Back to Padangbai, for the last time though. After having dinner in one of my usual restaurants, on Tuesday I ended up talking with a british guy in love with diving. And guess what? After three hours talking I was totally convinced about trying it. Me! Diving!

On Wednesday I took a bus to the north, to Lovina. Where I had to meet Matthias again. On the way, the bus stopped at my beloved Ubud and I had the chance to see again Yasmin. I won’t stop saying it: her energy is contagious, her spirit is just a blessing. From Padangbai to Lovina I used again a Perama bus company, I’d rather sit slightly comfortably and pay a bit more than going with those old shuttle buses. It took me around 5 hours to get there in total.

But once in Lovina: we had a hotel with a swimming-pool! And in front of the beach. A proper beach! Again, it was sunset time. When it was dark, the stars were just gorgeous! It looked like they were about to fall over us!

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Lovina Beach

On Thursday we did some exploring of the area. We went to visit Air Terjun Gigit (i.e. waterfalls), Danau Buyan and Danau Tamblingan (i.e. lakes) and Air Panas Banjar (i.e. hot springs). The road was beautiful again. And the whole area was not touristic at all.

During the weekend we wanted to stay in Pemuteran, far north-west. So before leaving, I wanted to see some more temples (I never get tired of them!). Trying to find Pura Beji and Pura Dalem I could just find Pura Madawe Karang. But man! So amazing! The carvings were just impressive! Probably one of the most beautiful temples I’ve seen so far.

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Pura Madawe Kadang

From Lovina to Pemuteran it took us 1 hour by motorbike (although a girl at a bar told us that it should be 3 hours…) and there we stayed at Kubuku Resort. It was pretty expensive, but the whole area of Pemuteran is overpriced due to isolation. Don’t expect the same prices as the rest of Bali.

On Saturday was my day: DIVING! apparently the little island of Menjangan is one of the best spots of Bali (of Indonesia? of the world?) to dive (as the Liberty ship wreck in Tulamben, east coast). So this was my introductory dive.

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me! diving!

So weird! My ears hurt heaps, and I had a serious headache. But once I got adapted to the whole thing and I looked around I got shocked. Being under water is the closest thing to inner peace. Every single creature is graceful under water. All is quite, all is calm. I saw fishes of colours that I couldn’t even describe and, guess what? I SAW A TURTLE! Oh my god, I remember it and I still get goose bumps. She (clearly was a girl) was the most elegant animal on earth, swimming following the currents. I was trying to chase her, but I don’t control distances under water, so when I thought I was close, apparently I was more than 3 meters away…

Bad things of diving? Sore ear and bleeding nose as soon as I went up. I’m not really sure if there’s something wrong in my ears or I didn’t do the decompression thingy properly. Whatever, was totally worth it. As soon as I get checked by a doctor, I will try it again.

I left Pemuteran on Sunday to go back to Lovina. On a different area of the city this time, less touristic, with more locals. And I ate the best fish ever at Warung Rasta, wrong name for a restaurant, I know, but ignore that fact and try to go there!

Me and my bike

After visiting the north of the island, I went back to Ubud again. To spend the last days in Bali with my balinese gang: Yasmin, Ade, Erwin, Matthias. Everything is better if you’re surrounded by the right people! :)  But that’s another chapter of the blog!

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