Bali: Weekend Motorbike Trips

Pemuteran and Menjangan Island

It was deja-vu. The feeling was similar to our motorbike trip through the Thailand Mountains a few months back. We both leaned to the right as our motorbike hugged the sharp, nearly 180-degree corner. We continued to ascend at the top speed that our little motorbike, which we nicknamed “Pink Lightening”, could go. At times it felt like we might need to get off and walk up the steep mountain road. One thing stopping us from doing that was all of the monkeys along the side of the road. They were literally EVERYWHERE. They don’t look like the cute ones you see on TV (ok maybe the babies do) but they are a little scary to be close to when they are in the wild. Both of us took a deep breath and exhaled as we finally reached the top of the climb. The view was breathtaking. We had reached the summit. It was all downhill from here, until we reached the sea on the north coast of Bali.

 We were excited to be out in the open road. It was Friday morning and we had finished our 4 days of teaching English classes that week. We loved the students and teaching, but were also very happy to have Fridays off and a nice 3 day weekend to explore the beautiful island every weekend. On this particular weekend we had settled on going to the far northwest corner of Bali to explore. We heard it had excellent snorkeling, and a really laid back vibe. We could have opted to hire a driver for $50 US each way but settled on the motorbike for a mere $4 US a day instead for the adventure (and cost savings).   Two other teachers from our school (Steph and Lila) were heading north too, so we decided to all caravan our motorbike adventure together, and they followed behind us until we reached their final destination, Lovina.

All in all it would be a mere 79 miles to Pemutaren- yet according to Google maps would take us 4 hrs and 44 mins! WHAT?! The roads were winding and crazy going through several local villages before hitting the mountains. We decided to make a day of the road trip, and stopped at several cool spots along the way. One was a large market. We got a few snacks for the road, then stopped a littler later at a beautiful temple on a large lake, called Pura Ulun Danu Beratan. It was beautiful there, and the mountains and fog sitting over them was incredible. We went through some strawberry fields, got some amazing views of the Balinese mountains, then had a nice lunch with our friends at their final destination- Lovina.  From Lovina to Pemutaren it was another hour or so… and by the time we got close we were so sick of driving. It was a long day, and our butts were sore again! We welcomed the little breaks to get off our butts relic in the views so we could survive the journey on our little bike. 

When we reached the town of Pemutaren, it was actually very hard to tell it was a town at all! There wasn’t really much of a ‘downtown’, it was just the main street we’d been biking on, with a short stint of guesthouses, dives shops, and restaurants.  It definitely wasn’t a wild and crazy place where everyone goes for their trip,  but it had a really laid back vide to it and we were happy to finally be somewhere new and explore. It took in total about 5 hrs of riding the motorbike which is more than enough for a day on the bike. We pushed ourselves off, incredibly tired and sore. I also had a pretty wicked sunburn on the top of my legs from where my shorts sat (ooops….guess I should have put some sunscreen on there!).

 We checked into our guesthouse sweating, sore, exhausted.  We needed a shower, and AC, STAT! We went inside the place, and found to our dismay that the AC wasn’t actually getting cold. After a hot day on the motorbike and the fact that our homestay for the month in Ubud didn’t have AC, we booked the guesthouse fully intending on taking advantage of being lazy in an ice cold room, and it wasn’t happening!  The family who owned the place was incredibly friendly and sweet, so they helped us get it figured out.  We moved around to a couple different rooms, and finally ended up finding one (third times a charm) that worked pretty well to relax. We felt like typical westerners, but at this point couldn’t help it. There is something to be said about being able to escape after the hot and humid days.

The first night saw a great deal of rain and we dodged in and out of it as we booked our snorkeling trip for the next day and grabbed a bite to eat on the lonely stretch of ‘town’ road. This time of year is low season because of the rain, so it was extremely slow going… far from the hustle and bustle of the main tourist drags in Bali. We actually enjoyed the calm relaxation of it all and found a great dinner spot that we ate at multiple nights. The best seafood satay you could imagine! It proved to be a little tough to get a boat that was going to Menjangan Island, but that was our main purpose for checking this area out, so we looked all over. Finally, after calling around several places, we found one that left port at 8am the next morning! We were super excited to try snorkeling here and see the Island.

Bright and early. We got up and biked over to our dive shop, then left for Menjangan Island. There were 2 divers and 3 snorkelers (including us) and a small crew onboard. The water was absolutely beautiful and smooth in the early morning light. The dogbone shaped bay of Petmuteran was so peaceful. As we went out to sea, we turned back and looked at the town, which is flanked by dark green mountains to the south. It was an awesome view to start the day off.

