Lovina was originally a string of villages, that collectively came to be known as Lovina, after the last king of Buleleng, built his holiday home in Kaliasem, and named it ‘Lovina’. Riding from Lovina towards Seririt this morning, I pulled off the road and headed towards the beach. Up here its all grey / black volcanic sands, which is still okay. Looking inland from the coast towards the highlands, there was lovely scenery, rice fields, trees and green slopes. It hasn’t rained on the north coast for a long time, but in the Lovina area, they have obviously figured out their water supply.
Seririt is a junction town on the north coast, 10kms west of Lovina. Riding through Seririt feels like riding through any other large Balinese local town. There’s always a market and the remnants of that are left scattered all over the place. There’s a local bank and shops selling fans, pots and pans etc, not much for a westerner. My usual way to view the stretch from Pupuan to Seririt, is by jamming downhill in a car, on my way to Lovina, usually with guests. Having the chance to do a slow cruise the opposite way, heading in from the coast was awesome. Living on the south coast, I think I have some preconcieved ideas about the north coast, (barren, poverty stricken, ramshackle etc.) and some of those are true, but the scenery is lovely.
Heading up the slope, the curving roads were not so much switchbacks, but bends, allowing a decent speed to be maintained. Either side of the road were often wonderful views, which gave way to steep sided forest and tighter bends. Land prices must be cheap up there, as there didn’t appear to be any indication of westerners.
