Road trip with Miguel to Karangasem Bali

I got a call from my friend Miguel on Wednesday last week wanting to know if I was up for a road trip to a new part of Bali. He was refering to Karangasem which is an old part of Bali but new to us. I said sure, I know the folks who read the blog would be up for it, virtually that is.

Next morning I went to Café Moka and hurriedly ate some bread and had a coffee. I bumped into Patrice, the guy from France with the figurines, he’s still trying to move them and is looking for a big buyer. Anyway Miguel ( real name not used due to shyness ) sms’d me and said get ready for midday. I packed my daypack with swimming gear, lungi, hunting knife and sunscreen. This time I did have underwear to bring and felt ready for anything.

Miguel had asked me to pick up chicken, salad and bread so I obliged and did a swoop through Bintang supermarket on Jl. Legian. They actually have some good food there.

Miguel had told me an acquaintance of his owned a small hotel down on the coast of Karangasem and raved about how quiet it was. I was ready for this and it was a 4 day public holiday. Miguel showed up in a Toyota Kijang SUV and we took off. There was an air of excitement I must say as we had known each other since 1988 and this was the first road trip we’d done together.

We hit the highway heading east and were amazed at the lack of traffic, it felt like a Sunday. We cruised down the new coast highway and the closer to Karangasem we got the more we talked about how beautiful it was. The green trees, paddy fields and ocean views were so lovely and unexpected. We cranked up a Rush album and looked forward to what was ahead.

The place we were heading for was called Jasri on the coast. An acquaintance of Miguel’s called Mark Crip owns a small hotel there and had invited him to check it out. Miguel said Mark’s nickname was either Cripsy or Crispy. I said there’s no way an Aussie is going to be called Crispy.

We sailed through Candi Dasa which looked to me quite a scenic place complete with tourist hotels and restaurants and through Ahmad Yani St to Jasri, turning right at the T- junction toward the beach.

Jasri is a tiny place but we still had to find our buddy’s place and asked this lady at the beach for directions. Miguel can talk the ears of a stray dog when it comes to Indonesian and got her to direct us.

Mark’s place is called Kangkung Cottages and is a set of 2 storey structures built from scratch over paddies fields. We pulled up and immediately ran into Paul an Aussie friend who lives here too. Mentioning I did a travel web site Paul told me they didn’t want any of that kind of stuff bringing people here. I hope the Baliblog / BootsnAll people are the kind of people he would like.

Mark rolled up and we got introduced.

Mark is 49 years old and is from Wollongong NSW Australia. He has spent 30 years in the merchant navy and does a stint of 7 weeks on, 7 weeks off on a ship that goes from Melbourne to Tasmania to Sydney carrying cement.

He has been coming to Bali since 1971 and moved here full time 12 years ago. Likes the lifestyle, freedom, surf and the people. Says Mark ‘I’ve never been much for rules and Australia is turning into a police state.’

Mark told me he was a 16 year old kid on a merchant ship passing Indonesia and one day saw giant waves crashing off the coast. Being a surfer he asked the bosan where they were. The bosun said ‘that’s the coast of Bali’. Mark told himself he would return and did later that year. Back in Sydney he went to a travel agent and asked for a ticket to Bali. The travel agent didn’t know where Bali was but found it on the map. There were no direct flights and Mark had to fly through Jakarta. He arrived in Bali and it was a whole new world. Kuta was totally undeveloped and there were paddy fields everywhere. Back in those days western uptightness hadn’t reached Bali and Mark saw a procession of 40 ladies strolling down to the beach holding offerings over their heads wearing nothing but a sarong around their waists.

Miguel and I went upstairs and each got a double room, complete with huge mosquito net and outside bathroom. Its really cool how the place is set up. It actually faces away from the beach and towards Mt. Agung. There is a cement wall separating the bathrooms from the paddy fields and looking over mine I can see the beach. When the surf starts pumping you can hear it.

Mark’s staff did all the decorating here including the murals, paintings and cement artwork. They even took the liberty to include a Mark like character in one of the rooms. His reputation preceeds him.

In the construction of the house they attempted to do round pillars made from large stones in the restaurant area and use polished coconut beams for the frame of the roof. Coconut floor boards too.

Mark’s staff are like family. I know that is an over used cliché but its true. The staff all hang out and eat, drink, watch tv. Now that tourism is down business is slack but Mark won’t let any of his staff go. He prefers to do the ship job to keep things running.

………………………………………………………………………………………

I got to chat to Mark and do a mini interview. Here’s what he told me:

Nick: This area is wonderful how did you find it?:

Mark: I found this area through Paul in 1995. I started coming to surf the east coast 10 years ago. There is a uniqueness here that I feel is the real Bali.

