On To Java

From Lovina we headed west along the coast road to Gilimanuk and the ferry to Java.  The driver of our shared van taxi seemed like a textbook Balinese.  In the two hours it took us to traverse the 100km he stopped four times at different shrines/temples to make offerings and get blessings.  While that was amusing for me to see, what surprised me about the ride was that over half of the passengers were Muslims, not to mention to the dozen of mosques and Islamic schools we passed.  Is this an invasion?!

The ferry terminal is very huge, looks new, well organized, and the boat sea worthy, sparsely loaded.   However, the 3km crossing took a whole hour!  The course was as circuitous as can be, interspersed with mysterious pauses and sideways hovering.  No one around had enough English to enlighten us with the cause. [John thinks we were waiting for a docking slip to open up.]

Walking off the ferry, we were in Java.  Since we wanted to catch our onward train during the daylight, we had to spend a night in Banyuwangi at the very eastern end of Java, looking over to Bali.  Once again, I liked our hotel, but failed to understand the draw.  For dinner, we made a bolder choice to eat at a warung (canteen) on the main road outside our compound; finally having success explaining our vegetarian ways at the third place we tried.  It was run by a young Chinese woman, third generation, particularly genial.  She had about the same amount of Mandarin Chinese and English as John's Chinese.  We had jackfruit (lodel tewel) for the first time, as far as we could tell.  I was very skeptical at first.  It looked so much like pork!

It's great to be off the beaten path!

It's claimed that a ferry between Bali and Java leaves every 30 minutes, but it must be more often than that as this shot shows at least 4 ferries ready to dock in Bali.


Waiting for the ferry to pull out. Behind Sun-ling is part of the ferry terminal. And beyond that the hills of Bali.


These 4 young women appeared to be ferry cadets in training as they sat in the bridge once the ferry was underway.


Mainly scooters on our boat.


First stop in Java is the Banyuwangi Station to buy next morning onward tickets to Surabaya. Check out SL in full travel mode. ;-)


After buying our train tix we hoofed it 2 kms down the road to the Ketapang Indah Hotel which was pretty posh but not expensive. We were ready for some pool time for sure.




As SL said above, we had a tasty dinner and made a new friend (who looks like she came out of a Tang Dynasty painting) at a warung just a few meters from the hotel entrance.








The hotel breakfast featured many choices of Indonesian breakfast food including some fruits new to us like this salak.

Singaraja

From Lovina, we rode bemos (shared taxis/minivans) with the locals to have a quick look at Singaraja, 10km to the east, the 2nd largest city in Bali.

Usually one thinks of Bali as homogeneous; however, we found Singarja to be quite cosmopolitan with its Hindu temples, mosques, Chinese temple, universities, Dutch Colonial architecture, and numerous government buildings. Not to mention KFC and Bata.

Pasar Anyar, main market in Singarja. Notice the horse cart. Also note that Pasar=Bazaar.


Palm baskets used for the daily Hindu offerings at home, work, or temple.


The minaret of Masjid Nur; one of the older mosques in town. Hard to get a good shot in the narrow streets.


Muslim school girls.


Not easy to get a good shot of this mosque as it, like most other mosques we saw in Bali, appears to be aligned with Mecca, not the surrounding street grid.


Several views of the Independence Monument which is located on the sight of the old, now silted up, port.






The Chinese Temple is also located at the old port. One older Chinese man relaxing at this temple spoke pretty good Mandarin.


KFC.


The gate to Pura Dalem the main Hindu Temple.


Thinking these are buildings from the Dutch Colonial Period.

Lovina Beach, Bali - Mixed Feelings

We started this trip in Bali, Indonesia for aesthetic reasons as we want to keep a general north/west direction through Java, Indonesia, Singapore, Peninsular Malaysia, and Thailand.  We liked Bali pretty much when we came here in 2006 and spent our time in Ubud and Amed.  This trip we will visit Lovina before heading west to the ferry for Java.

Coming here after the holidays is definitely a good thing,  The Lovina Beach is not a popular destination in Bali to start with. At our modest hotel there are more people working than guests. My concerns for coming in the rainy season seem unnecessary. We have been here for more than 48 hours and it has yet to rain at all.  Given the day time high 88F, real feel 103F, I am thankful for the overcast sky.  When we first got off the airplane, it felt like one of the worst summer days in Raleigh, not exactly enviable even when it's 11 degrees (F) back home. I am acclimatizing.

Not an adherent of the beach cult, I am a little particular about where to go; that is, no party beaches, no mega resorts, no flying, no ferrying; although at the same I don't want to forego a beach-view, electricity, AC, Wi-Fi, not to mention plethora of restaurants.  I totally sound like a hypocrite to myself.

So we end up at Lovina.  While I have everything I was looking for, our morning walk along the beach was a sobering reminder. The beach front is interspersed with vacation accommodations of varying resplendence and village shacks of varying dilapidation. The disparity always bothers me, not to mention the trash and sewage from the inlets. Am I a part of the solution or the problem?

On the way from Denpasar to Lovina.




John cooling off on the veranda.


The landmark Lovina Beach Dolphin Statue. Check out the selfie stick.


Watchin' the Sunset.


Sun-Ling enjoyed a bit of shelling on the black sandy beach.






More beach scenes.




Admiring the jackfruit next to the pool.


Tasty vegetarian dinner at Warung Jegeg: deep fried potato fritters, spicy greens, best tempeh ever, with rice.

Safe Arrival Message

Just a quick note to say that we and our bags have arrived safely in Bali and are installed in a hotel near the Ubung Bus Terminal in Central Denpasar. 

To SE Asia and China

For our next trip we fly to Bali, Indonesia on Jan 7, 2015. After making our way through Indonesia to Singapore and up the Malay Peninsula to northern Thailand, we fly to China for a March 21 family wedding in Shanghai. Then after 7 weeks in China including a trip north to the Great Wall we return to the US on May 6, spending a week in California visiting family before returning to Raleigh.