Ahmed (Sept 5-10)

After the hustle and bustle of Ubud, Tracy and I decided to head for the quiet fishing village of Ahmed on the eastern end of Bali. We acquired a driver with relative ease since everyone in Bali knows someone, and of course, they get their share. After a bit of haggling and making sure we could stop at Besakih, we set off. Unfortunately, our driver never stopped complaining how long the drive was. We took this slight annoyance as a sign that we did a good job negotiating.

Fortunately, it wasn't too long before we reached our first destination, Besakih. This is also known as the mother temple as it is the largest and most important temple in Bali. A large complex with many temples open to the public and many more for Balinese families only. Upon arrival and after more haggling, we acquired a guide and dawned the required sarongs and sashes. Our guide, Ketut, was a very nice gentleman who educated us on the history of the complex and arranged for us to make a traditional offering and prayer.

Unfortunately, as we left Besakih, the local police extracted a bribe from our driver in exchange for returning his license which the took from him during our entry without explanation. The driver paid it, but refused to give us details on the amount. It appears not everything is perfect in Bali.

After another couple of hours of driving, we finally made it to our destination, Ahmed. We got dropped at Good Karma Bungalows based on the advice of an Aussie we met and Ubud. It was a fantastic place. Our bungalow was only a few steps from the ocean, had a hammock which we took full advantage of, and was as quiet as promised. The other great thing about this place was the snorkeling, great coral and tons of fishes.

Over the next few days, we relaxed. We continued snorkeling in front of our place, but we also got a motorbike and explored the coast more. We snorkeled a small Japanese shipwreck and a larger WWII wreck, the US Liberty, where Tracy found the fish a little too aggressive. (Note: It is important to know that the first time Tracy went snorkeling she was bit while trying to feed the fish, and hence our early exit from the Liberty wreck site once Tracy had a pack of fish following here). We also took time to grab a little food at as many places as we could and talk with the locals. At this great restaurant called Sails, we met this very nice lady Anik chatted with us all through dinner.

After five nights in Ahmed, the time finally came to leave, so we arranged for a small fishing boat to take us directly to our next destination, Gilli Trawangan, but we will save the story of our crossing for our next entry.

Cheers Everyone!