Exploring Bali and being open to new routes constantly rewards me with amazing sights and stunning scenery. The homeward bound section of our road trip took us through Singaraja heading east to Kubutambuhan. This coastal turnoff leads directly up to the Batur crater and is marked with a large green sign. You are looking at 2 hours from Lovina to Kintamani via this route, which twists and turns through lovely forested slopes. The road is in good condition and sees a decent amount of traffic although is not over loaded. Passing Dausa, the small village which is the turnoff for Bondalem on the NE coast, one keep heading in a SE direction, passing the ‘highest temple in Bali’ at Pura Pencak Penulisan and a short time later, the magnificent Pura Ulun Danu Batur.
We stopped in Penelokan (‘the place to look’) for lunch and hit one of the large scale buffets. The place we stopped in offered a decent spread, buffets not really being my thing. Soup, buffet, dessert, coffee was 70,000rp per person which jumped steeply with tax and service. My in-laws were not too impressed with the food or the price and discussed it for the next 2 hours. Still, they are on holiday and did get to act like tourists. The lunch spot, perched on the inside of the mountain crater, had perhaps 70 Japanese people dining while we were there, with more arriving all the time. Quite a business the owners have going.
Options available to us included checking out the 2 lovely temples, which my relatives were not into. A boat ride on Lake Batur might of been on the cards if we had more time, lets say another overnight stop. I decided against jamming straight down the hill to Kuta and swung a harp left off the main road in Penelokan following the direction of that lovely route I visited weeks ago, through Buahan and Suter. Passing through forested land once again we saw Gunung Agung poking its head out to our right as we descended at a rapid rate.
Passing Pura Besakih and racing through the village of Rendang, we enjoyed the dazzling afternoon sunshine and took the narrow route through Gianyar to the village of Lebih on the coast, allowing us to connect with the fast-track Kusamba Bypass. Whenever I rent a car in Bali it blows my mind how locals seem to drive around with their head in the clouds. On country lanes its farmers driving these tiny pick-ups, pulling out of nowhere and going 15km all the way home. On the Bypass things move at different pace. This time we had impatient SUV’s trying to overtake the slower yellow dump trucks. A different kind of hazard presented itself to us in the form of locals on motorbikes. As I was attempting to round a truck, a young lady drifted in between both of us, ignoring my pleading beeps to stay clear. It was only when I bumped her from behind (we’re all doing about 70km/h at this point) that she backed off and pulled over. Two minutes later a local with his wife and kid started the drifting nonsense again. I tell you, it scares the life out of me how some of these people pay no attention to their own safety.
One of the nice things about driving in Bali is the increasing number of petrol stations. They are literally everywhere, including up in the mountains and on places like Serangan. Pertamina knows how to make money from the locals. These new stations have modern pumps, where you can actually read the volume vs. price. It makes filling up a much nicer experience.
