Riding through the mountains to NW Bali

After doing the Café Moka thing and running into my friend Mark from New York I jetted off to Globe Café in Kerobokan to do some last minute e-mail before heading off to the north coast. I wanted to do a road trip and was running a bit late but anyway was on the road by 12.30pm and on my way to Bedugal. I wanted to explore the west of the island and this was a shortcut to the north coast.

In Kerobokan I stopped at the gas station and put 5,000rp of the best in my tank, I hoped it would last me a good way into the trip.

Climbing through the small villages the temperature drops and the traffic gets a lot less. I really like cruising along and checking out the daily life as it plays out in front of me.

Reaching Bedugal on the banks of Lake Bratan I saw a few tourist buses and people climbing out to admire the view. I stopped and bought a steaming hot corn on the cob from a roadside vendor. The ladies have huge pots of these, then pick out about 20 and arrange them in a ‘basket on the head’ display.

I circled around the western edge of Lake Bratan and the temple of Pura Ulun Danu Bratan then headed around the north side of Lake Buyun and Lake Tambligan in the direction of Munduk. I was able to stop at the roadside and reach into my backpack which was attached to the handlebars sitting between my legs. Its the only way to fly.

It was pleasant to let gravity pull me down through the villages after crossing the highpoint in the mountains. A friend of mine is from a small village called Tunjuk to the west of Munduk and I wanted to take a look. Co-incidentally I needed to take a bathroom break and as Murphy’s Law would have the Munduk/ Tunjuk road is almost wall to wall village and houses. By the time Tunjuk came along all I cared about was finding the next patch of bushes. I did finally and of course the local who’s farm I was peeing in front of stood and watched about 20 feet away. I was polite, I said terima kasih and waved goodbye.

Around the Tunjuk area I was hit with a waft of warm air as the north coast warm had managed to penetrate up that far.

The route around the lakes through Munduk, Tunjuk to Mayong is rather windy and I chose it because I knew trucks wouldn’t use it. From Mayong I turned north to Pengastulan on the coast.

The north coast hasn’t been developed in the same way the south coast has but the crowd it attracts do spend money. The north coast doesn’t get big waves and had some reef which is perfect for snorkeling and diving. I headed for a town called Permuteran which was in the NW corner of Bali. My Rough Guide told me there was a place called Segara Bukit Seaside Cottages that was the cheapest in the area. Traffic wasn’t to bad on the main road and I stopped to observe the Indonesian military playing games in the water and imitating AJ Hackett.

These guys try to look all tough, there were about 200 of them packing rifles and gear, but after their training was over I saw some buddying up on ‘bebeks’ ( the motorbike I ride ) to go home.

I arrived just before sundown at Segara Bukit Seaside Cottages and tried to haggle a price. Most of the rooms were full and I paid 85,000rp. The trouble with this part of the island is the scuba divers who come here have money. That pushes the price up for everyone else. In the Lovina area there isn’t much budget accomodation either, which changed from 1993 when I did find some. Permuteran has a small selection of hotels all situated in between the ocean and the mainroad.

Anyway my room was basic with bathroom and fan. The place had a pool but the staff placing mosquito coils around the place early was a tips off. By dusk I was in the restaurant sipping a cold one, my second one had to be drunk in my room after 6 mosquito bites…..so much for the midnight swim.

This place wasn’t bad but a construction crew was on site and that accounted for many of the full rooms. They arranged themselves on the couches in the lobby and watched Indonesian TV….goodbye anyone else.

The owners of this place have tried to make it foreigner friendly with the pool, restaurant etc. but it still wreaks of something that’s been chucked together.

I napped for a couple of hours under the netting, motorbike riding takes it out of you….constant concentration. I headed down to the restaurant and ordered a refreshing tomato / cucumber salad with peanut sauce, followed by grilled tuna. The main course as very simple, but good for 15,000rp. I only saw 2 other guests in the restaurant, a Dutch couple who had come out for 10 days. They had dived on the south coast in Padangbai and a couple of other places but weren’t too impressed. They said the swell and full moon brought cold water and their 5mm suits weren’t up to it. I told them that my guide book recommended Nusa Lembongan as the best place in Bali to dive. Problem there is strong currents and cold water again. They told me they were bound for Menjangan island on the NW corner as their next spot. While we were chatting a local who had been fishing off the beach brought us over a small fish each ( the restaurant knew him and cooked them).

I slept well but was woken prematurely by 3 separate guys hollering their guts out over loudspeakers in the cause of Islam at 5am. West Bali has a strong muslim influence but this was more than I bargained for. I was laying there thinking ‘this is the meaning of religious intolerance…. I’m going to holler at you at the top of my lungs whether you like it or not.’ At 5.20am sharp they all stopped and I went back to sleep, still an infidel.