The Best Apartment We Could Ask For
For our week in Bali, we made a very good decision by heading to a tiny village about 9k south of Amed Beach, which is a chill up and coming spot known for snorkeling/diving in East Bali. In our village, we had a bright and cheery small ocean view apartment, a fully stocked kitchen with a blender (very important here), a terrific host, and off the beach snorkeling where we saw copious amounts of colorful fish and even a turtle.
Our apartment inadvertently happened to be owned by and adjoining the same place where Elizabeth Gilbert, of âEat, Pray, Loveâ fame happened to stay so we knew weâd chosen a good one. It was very secluded, with just us and a couple other guests and had a restaurant attached as well. Life was simple and blissful here and we wish weâd made a longer reservation. It was booked solid for the months following.
We took a shuttle bus called Perama the four hours from Sanur to Amed for $25 (two tickets). The lush scenery was absolutely spectacular.
When we arrived to Amed, we found some lunch, bought some groceries and then realized we were suddenly Grab-less for the first time in SE Asia. Thus, we waited at the mercy of a taxi man to pass by to rip us off. Unfortunately, one did not so we had our host call one for us which cost a whopping $9.50 for a 15-minute ride. Unsurprisingly, transport got expensive in tourist land! But, alas, our annoyances quickly faded when we arrived to our new home for the week, with a balcony that would welcome everything morning sunrise for a week.
Looking over the red roof tops, it was almost more reminiscent of Croatia or Turkey than Bali. Oh yes, but this feels like Bali đđș
The inside of our room was also big and spaciousâŠplenty of room for exercise and yoga. It was close enough to the ocean that we could hear the waves, but the trade off was a rooster and some snorting piggies lived next door to balance it out.
Our bedroom was comfortable and cool, although we only had to rely on the AC at night thanks to a healthy sea breeze and mostly pleasant temperatures.
The bathroom was beautifully tiled and had the usual, sit and shower set up, and our little kitchen was well stocked. Many refrigerators have art on them in Indonesia and this was no exception.
The non-ocean side was almost as beautiful….and all this was $26/night on Airbnb. The value was insane.
The fishing village was very authentic, which included lots of friendly faces.
There was definitely not much in terms of groceries, however, so we really had to work with what was availableâŠ.a small produce stand, which sold a few other essentials like (crappy) bread, beer, eggs and milk. This load was $9.87, including a whole (water) bottle of coconut oil which weâre still using. Of course, when these are your choices, you have to be a little bit crafty with your meals. đ
Behind us, we could find Meditasi Bungalows, which is where Liz Gilbert stayed, and the superbly zen pool we also had access to.
Other touches around the property, included loads of hibiscus and plumeria, called frangipani here.
There was also a restaurant called the Smiling Buddha where we had several very chill meals while gazing at the sea.
Gregâs Nasi Campur, and Mandyâs vegetarian Gado Gado. Both dishes were $9.50. So, pricier than we had been paying, but you really couldnât beat the view or the convenience!
The proclamation from Liz Gilbert herself. These are the bungalows she stayed in as seen from our balcony. We kinda felt like paparazzi peering into them đ€Ł
Speaking of paparazzi, while in this small East Balinese village, we also got the chance to learn about their funeral customs from our host, Made. Whenever someone from the village passes, the entire village unites to prepare and cremate the body, prepare food to honor the death, and participate in the burial procession and ceremony.
While this at first sounds like a lovely community tribute, Made expressed there are notable downsides to this outdated and mandatory tradition, which requires significant sacrifice in the realm of sleep deprivation, because the men must stay awake all night to prepare the body, while the women prepare the meal. Because they are all required to be there, it also means financial loss from missing work, as well from as the donations they are required to make to go toward the death, which costs between 40-60 million Rupiah or $2500-$3800âŠa whole lot of money for a sleepy little Balinese village.
Still they all show up, with a smile and in honor of their lost villager, whether they know them or not. Made, and his neighbors had to attend two of them in the one week we were there, and then pull a 10-hour day after. The poor guy was so exhausted!
This definitely made us feel a bit guilty as we took in the views of Lombok in the distance, which could only be seen first thing in the morning. This mountain (volcano) on Lombok is the fifth biggest in Indonesia at 3700 meters. It was such a true pleasure to wake up every single day to meditate and/or do yoga with the sunrise.
And about 1.5 hours later, a load of fishing boats would seemingly appear from the horizon to work their way back to shore. They were typically packed with mackerel, mahi mahi and barracuda. We asked our host, Made, what his record was and it was 3000 mackerel, which earned him $1.6 million rupiahs, or a mere $103. đł
Speaking of fish, and Made, here he is bringing us a plate of grilled mackarel and rice one day for lunchâŠjust because he was an amazing host. He was also just a really nice guy. We feel like we made a friend here and we canât wait to return.
