It is surprising how tired and worn you can feel after a few days of travel, when we woke the following day we certainly felt the effects from our adventures. We had gone to bed quite late the previous evening as Tehya and George’s daughter were having so much fun (Iona has a fine collection of Barbie like dolls).  So the first morning we were up early with plan’s to go snorkeling and beach walking but decided instead to take things easy and have a quiet day relaxing. Tehya and Iona became firm friends very quickly and spent most of the day playing at the house and running around the Gardens. In the afternoon we attempted a Snorkel from the beach straight out from Eka Purnama (where the Japanese shipwreck is) but the sea had picked up a little with the afternoon winds and the waves were breaking a little to heavily on the beach for Tehya to attempt getting into the water. Gavin went in for about twenty minuets but came out saying that the water clarity was not great. To sway the girls away from their disappointment at not getting to swim we took them both to the beach off to the left of the home-stay, where it is sand not stone and the waters were much calmer. It was really good fun, the water was deep enough within the coral break that the girls managed a great swim and both got to practice snorkeling with Tehya’s goggles.
We ate at the home-stay again that night, fish and chicken satay with rice and vegetables. The accommodation at Eka Purnama was 200,000 Rp a night about £12, which is more than we usually pay because we are on a budget – but it is well worth every penny. As I said before the bungalows are very special they are clean, the beds comfortable, the sheets and pillow fresh and the views are breathtaking. The food was reasonably priced too especially as the quality was so good, it was a pleasure to eat at the restaurant.
That night we went to bed much earlier with the plan to get up for the sunrise. We did not sleep very well that night as the wind picked up and blew with a fury. As we were situated right on the cliff above the sea it was very noisy. Gavin got up and watched the sun come up, the fishermen leave on their boats to search for the days catch of mackerel and then return a few hours later. He said it was amazing to watch – literally hundreds of tiny fishing boats all setting off from the beach at the same time with the sun rising behind them.

{w:600;h:300} Amed, East coast of Bali, Indonesia

(Amed on the east coast of Bali, Indonesia)

Later that morning (at about eight) we all went for breakfast and decided that we would investigate Amed itself – which is the main village a few km further along the coast road. We set off at about nine am when it was still relatively cool, the drive was very beautiful. The road runs it’s course close to the cliff so you get a wonderful view of the sea and the scenery inland. Again it is quite arid, rugged and barren. The view inland becomes greener and more lush as it rises up towards Mount’s Bisbis (small 1065m) and behind it mount Agung (large 2567m). We stopped a few times to appreciated the view and look at small bays with clear blue water and coral that would have made perfect spots for diving and snorkeling – we were annoyed with ourselves as we had come out without our masks. The road continued on for some distance with a huge number of restaurants, home-stays and hotels, so many in fact that it seemed crazy as there were so few tourists around (George had also mentioned how quiet things had been).
We drove on until the coast road meets back up with the main road that runs from Amlapura towards Singaraja. The we turned down it and headed as though we were going back to Amlapura – we were headed for Tirtha Gangga and the historic site part way up Mount Agung. Sadly we missed the turn off even though we discovered later that it is very well marked – I as chief map reader and direction giver was busy taking photos out of the passenger window and we drove straight passed the signs which were on the drivers side. So instead we took another road inland and up the mountain – only really realizing we had gone very wrong when the end of the road came and we were seriously in hillbilly land very high up the mountain. The road had become so bumpy and narrow it began to become clear that we may find it difficult to turn the car around. Eventually we gave up and retraced our steps and went in search of petrol (that was rather low). On the way back home we came across the sign for our intended destination and it was huge and very clear!!!! Gavin and I both wanted to stop and visit it anyway but Tehya put her foot down, by this time it was close to 12.00 pm and she had been sat in the car for three hours driving around.
We stopped in Amed at one of the many divers restaurants and ordered lunch – the place was called The Divers Cafe the food took ages to arrive, it was expensive and awful. We had about six grubby waifs under the age of five that spent the whole time trying to sell us stuff we didn’t want – which was made all the worse by the fact that they were obviously very poor and hungry. We left feeling like we had ‘done Amed’ and were ready to leave. We headed back to Eka and asked Tehya what she wanted to do – her reply ‘I’ll do what you want to do’ – bless her!! So we packed up, paid our bill, said thank you and jumped in the car to re drive the coast road.
It still amazes me how well Tehya travels long distances. As a baby and toddler she managed the drive back and forth across Spain from Santander to Javea several times and we regularly drove from Cornwall to Wigan to visit Gavin’s other family. We were taken aback then by how well behaved she was and how easy to engage in chatter, music and games. Nothing has changed…… she has just gotten even better!!
Our planned destination this time was Ubud and the famous monkey forest sanctuary – Mandala Wisata Wenara Wana.

click here for all our photos of Amed