The Diary Beth didn't propose to Oz and Beth and I had an argument because I said I wasn't staying in Penelokan another night. The damp rooms reminded me of Pitt St, Edinburgh. I'm not doing that again.
We took a minibus down to the base of Mt Batur (1717m) and promptly went the wrong way. We were being buzzed by a local "guide" carrying drinks priced at a whopping 2,500rp. He was making us feel uneasy about our attempts at following the path. Beth then got angry with him but he finally left when I told him to piss off.
Mt Batur
We eventually found the path and saw our fellow travellers a couple of hundred metres ahead. They had a guide, the cheats! Onwards and upwards was the cry but it turned out to be very slowly as Beth wasn't feeling well. When we finally got to the crater I was unimpressed. After all, I've already been to the world's most active volcano in Hawaii.
Going down, Oz raced off on his own and soon disappeared from sight. Beth was struggling in her Reeboks and was soon covered in cuts and grazes. Although we probably pioneered a new route we made it to Tirtha and the hot springs. Oz was waiting for us but it seemed he'd had as much trouble as us making it to the bottom. We were driven back to the homestay, had lunch, used the first-aid kit and jumped in our transport, driven by "Michael Jackson".
The road to Lovina twisted and turned like a twisty turny thing. Our driver kept saying "crazy" and laughing like Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop. His manner changed when we had a blowout and his spare tyre was in a pretty bad state. His others were like racing slicks as well. I bet he went back a lot slower.
At least our new accommodation was a lot classier. A bamboo cottage with an upstairs and spotless to boot. What's the catch? Mosquitoes. More here than we've seen in the rest of Bali.
2012 Pitt St, Edinburgh - my sandwich year working for Ferranti in Edinburgh in 1986. Lived for a large part of the time in a dodgy bedsit. End terrace, damp walls, virtually no hot water and two dodgy dole bludgers living downstairs that used to steal each others giros. I still shudder at the thought.
Funnily enough I was in Beverly Hills 10 days ago.
The Diary We had booked a minibus to take us to Penelokan via Besakih in preference to taking the Perama bus. our driver took us, by what I can only describe as "the back way". Up steep hills, round sharp bends, through villages, over chickens and terrifying dogs and humans alike, we went where only a 4WD should have gone. We arrived at Besakih, Bali's most important temple, and were besieged by young girls hiring umbrellas. It was by far the biggest temple we'd seen and had a magnificent setting on the side on Gunung Agung. Unfortunately we were not allowed in because we were not worshipping. Still, I'd rather be an atheist.
We continued our journey to Mt Batur and our driver took us straight through Penelokan to Kedisan by the side of the lake. This was very much a one homestay town so we insisted on being taken back to Penelokan. We checked into the Lakeview Homestay with it's tiny damp rooms and magnificent view of the lake and volcano. Several minutes later the view was no more - the clouds had rolled in and all we could see was a white mist.
We retired to play cards and Dickon's famous name game while it got colder. Then we discovered the electricity was off. What a wonderful place. We ate in the restaurant which was lit by about 4 candles and listened to the owners playing guitar. House of the Rising Sun seems to be a favourite in Bali.
Returning to our rooms we came across our fellow inmates sat outside their rooms shrouded in blankets. They recounted tales of Komodo dragons and the hassles of travelling through India. Oh joy, I think I want to go somewhere else!
2012 Dickon - friend of Oz from his Nottingham Boots days. Introduced us to a game that has been known ever since as Dickon's famous name game.
I'm not sure if the Lakeview Homestay and the Lakeview Hotel are the same place. They've probably called everything Lakeview.
What would travellers these days do without electricity ? The ipods, ipads, smartphones, laptops etc. would grind to a halt.
