Waking up on Thursday morning in Jasri Ika and I quickly ate some breakfast (omelette, toast and coffee) and said goodbye to Mark and Kadek.
Ika had never been this far east before and I wanted to give her a tour of the coast line before heading back. For me one of the most enjoyable and contrasting areas of Bali is the SE corner because of the changing climate from rice-belt, to corn-belt and then to an even more barren type of landscape.
Our Suzuki Katana bounced over the road but was perfect when we came across another car coming the opposite way along the narrow coastal road from Ujung to Amed. I think the Suzuki is a pretty decent vehicle for Bali. It parks easily, handles the narrow alleys of Kuta and has AC, something you’ll be glad to have on a smog filled road. I am 5′ 10″ (1 meter 80cm) and its okay for me to drive. A taller person might need a Peroja or a Kijang.
As we drove the winding headlands overlooking the Lombok Strait Ika commented that this part of Bali feels more like Java and liked the way people say hello and wave.
I talked to a couple of locals who told me the water-table was very low and many of the wells were completely dried up. We could see trucks delivering cans of water to villages.
The farming out in this part of the island is quite different as the rainfall is much lower and having no lakes or rivers to feed the ocean side of Gunung Lempuyang and Gunung Seraya. When the large volcano, Gunung Agung exploded in 1963 it sprayed the area with ask and rocks. There are so many rocks on the hillsides its amazing and the locals have lined the rocks up separating the terraces they use to grow vegetable and keep their cattle. Of course as the road swings down to the coast fishing plays an important part in the local economy. Further around the coast westerners have set up dive shops and nice hotels which is really fortunate for the locals because even on this barren outcrop of Bali they have access to western money and the chance to interact with westerners to learn English and perhaps form relationships.
Stopping into Blue Moon / Komang John’s hotel/ restaurant close to Lipah I saw the same staff as last time here with Barrie and Candika. The waitress Iluh is a new mother and told us she lived in a village several miles away. I ordered chicken satay for 32,000rp which was good. Ika got soto ayam (chicken soup) which was more noodles than soup and came with tomato and hard boiled egg.
Driving along the coast we spotted Iluh and offered her a ride. She insisted we stopped at her families home on the main road to Amed and see her baby boy Putu. Putu is 4 months old and when he is 7 months he will get his head shaved as part of the Balinese tradition.
It always tickles me how fragments of the English language get used in signs and t-shirts over here, the owner often having no idea of what the meaning is. On Iluh’s front gate in foot high letters someone has spray painted ‘FUCK VOLCOM’ (a surf product company). I’m sure the aunties and uncles don’t give it a second glance as they pass by.
Iluh’s husband Nyoman was sitting under the bale with his father, mother and granny as well another kids. I asked him what he did for a living and he said ‘tidak ada’…don’t have, meaning he is unemployed. He didn’t look like he was desperate to find a job either which makes me think Iluh is going to be mother and provider for the foreseeable future.
We stayed for about 20 minutes and took off in the direction of Amed. The change in scenery is quite apparent and heading inland from Celik we stopped and gazed down the valley heading to the ocean. The road eventually lead to Tirtagangga which was full of domestic tourists enjoying their public holiday.
Our drive back to Kuta late in the afternoon took us through Amlapura, the largest town in the region with a slightly muslim influence and on to Klungkung, even more muslim. You can get from Amed to Amlapura in about 35 minutes and from there Klungkung is about another 40 minutes. Of course it depends who’s driving. When its me I go rather slow to avoid accidents and enjoy the scenery. If you are a ’speed racer’ you can cut chunks off the time.
The coastal highway extends as far as Klungkung and to access it I drove to the small roundabout in town, which is down the hill from the large bridge and waterfall. The sign says to go right towards Gianyar but instead I headed straight for the coast and several minutes later was at the highway. The ride back to Kuta took about an hour and 15 minutes due to rush hour traffic. Unbelievebly it took 1 hour to go from the roundabout at Simpang Siur to Poppies Lane II. The intense traffic levels with all the domestic tourists from Java and some lunatic traffic control (blocking off entire streets and leaving everyone to figure out their own solution) saw us winding through alleys along with all the other confused drivers. It was lunacy and I was so glad to have the AC.
I got home around 8pm and had my own adventures getting to an internet café. The motorbike would start and my local café had no connection. Anyway things worked out well and once again the differences between East Bali and ‘tourist central’ are stark.
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Isn’t there any sense of shame doing nothing and letting your wife provide for you and the rest of the family? A woman in this position would be better off getting a divorce and going back to her own parents and taking her baby son with her. Then, not only would the husband lose a good wife, but his parents would lose their security for their old age. I suppose because a lazy husband knows this is not likely to happen, he thinks he can get away with anything. Maybe Balinese tradition is not a good thing in this respect.