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| Unknown tomato-like fruit |
Today we headed over to
Canggu on the south-east coast
where Frances has booked in for 3 days of surfing lessons.
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| Buying fruit in the market |
First we stopped at
Amlapura (formerly named Karangasem before it was renamed in 1963 after the eruption of Mount Agung) to visit the market. Amlapura is
much larger now than it was 14 years ago, and seems to have benefited from the
influx of Chinese money through property purchases - the guide, Komang from Tirtagangga,
said that land prices have sky rocketed in the last few years - sound familiar?
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Older buildings on the perimeter of the
Amlapura markets |
I hardly recognised the
markets at they are housed in a new building, but did recognise some of the older buildings on its perimeter. These
large markets serve not only Amlapura, but also the surrounding region. We
wandered through it for a while, buying fruit and snacks for the road trip
across to Canggu. When we went to leave, we almost didn't find the way out of the
maze of narrow lane ways in our car until some locals show us the way out.
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| Ahhhh, Bintang |
We decided to stop for
lunch in Sanur, in the western side of the southern peninsula
so Frances could see what the coast was like
there - quite calm because of the offshore reef. We stopped at Surya, one of
the many beach side restaurants and promptly ordered the usual - a large
Bintang, 4 glasses plus another full of ice. We all ordered local food, except
John who ordered a vegetable burger with chips. The chips were great, further
confirming my 'chip theory' - better when closer to the ocean
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| Fishing, Kite-surfing, and? |
There were many locals
fishing in the shallow lagoon between the beach and the reef, but there were
also kite-surfers and a couple of guys who I have no idea what they were doing,
walking into the water with what initially looked like three large suitcases.
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Night view of the villa garden, pool
and dining area |
On our way to Cangu on
the eastern side of the peninsula and through the constant traffic jam that is
Denpasar, John's phone with the GPS connection died and so we had to travel the
last hour fairly blind. The villa that we rented was already supposed to be
difficult to find but fortunately we managed to meet up with the owner's local
representative (friend) and after a hair-raising drive along a twisting pot-holed, dirt
road, arrived at an impressive new 2-room villa - self-contained with kitchen, dining area, swimming
pool, WiFi and air conditioning.
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| Roti Canai Street Kitchen |
That night we ate at the
Roti Canai Street Kitchen, a slightly up-market eatery specialising in.....roti.
They were very tasty (a little like Gozleme) and the accompanying curry sauce
was delicious. It was interesting that instead of serving large Bintangs with
iced glasses, these more expensive establishments serve only small Bintangs in
the bottle - lower cost and more profit.
