In my outdated Rough Guide I saw mention of some “naughty” carvings on a temple by the old capital Singaraja. As I have yet to go up that way, and the book swap at Dijon was canceled, I went for a drive. North past Bedugul and Candi Kuning where I have been before, I continued on through the cool mountains. Saw some road monkeys. Stopped at a turnoff for a waterfall but wisely refused the service of a guide – the thing was less than a km down the trail. Had some lunch from a roadside stall in Singaraja. Then found Pura Delum. The carvings were a disappointment, but I wasn’t sorry I came and gave the resident monk a donation.

Headed south again, back into the mountains. I had to stop for the view of Kintamani and to get completely ripped off buying some gas from a roadside guy. Over twice the price a fill up should have been, but still less than $4. This has happened to me a few times now – paranoid about running out, pushing to “just the next available spot”, I give in, pay too much from someone by the road selling petrol out of Absolute bottles, then soon see the proper gas station where it always seems I would have made it. But at least I haven’t run out in the middle of nowhere. I’ve also had good luck only getting flat tires where a fix place was quite close.

The other issue with these roadtrips, I find myself cracked out after such long drives, arriving from yet another unknown angle into Denpasar and wandering around until I find something familiar, I end up driving crazy and taking too many chances. So far so good, but passing trucks and buses on mountain highways gives one an unrealistic sense of how dangerous it really is. Perpetual close calls, but never a collision.

After two evenings of drinking more than I should have, I rode an hour to Tanah Lot to watch the sunset. It’s tourist high season, and so a bit busy, but it was low tide when you can walk out to the island temple. The “holy snake” was hilarious: paid a donation and went into a semi-cave to a seated guy who shone a flashlight in an alcove where there was a snake, but I’m not entirely sure it was alive.

I went around and got some other shots, especially trying to capture crabs camouflaged in the rock and other sea creatures in the tidal pools, but then while having another over priced beer on the overlooking cliff, absentmindedly deleted all of these shots, and had to scramble to retake before dusk. The were great terraced rice field views on the way as well, but I don’t think I need to go back there.

I went further up the East coast of Bali than I had previously been to tiny Amed. The snorkeling and diving here are well known. Unfortunately the water was too rough both Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning to check out the shallow Japanese shipwreck, but I’m sure I’ll go back another time. The snorkeling I did get to do meters from the door of my bunglow was good, the “floating in a fishtank” feel you’d want in the tropics, but the water was rough and I freaked myself out a bit, frantically trying to beat the undertow on the swim back.
On the way up to Amed, going the interior road north to later return on the coastal road, I saw some excellent terraced rice fields. There’s a tiny waterfall you can’t make out in the film. The bungalow at Baba’s Good Karma was slightly more expensive than a fellow teacher had described, but still worth the price at $16 a night.

In the evening I met some older kooks from Australia. Actually she was Australian and he originally from Austria. They said some interesting stuff, and also some kooky stuff – about the proper way to eat and “Earth Energy”, which cats love but dogs hate. I’ll listen to most any old shit once you start buying the beers, even if you speak over one another and constantly repeat yourself. The cafe closed rather early and they turned in, but I had to ride down the windy road to find an open store to have one more large Bintang before the rushing surf and under the stars.

On the way back I saw an interesting temple in a perfectly square shallow pond. A “tourist object” as the sign says, but I’m not sure of the name. I was just south of Amlapura. I loved driving in the mountains, though the roads are sometimes sketchy and you have to watch petrol consumption. Mountains are just good for me and I wish I lived closer.

All in all, it was just what the doctor ordered to make me feel good about where I am again. Getting away from Kuta is key. The cost and all the Australian tourists can be a real drag. I realize if the school where someplace less touristy and mountainous, this would be an entirely different year. But all of that is only 2-3 hours away, so I shouldn’t complain.