Amed

I think I’ve avoided writing about the last weekend in October because it makes me sad thinking about it, even though it was over a month ago. I still reminisce about every moment and find myself flicking through the photos I took during those three days over and over.

OKAY SORRY FOR BEING OVERLY SAPPY BUT THAT’S JUST HOW I FEEL, FOLKS.

That weekend was Tobin’s last weekend in Bali, before he had to return to Canada and prove to his boss that he was still alive (and more importantly, check on the freshly forming layer of snow up in Whistler). Very important, non-tropical business.

We originally made an ambitious plan to motorbike around the entire northeastern part of the island, making a large counter-clockwise loop and cutting back south through the island’s centre. Part of this route was blocked by the exclusion zone around Mt. Agung*, however, so we scaled back our plans and decided to just go to Amed and back.

*For context, back in September, seismic activity increased significantly around Mt Agung so thousands of people were evacuated from the surrounding area and a 12km exclusion zone was enforced. It was still safe(ish) to be near(ish) the volcano when we were there in October. Obviously the situation is slightly different now.

Tobin checking out the projected lava / lahar flow map - these maps were released back in September when the first evacuations occurred. A 12km exclusion zone was set around the mountain.

My coworkers recommended a ton of different places to stop along the way to Amed, so what might have been a two- or three-hour drive ended up being an eight-hour sightseeing adventure. We left Sanur mid-morning (after fueling up at our favourite smoothie place) and headed north. Within about five minutes we were stopped by the police, who nab foreigners that motorbike without a license (this was the second time I’d been checked) but luckily we’ve both got licenses. I don’t think I told the story about actually getting my motorbike license from the police station here in Bali, but I will just say that it was not an entirely by-the-books process.

The hustle and bustle of south Bali quickly melted away as we drove further north along the coast. Lush green hills started to appear, and sections of the road were framed by arched trees – it felt like we were in a fairy tale!

First stop: Pura Goa Lawah
We pulled off the main road at our first stop, Pura Goa Lawah, a Hindu Temple. As we paid the $1 entry fee to get into the temple, we were asked where we were from, and for the first time there was a follow-up question: “English or French part of Canada?” This became a common question throughout the weekend actually; it turns out Amed is a popular destination for French tourists.

The temple itself was quite beautiful, and the highlight for us was the cave teeming with nectar bats. There were plenty of devoted Balinese people worshipping at the temple, and we didn’t stick around very long because we felt a bit intrusive.

Tobin inspecting the exterior temple.

Bats!!

Second stop: a corner store
Okay so this was not a glamorous stop but it is a reminder that travel is not all cool places, it’s being sweaty and dehydrated and covered in dirt from the road, it’s stuffing your face with corn chips and drinking Pocari Sweat (Asian Gatorade equivalent) and savouring an overly priced mini kitkat bar.

Third stop: Bukit Asah

Views of green hills and beautiful coastline from Bukit Asah

This was actually one of my favourite stops of the day, oddly enough, considering there wasn’t much to it. Maybe it was the bumpy single-track dirt path that we took to get down to the rugged coastline, or the fact that there is an adorable terraced campsite, or maybe it was the trees that were dripping with sap that Tobin and I got nerdily excited about. Whatever the reason, I really enjoyed it.

Getting up close with the sappy trees!

We followed the road down from Bukit Asah to a beautiful white sandy beach for a swim.

On the way out we took our motorbikes up another tiny dirt track through the jungle. I wish I’d taken a photo but I was having too much fun on the motorbike (and also I was trying hard to stay focused and not to lose control).

Fourth stop: Tirta Gangga
Tirta Gangga is a former royal palace with beautiful gardens, fountains, fishponds, and pools. I was pretty tired by the time we got there, but still really enjoyed it. We didn’t stay long (we were carrying all of our stuff in our packs as we walked around), but I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves:

The last few kilometres to Amed are quite hilly, with beautiful vistas extending from both sides of the winding road. I wanted to stop every couple hundred metres to take photographs, but we only took a few.

Eventually the road slopes back toward sea level, and Agung looms in the background.

We finally made it to Amed just as the light was starting to fade. The town has been hit hard by Mt Agung’s rumblings, and despite being well outside of the exclusion zone, has seen a huge drop in tourism. It was to our benefit, however, as we got a great deal on a place to stay and were able to dine at normally very busy restaurants.

Dinner at Galanga, which serves European-Indonesian cuisine and homemade ice cream. We enjoyed our own personal thatched dining space!

Tobin on the patio of our guesthouse.

Phew okay – that was just day one.

Day two began with DIVING. Amed has amazing diving options and once again we benefitted from the lack of tourists and were able to have some of the dive spots all to ourselves. Check out this great video made by our dive guides, Abyss, to get a better idea of what Amed looks like and see our dives! (See if you can spot when I bonk Tobin in the face with my fin!).

One of our dives took us past these concrete pyramids which were installed in the 1990s to provide artificial reef habitats. They've really flourished!

After enjoying a delicious lunch at Warung Enak, we motorbiked up to Pura Luhur Lempuyang, a stunning temple complex with Mt Agung as a backdrop. After exploring the temple for a while, we returned to Amed to catch sunset from a beautiful vantage point.

Fresh Mahi Mahi for lunch! Yum!

Views of Mt Agung from Lempuyang. 

We caught the last of the day’s light from Sunset Point, gazing out at Mt. Agung.

We ate our dinner that night at another empty restaurant (it was starting to get a bit eery). This one was in a beautiful resort that was devoid of guests. The owner told us all about the effects of the volcano on the local economy, and then urged us to take an expensive sailing lesson in the morning. We politely declined.

Instead, we woke up early, eager to make the most of Tobin’s final day in Bali. We spent a couple of hours snorkelling; the highlight being a Japanese shipwreck teeming with life.

Another fresh fish lunch by the sea! Not complete without smoothies, of course.

We zipped back down the road to Sanur in a fraction of the time we’d taken to go the opposite way two days earlier, stopping only briefly for a coffee break and to refuel our bikes. At the gas pump, the attendant asked us if we'd like to fuel up our bikes on the same bill, and we said yes.

"You want to know how to say 'together' in Indonesian?" He asked. "Berdua. Together - berdua."

Tobin looked at me, then asked, "Berdua... how do you say forever?"

**Heart explodes**

I have subsequently learned that "berdua" is slang, and it miiight only apply to filling up your motorbikes consecutively and / or sharing food, but whatever, I'LL TAKE IT.

All too soon we were back at my bungalow. I helped Tobin pack up his things, and once he was ready to go, I shoved a baseball hat on my head and put on my biggest sunglasses. I knew I wasn’t going to want anyone to be able to see my face when I returned from the airport.

Our goodbye was really painful. When I’d left Vancouver for Bali, I knew I’d be seeing Tobin in a matter of weeks, but this time it was going to be three months at least. I know that’s not a ton of time, but when you’re used to spending nearly every day with someone, it sucks being apart. A lot.

Luckily, one of those months has already gone by (yay!) and I’ve made lots of memories during that time (that I will blog about eventually, I promise!).