We reached Menjangan after a 45 minute boat ride. Our first snorkel was along a massive reef that was about 100 meters off the southern shore of the island. It ended up being the longest snorkel that either of us had ever done. We were in the water for almost 2 hrs and never got tired of the amazing marine life below. The water was clear and the visibility fantastic. There were so many different colorful fish that we saw. The coral was alive and provided a home for millions of fish. Our second snorkel on the north side of the island was similar to the first. Both were vibrant and seemingly endless.

Marissa and I both said that our Menjangan snorkel trip was the best (and longest) snorkel experience that we’ve ever done. We were in the water for almost 4 hrs. This proved to be problematic for our backsides as both of us got pretty wicked sunburns. That includes Marissa who applied waterproof sunscreen twice as well as myself. I rarely burn but this was one of the few burns that I’ve had recently. The burns were a small price to pay for an amazing adventure.

After snorkeling for the day and relaxing in the evening we slept well that night despite the pain on our backsides due to the sunburns. The next day was Sunday and we had to make the journey back through the mountains. It proved to be a bigger adventure than the first time because we were incredibly burned and ran into some driving rains in the mountains. We met back up with our friends in Lovina, and caravanned through the mountains again. The drive back was much different because of the rain and fog, and we all got completely drenched. Luckily we found a fantastic lunch spot on the back side of the mountain to rest for an hour or so and drink a few cups of muddy Balinese coffee before finishing the journey. Ironically it was sunny, hot and nice back at the homestead in Ubud once we returned.

Overall our trip to the north was a nice retreat from our busy Ubud schedule. We really enjoyed how relaxing the area was and loved seeing all of the unique marine life in the crystal clear waters. Taking a motorbike there and back also made the trip more interesting and fun. We are always up for a unique weekend adventure!

Candidasa

It was the weekend again, and we were looking for another destination to check out. We wanted to get away from the chaos of Ubud and the noise of our homestay and just completely relax. Somewhere more remote, and a place neither of us had explored on the island. We choose Candidasa because it was fairly close to Ubud and doable by motorbike (about an hour). We found what looked like a fantastic hotel oceanfront for $30 US a night. When we arrived early on a Saturday morning, our plan was to stay for 1 night and enjoy sea views, air-conditioning and chill out. When we walked through the front gate of the hotel, we were in awe. The place was spectacular!

The hotel was really nice! The room extremely clean and the front porch opened up to the pool and garden area which sat directly on the ocean. There was a small beach but not really one that you would swim in. It had a rough, rocky sea view. We didn’t mind as it was a relaxing place with the great ocean breeze that we were after. This place didn’t disappoint. Saturday afternoon was fun. We didn’t do much, just got caught up on life, reading and some work on the blog. It was quiet, and you could only hear the Ocean waves. We picked up a few beers and enjoyed one of the best sunsets that we have ever seen. It was amazing and totally unexpected. We were on the east side of Bali so you wouldn’t think that you would get great sunsets but the skies lit up into amazing hues of orange and red. It was quite a show!

We woke up Sunday morning after a restful evening and enjoyed the great free breakfast that was offered. Banana pancakes- Bali’s signature. It was then that we decided we didn’t want to leave.  The homestay could get pretty chaotic with all the new volunteers coming and old ones going, and we just wanted some time to ourselves. We decided to try and stay another night and ride back to Ubud Monday morning before teaching. We loved the vibe and relaxation that the place provided. I negotiated a better price of just under $30 US dollars and we had another night in place. After that, we took the motorbike back into the nearby mountains to visit a famous water palace called Tirta Gangga. On the way it decided to rain on us again, and we managed to get pretty drenched on the bike. We had our rain jackets on, but it didn’t matter at all. Soaked. It reminded us of the previous weekend except for it wasn’t as cold this time. We stopped at one point under a tree to try and dodge some of the rain and take it the breathtaking rice terraced views. They were unbelievable and vibrant green. Despite the rain, exploring Bali’s mountainside was really epic.

Once we arrived at the water palace, we were glad that we had made the journey. It was very unique and extremely well maintained. There were several pools (even some that you could swim in if you have your swimsuit). We opted to just walk around the grounds and had a nice time. It was busy, but not crowded, and a different side of Bali that most people aren’t fortunate enough to see.

After the palace we headed back to the hotel and the beautiful ocean views, but it was still rainy.  As the day turned into evening we curled up on our couch and read our books, enjoying the storm that kept on rolling through.  Thunder and lightning continued onward, into the night.  No epic sunset. Eventually the rain subsided, but the lightning kept dancing across the ocean.  It actually looked pretty magical. We went out onto porch and looked out onto the ocean, watching the lighting fly past us in the distance, and reminisced about the past, present and future. It was a great night. The next morning we woke up refreshed and ready to head back to Ubud to teach.