Once I left the Gili Islands, I had smooth sailing all the way to Padangbai, Bali. The captain on the boat said the water the day before was still very choppy and he had to steer around surges. This day, the water was calm and smooth. I went up to a bench behind the captain at his invitation and saw five or six dolphin jumping along side us on the way back.
I’d booked transport to Candidasa with my ticket and after a brief wait, I was the only one going to they loaded me up and headed off. The place I picked in Candidasa was very random. It was the only name I could remember so I gave it to my driver and he knew where it was. It was nice but a bit noisy at times with voices from the back bungalow carrying through the bamboo roof. The noise wasn’t a bother and since I got there in time to get their last bungalow, I was pleased!
My full day there, I rented a motor bike to see the old traditional village of Tenganan where they do a form of weaving practiced only three places in the world. I hadn’t realized how pricey they were compared to other weavings. Soon, I realized the process of making one weaving can take two years or more from the preparation of the cotton through the dye process through aging the colors and finally the weaving. Amazing!
I headed on to Tirta Ganga from there stopping, of course, at the German bakery I’d discovered along the way. Tirta Ganga is described as a temple of healing water but the center piece of the property is a hotel. And, the holy water there was empty so I gathered it’s not as popular with local’s who do water ceremony before every major celebration so I was a bit disappointed in that aspect of it. The disappointment was only brief though as I feel fortunate to have visited other special places where water blessings take place. Guess what, it RAINED on the way back!
People in Candidasa told me it was only an hour to Ahmed but it’s closer to two hours so I skipped that for this trip. It was a lovely day and I headed back to Candidasa, visited with friends from Vancouver and went out for dinner. I stopped at a restaurant that had Dadar Gulung, the crepe filled with coconut palm sugar mixture and oh so delicious. This was a tourist restaurant and one of the few places I’ve found that had Dadar Gulung. Desert along cost me much more than my dinner at the local Warung I’d found. It was good but not my favorite. I’ll be buying more palm sugar here to take home with me so I can make my own!