Getting Around and Exploring Amed Beach
As previously posted, while in East Bali for a week, we stayed south of Amed Beach about 9k, which gave us access to the busier town only by motorbike, when we decided to rent one for $5. For us, this worked out great because most days we were content working and relaxing from our oceanview apartment, eating at nearby restaurants within the village, or snorkeling directly from our beach and nearby beaches featuring some mind-blowing sites including a Japanese shipwreck, which was about a 20-minute walk.
However, on the day we went into Amed, we got access to even more off-the-beach snorkeling, food options and definitely more grocery options. And although itâs pretty chill by Bali standards, we also got a larger taste of the tourism of Bali, making us very happy for the choice of where we stayed.
Mount Agung is yet another active stratovolcano that climbs to the rooftops of Indonesia and serves as the highest point in Bali at 3031 meters (9944 feet). It last erupted in 2019 and is considered a spiritual link between heaven and earth for many Balinese people.
Our village, lined with fishing boats called janungs along the rocky shore. The boats (same as the ones we mentioned above), journeyed out every morning around 3 am, (so we heard, we were sleeping!) and arrived back with their catch around 8.
Pulling over on the motorbike for an iconic shot.
If you stick to local cuisine, lunch on Jemuluk Beach, a prime spot for snorkeling was still very reasonable, especially since it included the cost of your beach chair if you just negotiate and shop around a little. For the record, the first price on loungers we were quoted was a ridiculous 150k Rupiahs or about $9.50 WITHOUT food. What do we look like? Total dum-dums? In the end, Mandyâs Gado Gado, drowned in peanut sauce, was $2.58, and Gregâs Nasi Goreng with chicken was about the sameâŠso Iâd say we did alright at Jemuluk Homestay Warung.
AndâŠbonus! When we looked between our two loungers, we were surprised to see nothing but some fur and a pupâs little willy aimed up at us. Fortunately, he repositioned himself for a photograph. It still felt weird to see so many dogs after months without.
Turns out, it was a fantastic idea to park ourselves here for the day because Jemuluk Beach showcased some of the most superior from-the-beach snorkeling weâve ever experiencedâŠincredibly tranquil and clear waters, loaded with tropical fish in a rainbow of colors, delicate indigo star fish as big as a tire, and sunken Hindu ruins. AndâŠthis marine wonderland astoundingly started almost immediately when you got in the water! Like, where that guy is swimming in the foreground!
Greg, the shark, couldnât be more ready for snorkel week. While Greg took his turn, Mandy indulged in an iced cinnamon coffee and the view.
Though we commend this ladyâs balancing skills and A+ effort, unfortunately, if youâre in a tourist area at all, weâre learning itâs difficult to avoid hawkers on the beaches in Bali (and Lombok.) In the meantime, âLil Willy ate the spiritual offerings.
Greg returned for a drink selection on the beach where cocktails were about $3.50. OhâŠno! We weren’t in Java anymore. At the same time, Mandy suited up for her âdeep sea dive.â This was the first time weâd had the opportunity to use these types of snorkels (which we got free from our host!) and being a bit of a hesitant snorkeler, it was a total game changer for her. The visual field was so much better and it was amazing not to have worry about the fit of the snorkel and mask so much.
Apparently it was the day of giant head gear overall.
Heading back to our village, we stopped at the âAdi Shopâ which was a market with many real and western food products, like non-candied yogurt and oatmeal, where weâll be sure and stop a bit earlier in our stay when we come back. We had already been making do with our produce stand, and very mediocre village markets, (pictured) which could be deemed âCounterfeit Cuisineâ if they decided to name themselves at all. Ironically, here in rural Bali, their processed food includes real chickens walking on top of it. The most interesting part is, like many businesses in Asia, they have you take your shoes off before you go in the store, which of course is sprinkled with a thin layer in dirt, rice kernels, coffee (fake) grounds, and probably chicken poop because I guess your shoes are dirtier than their store. It’s sad. And also super gross.
Ah, but other than that minor inconvenience, it really was divine. đ Here Mandy is snorkeling from âourâ beach. The snorkeling was almost as great as it was on Jemuluk and we also saw our only turtle. Of course, there were no other people here either, making it feel like it was truly âours.â And sadly, sorry, we donât have the ability to take underwater photos. But hereâs a piece of some dried coral on the beach. You get the idea, right?