Bali – Candidasa 29/4/16 – 2/5/16

Our taxi arrived at 9am to dive us over 4 hours to our next destination. Today we were driven across the entire northern coast of Bali, down the east coast and back along the south coast to reach Candidasa (pronounced Chan-d-dasa). It was a journey of upmost beauty, taking in all the fauna and flora Bali has to offer. The beaches on the north coast are made up of black coarse sand, but still look impressive. Our driver stopped at Purabeji Temple at Sang sit for a photo op. This small but stunning piece of early architecture dates back to the 15th century, an absolutely mesmerizing experience with beautiful ornate carvings made of stone. A spiritual world, standing in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by paddy field after paddy field at the foot of the mountains. Sheer beauty.
We continued along our journey, again spectacular view after spectacular view, each turn of the road exposing more and more of Bali’s natural outstanding Vistas. Our driver asked if we wanted to stop for lunch, so we agreed, and where he did stop was an utter surprise of pleasure, as we were at the Water Temple high in the mountain. Here (or at its entrance), we had a bite to eat, as we had already planned a visit here in a couple of days. Again the surrounding area was stunning.
Once dropped off at our next digs, we were surprised to discover we were staying at a 5 star resort, the Bali Palm Hotel, right on the edge of the sea. Our room, complete with kitchenette, and over looking the pool and sea. Sheer luxury, all for searching through Air B+B a few weeks ago. Apparently the studio is owned by a guy living in Australia. This way we have paid a fraction of the normal costs. I recommend this option.
After a dip in the pool, we went in search for dinner. What we found was an area along the beach front, where the locals were had street stalls selling authentic Balinese food. Very cheap and very very tasty. We sat on the edge of the ocean, watching this tiny lady, prepare, cook and serve our food. A great experience as we watch the sun go down. Afterwards we found a delightful restaurant selling the best desserts, so opted to go in.
The next day we went for a walk. Candidasa has a great parade of boutique shops along its beach front, selling all manor of things, from authentic wooden and brass ornaments to sarongs and clothing. Bit pricey here though. We came across Candidasa Lagoon, beautiful and full of water lilies, just in front of the sea shore. Before we knew it we were sat at a bar for lunch, but we couldn’t decide on food so opted for beers and cocktails. Quite refreshing considering it’s still in the 30’s and quite humid. The weather has been reporting thunderstorms for the past few days, but we’ve not seen any evidence of it so far.
Everywhere we go in bali, we come across little hand made baskets of flowers, rice, and other little bits. These are in front of shops, at the entrances of temples, in and around the resorts, I mean everywhere. I’ve just read up about them and they are called Canang. Which are offerings to the gods to bring peace and harmony, and to keep the demons at bay. Some have incense burning from them, the smoke carries the tendency of the offerings to the higher realms. The contents vary but they will all have the 3 basic Hindu colours: red for Brahma, green, black or blue for Vizhnu, and white for Shiva, symbolizing the holy trinity.
The day after our return from Gili T we decided on an afternoon trip to White Sandy Beach, which is around 20 minutes by car from our hotel. A nice drive up and over the mountain tops, passed the monkeys and down a dirt driveway. It was at this point our driver stated we would have to walk 1km from car park to beach. Well the walk was a very well used dirt and pebbly sort of road. Broken boulders everywhere to negotiate around, but hay once at the bottom, we were in full view of the Vista before us. Another beautiful, unspoilt beach, however this one had raging waves some we thought were 3 or 4 meters high. Too high for us to try our new snorkelling equipment. We walked a few hundred meters along the beach before abandoning our bag and heading in. This would make a pretty good surf beach, cos the waves were huge right on the beach. Some people were riding the waves with no boards at great speed. We the only OAP’s on the beach, declined this exhilarating thrill, thinking it too dangerous for our old and weary bones. A great bay though with its parade of small huts selling ice cold drinks and the like. The walk back to the car park was breath-taking (literally), we hadn’t noticed it’s steep incline on the way down, but phew in the mid afternoon heat, it was a struggle, but we’ll worth it.
Tomorrow we leave this area and drive West and inland to Ubud.