Sunday, May 30, 2010

At Uluwatu

Alila Villas Uluwatu.
We've shifted out to another villa at the southern tip of the island. This week, we won't hear the surf crash against the shore when we wake and sleep. We'll only be able to see the great blue from afar. Still nice.

At Uluwatu, we're perched high on the cliff above the ocean. Perhaps during low tide at sunset, we'll stroll down the resort's 500 steps to the exposed beach and check out those rock pools for a bit. We're done with the jungle and swamps, and will check out other sea sports in the area.

For now, we've a gigantic space to laze around in. We're just about 1.5 hours (with the famous Indonesian traffic jams) away from Seminyak and all its good eats. Travelling through the city centre to get to the other side can be very annoying. The roads in Bali are now horrendously congested. The entire stretch of Jalan Bypass Ngurah Rai is perpetually frozen in a traffic jam. To save you 15 minutes of staring at another car's exhaust pipe on Jalan Sunset Road, you'd better hope your driver knows how to pay RP2000 to cut across via Carrefour hypermart. Negotiating that silly roundabout in front of the DFS Galleria is simply an exercise in extreme patience.

As much as I'm not into food on this trip, it'll still probably feature a couple of good dinners from now. I'd like to do some seafood (not at tourist traps along Jimbaran Bay). But I put my foot down on checking out the 'famous' restaurants in Seminyak or Nusa Dua. Not particularly keen to travel to that enclave.

5 comments:

Jo said...

the traffic condition in the city is really madness!! And now, you said it is too? Even when it's not peak season yet? Oh my goodness!

btw, you are really having an overdose of Bali! :D

imp said...

jomel: outside of the city isn't so bad. but roads are narrow and if you're stuck behind a huge truck, the driver must be skilled and alert enough to cut! happy sigh- bali is beautiful still, in some parts.

supercoati said...

Have you tried the Kedonganan fish market? Market starts as early as 4am and you can your purchase cook on the spot by stores next to the market. Don't know how commercialize the place is now but in the wee hours of the morning I don't think there will be many tourists.

supercoati said...

Ooops...meant to say you can get your seafood cook on the spot.

imp said...

supercoati: yes! tried. it's fairly cool. no tourists. best. i headed there twice at umm....8am when it's kinda winding down. our resort offers a trip to the market and then a cooking lesson after that too. cooking lessons seem to be all the rage now. strange.