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| Composite photo - waiting to clamber aboard the Indra Jaya back to Padang Bai |
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Frances, Tamar and luggage
off to the harbour by pony
cart |
This was our last day on
Gili Air, and after breakfast, Frances managed to fit in a final swim.
The rest of the morning was spent packing, arranging a pony cart to take our
luggage to the harbour, booking our trip on the boat, and waiting! They do it
this way to minimise the time spent disembarking-embarking at each of the four
stops on the round trip. Fortunately the return trip to Padang Bai is quicker,
only one and a half hours, in the cramped boat.
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Chicken Satay
(photographed from the menu) |
We were heading to Tirtagangga,
about an hour north-east of Padang Bai but were running low on fuel, for both
the car and us, and so decided to stop in Candidasa for fuel and refreshments. We ate at
Warung Puspa where a few days earlier I'd bought the Spaghetti Bolognaise, but
this time we only had Indonesian food. This was a much better choice, and along with
our Satays, Nasi Gorengs, Nasi Campurs
we had delicious fried bananas and pancakes with Balinese Coffee (which we are
slowly getting used to). Even though these dishes are ubiquitous, there are always differences in the
combinations of spices and flavourings used which keeps it interesting. Figured that this would keep us going until dinnertime.
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View of our bungalows in the rice paddies
at Cafe Karma, Tirtagangga |
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| The bathroom at Cafe Karma |
We eventually arrived at
Tirtagangga around 4 o'clock and booked into our homestay at Cafe Karma adjacent to the Water Palace. There was no air conditioning (fans only) or pool, but in the cooler hills (under 30c at night),
it was fine. Also w had our first very basic toilet and shower with cool running frogs
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| View of the Water Palace |
Tirtagangga (Tirta Gangga) literally means water from the Ganges and it is a site of some reverence for the Hindu
Balinese. Strictly, the name refers to the water palace built here in 1948 by
the Raja of Karangasem. It is,
however, widely used to refer to the general area which includes the water
palace and the lush rural areas around.
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One of the local finches that look like
sparrows but much smaller |
Frances and I only had time for a
quick dip in the quite cool water at the Water Palace before sunset - refreshing after the tropical water around
the Gilis. Even so, the swimming pools of the Water Palace were filled with mainly local
families and young people enjoying the water in the heat of the
late afternoon.
The late afternoon we spent on the veranda, watching very small
birds darting above the rice paddy chasing insects.
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| Warung Gede - food, beer, coffee and cards |
That night we ate at a
local Warung Gede, again selecting local dishes. The standout was a Sweet and
Sour grilled chicken dish - with vegetables and rice. The dishes were small, but were sufficient. The dinner, couple of large bottles of Bintang, a huge fruit platter for dessert and coffees, all for approximately $6.50 per
head - one of the cheapest meals we've had. After dinner we decided to play five hundred again, except that after a long, hot day, the quality of play suffered badly, leaving no clear winner by the end of the night - or if there was, we can't remember.
