Candidasa……..some relaxing and some touristing

With three days remaining in Candidasa, we have decided on a quiet day with a leisurely breakfast, while enjoying the expansive views of the ocean and islets, from the hotel restaurant ……there is a reason folks pay top dollar for waterfront property……

We then sally forth to check out the town….or at least part of it, as Candidasa stretches for several kilometers along the coast. This is a pretty clean strip of shops, restos, dive shops and bars and the walk is enjoyable. There is also a lagoon with several shrines and some restaurants along its side:

…..and a temple on the other side of the road

…the ocean is adjacent to the road, with little sandy pocket beaches from time to time….

We have read there ia very good restaurant called Vincent’s and after checking it out agree to go there for a last night “blowout”…

The heat today has become extreme (around 38C) and we soon elect to return to the hotel and the safety of the pool…..

Annie skips lunch and I opt for a salad and water. The rest of the day is rather lax, reading, culling pictures and staying submerged……the next big decision is dinner. We venture into town, really a rather short walk and get enticed by the ladies beckoning us to dine at the Warung Astawa…..this is now low season and competition is stiff for tourist dollars:

Annie’s chicken satay’s arrive on the table complete with a mini charcoal grill….very cool indeed…

Nice meal, nice evening and another day passes pleasantly!

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A sunny morning, we fill up on breakfast and get excited about meeting our driver for the day tour we have planned. Wayan arrives on schedule and we head out for our first stop about 40 minutes away:

Pura Lempuyang close to the town of Amalapura is one of Bali’s nine directional temples (responsible for the east). It is perched on a hilltop on the side of 1,058 meter Gunung (Mt.) Lempuyang. We pay our entry fee, don our sarongs and hire a guide, who brings along a stout staff to deal with any wayward monkeys along the way. There are 7 temples in all and you can visit them all, or only some…..

Temple #1….with a “non-view” of Mt.Agung

……after the initial 150 steps to reach the 1 st temple you have a further 2 km to walk (or ojek > i.e a shared scooter ride) which is the start of the 1,700 step “staircase” that leads you to temple #2 and ultimately #7, the final temple. In retrospect we made an initial mistake and did not take the ojec ride, figuring the start of the “trail” was an easy walk……in fact, the 2 kilometers were uphill and though a pleasant walk through the “jungle”, a protected forest, it is taxing in the 30C plus heat.

In any event, up we go…..electing to take the “short way” loop > which will take us to temples 3,4,5……probably it was just as well as the clouds were coming in and rain was almost a certainty at the higher elevation. We certainly sweated out last nights Bintangs and then some, but it was an interesting exercise with a fair number of locals heading to perform their ceremonies…

Temple #3

On the way down we caught a glimpse of the last temple we had visited:

…passed the guides parent’s home and he told us a bit about himself and some of the local fauna and flora, including the tree and berries used for the manufacture of arak (local liquor often used for cocktails as it is clear, unsweetened, colorless > being unregulated it can also kill you…..although it is ok in normal tourist bars).

All in all we spent almost 2 1/2 hours heading up and down. A bit of an effort, but well worth it as you really gain an appreciation for the effort that went into building and maintaining these temples and the devotion of the Balinese. BTW we did not encounter any evil monkeys so the staff was not employed.

With the cloud cover we never got a clear view of Mt. Agung, catching only a partial view when leaving the temple area:

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Next up is Amlapura, a town of some 200m souls and an interesting market, however we arrived too late for the action and as at most markets if it’s over there is no point in looking at the leftovers, so we carry on to the next site….

Taman Ujung Palace, is situated to the southeast of Amlapura (almost on the oceanside). It was built in 1909 by the King of Amlapura as a relaxation and recreation palace. Largely destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Agung in 1963, and damaged in an earthquake in 1979, it has been largely restored. While not as imposing as the Tirta Gangga waterpalace (which we saw on the way to Amed), it is a beautiful place to visit and very serene…..it was a bonus that there were very few tourists to “disturb” us!

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After a little over an hour we are back to the car and onwards to Virgin “white sand” Beach……we pay our fee and walk down a very rough dirt track to the beach. A truly lovely spot > a sandy beach wedged in between two headlands…..no garbage in or out of the water so it looked quite inviting. There were several warungs to ward off thirst and hunger plus souvenir stands, snorkel rental and of course loungers….

Enjoyed our cokes and as we had no bathers/towels reluctantly returned to the vehicle……there was another planned stop at a traditional village but we were starting to drag our tails and decided to call it a day……having left at 8:30 and returning at 15:30, we didn’t want to overdo it, especially as we had seen another traditional village previously.

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Missed pooltime as a storm front came through (staff brought around umbrellas for all the guests…nice touch) and then we made our 2nd mistake of the day….. Note to selves: when tired stay and eat at the hotel…..instead we went out passed on a resto but for whatever reason, came back and of course had a totally mediocre meal arrgh!!!……..anyways all in all a very good day.