Visiting Tugu in Canggu Bali

Sunday meant Ika had a day off from her 2 jobs at her auntie’s warung and the gym that I go to.

I asked where she wanted to go and the answer was Canggu.

Canggu is about 20 minutes form Seminyak further north on the coast and used to be a peaceful village community with rice paddies leading down to the ocean. To be honest its still pretty much that way except for the villas that are sprouting up everywhere. The thing will Canggu is its gets good surf, isn’t overly expensive and is within driving range of Kuta if you work there. Quite desirable. In the last 5 years people have been building holiday rentals and homes for themselves and the landscape is now dotted with them.

We rode my motorbike and arrived at the beach to see the tide was coming in and there was not a single surfer in the water. We were the only people there which seems quite strange if you are used to Kuta Beach.

After messing around on the rocks and watching a family of crabs scampering over the slippery rocks we walked back up the road to a place called Hotel Tugu which is quite famous. This place has a great setting, unique design and fantastic decoration. The owner collects Chinese style art and likes to display it in his restaurant.

One room is the most wonderful banquet room complete with dragon and other Chinese motifs. I was thinking of asking if the chef knew how to cook turkey.

The main part of the restaurant features a variety of seating including cushions that allow one to recline fully. The menu features dishes from all over Indonesia, but as Ika pointed out not ‘Central Java’ where she’s from.

We both ordered a juice and a couple of different chicken dishes. They were tasty and the environment was really the cool thing about the whole experience. My bill was 250,000rp which included a stiff 15% service and 10% tax added on. Don’t come here if you are on a budget but do come here if you want to impress someone or enjoy a different atmosphere. While we were there the only other people having lunch were a couple out in the garden.

After lunch we explored the grounds a bit. Tugu has 20 rooms which are designed around a series of ponds and very well kept gardens. Ika commented the upkeep on the place must be high. We saw a small sign offering a rememberence to the famous artist Walter Spies who lived in Bali before WWII and inspired many Balinese artists to widen their scope and start a new style.

At the front of the hotel is a roofed structure which turned out to be a traditional Javanese kitchen. We guessed it was just for show but the security guard told us it was used for cooking special Javanese style meals for guests. I love the way its so low tech.

There isn’t much in Canggu apart from a few beachside warungs and the usual village stuff. We rode back to Kuta via Kerobokan and Seminyak and ended up sipping a pineapple juice at a beach restaurant on Pantai Segara in Tuban, close to the airport. Plenty of locals out enjoying their Sunday afternoon and apart from a few people in the restaurant there wasn’t a ‘bule’ in sight.

For people staying in Kuta who complain it’s too toursity simply venture slightly out of the epi-center and you can get away from the tourist scene. Of course having your own transport is part of the key.

Related Posts

• Latest waves from Canggu and Uluwatu Bali
• Monday May10th 2004 surfing in Bali
• Uluwatu and Canggu on are places to be in Bali
• Great surf now in Bali!
• Big waves in Bali

Subscribe Bali RSS Feed

Print

Share