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Michael on motocycle
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Our driver Putu arrived on time and picked us up - a nice guy but much quieter than Bobi! We loaded our things (for the record we packed WAY too much this trip) and off we went. Good bye Lovina!!
Putu suggested a few stops along the way but all had been done 2 days prior en-route to Lovina so we kept on - with a short stop to have a tire changed.
Along the way we passed through the hill sides once again - so beautiful and cool (most of the vegetables and fruit are grown here). Past the beautiful temple by the lake and more amazing rice field/terrace vistas. An uneventful trip (good!!) and we arrived in Jimbaran - the seafood capital of Bali. We stopped for lunch at small cafe/restaurant on the beach for some fresh seafood. We ordered and picked our own fish - 1x 1.5KG Red snapper and 1X1.2Kg white snapper (I much prefer white snapper - not quite as fishy tasting and much firmer fish). Ohhhh sooo good!! fresh seafood with all the fixings - $60.00 for 3 people (tax/tipo included).
Off we went to Uluwatu - 2 phone calls later and we arrived at our new destination - Mamo Hotel (we were scheduled for Padang-Padang Breeze but suddenly found out it did not have air conditioning so quickly changed plans). Beautiful spot - nice spacious room, great pool and motorbikes for rent. (hmmm.... should we???)
We checked in, bid farewell to Putu and settled our stuff. We decided to walk to the left out on the main street to see where all the crowds were headed - ahhhh... surf spots! Clambering down a multitude of concrete and stone steps, we reached the bottom cave where most surfers start their adventure - for those of you who watched Amazing Race this year - this is where it was filmed - in addition to the Sacred Monkey Forest in Ubud). Beautiful colours in the water, huge cliffs and tons of small restaurants/bars line the edge. We stopped for a quick drink - took about 100 photos of the surfers, water and waves splashing against the rocks, then headed back for a rest from the heat. We had planned on going back for sunset until we realized we could see it from outside our room - right to the ocean - so snapped a few from there - not the best sunset though - too may clouds out over the Indian Ocean.
Dinner back down at the cliffs, then home to bed - the heat really drains you!!
Friday morning we awoke early and headed across the road for breakfast. We came back and decided "what the hell" - lets rent a motorbike (remember... I don't have a motorcycle license nor have I ever driven one before). A quick 5 minute lesson and off we went - slowly!!
Our first stop was the Uluwatu Temple - sitting high on a cliff. About a 15 minute bike ride away - it was very quiet (evenings are crazy because of the Kecak dance and sunset) so we opted of lesser crowds. After being warned to keep your hat, glasses, everything inside your backpack due to the aggressive monkeys off we went. They didn't bother us this time, however one poor girl from China was mobbed by them - one pulling on her sarong while one tried to take off her shoes!! I helped chase them away and once we got through the worst of it, had to have my picture taken with her and her friend - guess I was the hero!
The scenery from the temple was amazing - so high up and the huge waves crashing down below - amazing - we took tons of pictures. We walked around for about an hour then headed back to the hotel taking a longer route to get more used to driving the motorbike. Back to the hotel, we gathered our bathing suits and headed by bike to Padang-Padang Beach - one of a few great swimming spots. Climbing down more steps (oh no we have to climb back UP!) we reached the beautiful white sand beach -it's quite small and crowded but everyone was friendly and we found a spot to leave out things. Into the Indian Ocean we go - ahhh so refreshing! I LOVE swimming in the ocean. We spend about 2.5 hours there, swimming, sitting around people watching and had a light lunch (fried noodles) at one of the local spots - poor girl working - a monkey came out of no where and stole a bag of chips from her stall!
Back on our bike and back to the hotel for a swim in the pool, another Bintang and an update on the blog - next stop tomorrow Jimbaran for a private villa with swimming pool!
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