Nick : What are some of the Balinese attitudes that you don’t agree with ?:

Mark: Attitudes on road accidents. They’ll say ‘you are a tourist and if you weren’t here this wouldn’t of happened.’

How have things changed for you after the bombing?:

Mark: Things changed after the bombing, the staff at the airport were more friendly.

Nick: What are some of the strangest things that have happened to you since you have been in Bali?:

Mark: One of the strangest things that ever happened to me was going to a funeral and having to sleep under the body. This happened a couple of weeks ago up in Singaraja. It was a relative of Kadek and all the males relatives were in this big basement. The body was on ice and everyone was sleeping on the floor. I was right at the end underneath the body and the condensation was dripping on me. I couldn’t sleep so sneakily rolled 2 local guys over and hopped into their place. They were mad in the morning when they found out.

Another weird thing that happended was nearly getting run off a cliff by a truck. A couple of my workers and me were going from Singaraja to Kintamani and I was going around this cliff road. The other driver just kept coming right at me and literally tried to run us over the cliff. I turned around, caught up with him and pulled him over. One of my boys put a rock through his windsheild.

Nick: How much development have you seen in this area?:

Mark: Here in Jasri development has gone ahead but it hasn’t been too bad. Right across from us is a Dutch retirement center, a collection of bungalows. The people are pretty good really, very quiet and low impact.

Nick: If you could change some things here in Bali what would you change?

Mark: Pollution is a big worry in Bali. They need to start doing proper garbage collections and taking care of the rivers. A couple of years ago in the wet season ( when a lot of junk gets washed down from the hills ) I was surfing out at Canggu. I got 20 meters out and I was swimming through plastic. I thought ‘oh no give me a break!!!’.

I talked to the local banjar about garbage collection and they said ‘who will do it, where do we take it?’.

Nick: What would you say to a tourist about to come to Bali?:

Mark: My comment to a new tourist arriving in Bali would be ‘enter with an open mind.’

Nick: Do you see yourself retiring here and if so what would you say to other people who might be thinking of doing the same?:

Mark: I see myself retiring here. Its not hard to arrange but you have to make sure your back up systems ( health care, banking etc. ) are in place.

Nick: why is your place unique for a visitor?:

Mark: We’re located 2.5 hours from Kuta. This area has unique Balinese cooking and my staff will cook and bbq fish, chicken, pork etc. for you.

I have 8 rooms in total ( 4 doubles upstairs, 4 twins downstairs ) which will go for 80,000-100,000rp for 1 night.

The whole construction and design of this place is unique. It was designed without anything being written down and constructed by locals without outside help or power tools. The whole idea was in our heads.

A friend from Kuta helped with the foundations and planning. The foundations were easily the most expensive part. We had 3 pumps going all the time getting the water out. I couldn’t believe how far down we had to go but we made it. When it was ready all we did was turn the pumps off and the place just filled up with water in no time.

My boys found a petrified tree stump at the bottom of the pond which had to be removed. I had the boys down there with masks and snorkels sawing it. It now sits outside one of the rooms and is about 4ft tall. It was probably blasted in the air when Mt. Agung erupted in 1963 and landed in the pond.

This place is perfect for anyone who wants to get away from Kuta, old people, young couple etc. A while ago a retired company executive from Australia came out here for 2 days and stayed a month. Now he comes back every once in a while.

Nick: What are the highlights of this area?:

Mark: The highlights of this area are Mt.Agung of course, the mountains, ocean, natural swimming springs, fishing, swimming and hiking. The slow paced lifestyle here is another wonderful bonus and you have to make of it what you can.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Miguel and I started visualizing what we could organize out here, weekend long bbq’s, mountain hikes, bring your favorite girl…you name it.

Friday night the staff bbq’d the chicken we brought, plus a huge fish that one of the guys had caught. Miguel made a salad and I chatted to Mark helping him to get acquainted with our Bintang collection. After dinner Miguel, Chalis ( one of the guys ) and myself went to Amlapura to see what was shaking. Nothing was so we came back an hour later. Amlapura wasn’t at all hot in the evening and very pleasant.

Mark’s got the sweetest ‘71 Jeep. The thing is and eye catcher and on Saturday morning we went with himdown a dirt road to a beach close to the hotel through a coconut plantation. There were a few kids and locals doing their thing and some were a bit shy. At the end of the beach was a small stream. You can enjoy the salty ocean water for swimming and then jump in here for a fresh water rinse. Is this heaven or what? ( no not my pasty body, the location with Mt.Agung behind ).

