Sunday, December 22, 2013

The Hidden Paradise, Amed

Bali, everyone knows bali. Been there so many times, my favorite place, my hiding place and my sweet escape place. I met the one i love there, my favorite pizza place is there, i was there to find some opportunity few years ago also ( which is not really works and cost me back to Jakarta ), but that always around Kuta, legian, seminyak, nusa dua and ubud. But not really have an idea what is AMED like. In my opinion its just a quite place out of nowhere in Bali. Till i got an invitation birthday party from a good friend, and that’s the first time me and my boyfriend explored East Bali, which is for us this is the hidden paradise ! Arrived in airport, it took around 2 hours to bring us to Amed, lovely scenery during the trip to amed, green paddy rice, nice weather. We hired a car ( avanza ) + driver that cost 400,000 ( after tried to negotiate, the driver insist that amed is so far and the price is already the best they can offer, note : including the fuel and tip for driver). After almost around 2,5 hours sitting in car yes, finally we arrive in amed, such a lovely place but little bit quite. Drop at Coral view, to wish meet the birthday boy, then we checked in at our Villa ( named Only You ). Its a Big WOW for the villa, very nice with Balinese style and wood decorator, with direct ocean view. a private pool and private whirlpool spa ready to spoil us. and it just took l few step to go snorkeling at the back. ( rent snorkeling equipment cost : 30,000 ) How did we fill our days days in amed ? Starting with morning yoga on the beach for 1 hour, enough to make us warm but feel fresh, tell you what, please do not forget to bring your own yoga matts, or just like me, end by bitten by few red ants ( guess that i might be too sweet *lol ). Breakfast was fine with toast, orange juice and some Indonesian sweet cake, then we are ready for biking. we chose biking instead of trekking. I was quite proud that i would be able to do this, since i took alot RPM class in Gym. The driver / guide pick up us, and took us around 45 min to somewhere in the middle of jungle called nangka village, as our start point for biking. He told us to use safety helmet and setting the bike comfortable. Oh yes I was so ready , until i found the slippery rocky road is going down.. oh my god… that was scary me a lot. Forgot about how to ride bike or rpm class, I’m hop off from my bike and walk to avoid this down road ( so embracing lol ) till i found the road is ok. Then continue with 25k biking, go up and down across to the jungle, road, village, and hill. View was magnificent, we are sharp in the mid to see holy mount Agung mountain. Just and advise, its better to start the biking early, we’re little bit late, and the weather was so hot burn our skin. and don’t forget to keep drinking and make sure your bottle is full. After 25k biking, we deserve the prize, this trip end at the beautiful white sandy beach ! ( told you, none of kind this beach in Kuta or legian ) very beautiful ! , no wild properties, no fancy hotel or hostel around, no people bothering us selling stuff. This beach only have around 3 local resto, that provide quite a nice lunch ( just local menu : fried chicken, nasi goreng, mie goreng or sandwich ) with of course beer and some cokes. time for swim and play with white sandy !! it was amazing experience ! For your information, this biking trip cost 30USD per person, including pick up from hotel, Biking and safety helmet, guide, water, ticket to virgin beach and lunch at virgin beach ( you may chose 1 meal + 1 soft drink : nasi goreng / fried rice, mie goreng / noodle, fish bbq, chicken bbq ). For sure you have to pay if you want enjoy Bintang ( beer ), it cost 25,000IDR for a small bottle and 40,000 IDR for big bottle.
Went 4km to Southeast amed, we found the snorkeling spot to see Japanese shipwreck. The shipwreck sits at 6-10mtrs between the reef and the sandy bottom, which is its pretty easy to see. Clearly also you may see the beautiful sponges and black coral bushes, and fish life there also are good. That’s a good snorkeling site. ( unfortunately we forgot to bring camera under water, so we not able to show you the pics of shipwreck ) Last but not least of course i would like to share about Food. I’m not a really fan of Balinese food not as much as i like Japanese or Indonesian food. But here’s in Amed… i found an extraordinary Balinese food. You may find lot of international resto that provide western food, owned by foreigner, but me and my boy friend decide to choose local food. Thanks god we find : a little place called Warung Wayan around 100 mtr across from Coral View villas . The Fish soup was DELICIOUS also the coconut chicken. all Fresh cooked. It cost 20,000 IDR for a big bowl delicious fish soup and 40,000 IDR for 5 piece coconut chicken with rice and mix vegetable Balinese. I guess that’s was worthy, At my Friend’s party he provide suckling pig, i knew this is not allowed for moeslem, quite common as one of Balinese authentic food. I have no idea how to make a suckling pig, till i saw it right in front of my eyes, how’s a balinesse man cooked this food, it took hours ( oohh poor piggy ) !!