed, so we had to find ways to entertain ourselves indoors.    Oh, how I love Katy.

After a few days in Amed it was back to Kuta for us for a little hustle and bustle by the white sand beaches and big waves littered with surfers.