Mark’s lovely wife of 1 month Kadek came down to the beach on a motorbike. Although she doesn’t speak a word of English she has a sweet personality and we joked that Miguel jabbered all the time. Kadek said he was like a duck ( quack ,quack, quack ) and called him ‘bebek’ when he came along.

Later in the day we all went to the ‘emperors pool’ at Tirta Gangga where I had been a week earlier with Mick, Evan and the girls. This time the sun was out so I swam in the main pool for about 30 minutes….lovely and cold. Here’s what the info sheet on the Tirta Gangga water garden say.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

In 1948 the Last Rajah of Karangasem, Anak Agung Agung Anglurah Ketut Karangasem, built this water garden around a natural spring named ‘Rejasa”. He called it ‘Titragangga’ ( Tirta = holy water and Ganngga = from the Ganges). The spring originally emerged under the big banyan tree at the foot of a stony hill where the neighboring community of Temega built their village temple.

Not only did he design the garden himself, but he used to work along side the laborers, often standing knee deep in the water, covered in mud. It was always a great surprise for visitors watching the work in progress to spot the tiny figure of the Rajah among his workers.

The Garden is 1.2 hectares ( 4 acres ) and consists of 3 levels stretching from east to west. On the highest ground at the north were his pavillions and residence, still occupied by 2 of his grandsons, part of which has been converted into the Tirta Ayu restaurant and homestay.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Back at the hotel I went down to the beach for a stroll and saw locals going about their business. Many people were very friendly including Komang, Kadek and Komang. At the beach front I chatted with Mark’s friend Made and her new baby, who works in her family store at the beach with her sister Kadek.

Kadek told me to come on down for a chat after work so around 10.30 pm I strolled down there and bought a Coke from her mum who was operating the shop. I saw the father sleeping on structure outside waiting to close the shop, Kadek had already retired for the night. I knew exactly where she was, about 15 meters away in a little room with the light on but decided this location was a bit close for comfort.

This picture might not mean much to most people but it is the SW corner of Lombok, a place called Desert Point which has been rated the best wave in the world for surfing. Desert Point juts out into the Lombok strait which is one of the deepest straits in the world. The currents flowing south through this are fierce and when a big swell from the south comes along, combined with an off shore wind it ‘tube city’. Mark said most surfers want to get ‘tubed’. At Desert Point you are going to, its just a matter of whether you can handle it. When conditions are right you can expect large tubes that are fast and powerful and actually get stronger as they go on.

On Sunday morning after a omelette for breakfast I strolled down the road to the nearest beach. I swim like a rock so Miguel had lent me his fins. The waves were quite rough and one of them almost came off during my swim. I struggled in, got battered around a bit on the rocky shore and removed both fins, returning to finish my swim unaided. This area is special because the shore is covered in black volcanic sand and rocks spat out by Mt. Agung on its last eruption in 1963. Stand in front of a big wave and you will get stones fired at you if you’re not careful.

This was a typical Sunday morning, everyone hanging out a the tiny shack at the beach, kids surfing the beach break, mothers feeding their kids and the guys passing around the arak….it was 10am after all.

Paul, Mark Miguel and myself eventually took off just before midday in 2 Jeeps and the Kijang. On the coast highway home Paul and Mark left us to check out surf somewhere And we continued. Then we had our little drama. We had just seen the ‘bule’ in front of us in a Jeep almost kill 2 locals on motorbikes trying to overtake them. Miguel said ‘did you see that man, that guy is going to have an accident.’ We were trying to pass the dump truck he had just passed and Miguel misjudged our clearance and rammed the truck smashing our left side headlight. On inspection our hood, front wing and door had been affected. The dump truck guys immediately started whining about their damage, but stopped when Miguel pointed out that he hit a quarter inch thick metal plate that was on the back of their truck.

We carried on, Miguel now in deep depression at the thought of how much this was going to cost.

On the way home we stopped for some noodles and wonton which I bought to cheer him up.

I got dropped off and set about charging up my phone which was out of pulsa and juice.

I had a 4pm appointment with my friend Putu and will tell you about that another time.

Karangasem is awesome. I’m not going to say its paradise but that word did cross my mind when I was there. I think for someone who really is into strolling down the road to the beach and drinking a beer with the locals or hanging out and enjoying the climate this is great spot.

Related Posts

• Benny's Cafe Happy Hour in Bali
• Local photos - Kuta Beach and Poppies Lane
• Chris arrived in Bali
• Sunday at the beach with old friends and new in Legian Bali
• Sunset time on Kuta Beach Bali

Subscribe Bali RSS Feed

Print

Share