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13 July 2008

We set off from Balian and travelled North West towards Gilimanuk. The trip took a little longer than going direct through the mountains, but as we had made the journey through the mountains a few days previously we decided to explore a new route.

The road from Balian to Gilimanuk was hassle free with little traffic, we expected lots of trucks and buses but that wasn't the case, we must have been lucky and timed the run to perfection. Just before we reached Gilimanuk we turned right and took the road North East through the west Bali national park.

The road to Lovina

The road reminded us of the pine tree covered mountains in Northern Spain. It was very beautiful and again relatively quite as far as Indonesian roads go. We stopped off for some Nasi Campur. Basically you choose what you want from a range of local dishes, we had plain rice, potato and mushroom chilli soup, fish, tofu and vegetables oh and not forgetting our favourite Balinese Sembal (extra spicy), two coffees, a cold drink a packet of crisps and a pot noodle for Tehya all for 60,000IR (£3.20p).

Normally at none touristy places we would pay about 40,000IR (£2.10p).The place we stopped at was called Pengametam Bay and seemed like it was very popular with western families and divers. The Pulaki Cape and small island we could see looked amazing especially with the backdrop of the Javanese mountains.

Enjoying a Lovina sunset

After our food we drove along the North coast towards Singaraja with the sea on our left and the mountains on our right, it took us about an hour to get to the lovely Rini Hotel in Lovina.

When we first visited Lovina we looked at about 10 Home-stays / Guest houses / Hotels and none of them compared to the Rini for cleanliness, friendliness and cheapness (the three essential ‘ness’s’).

Rini Hotel is situated on Kalibukbuk one of the two main touristy roads in Lovina Beach about half way down the road on the right. It has an amazing selection of colourful trees and plants that give you the impression that you are far away from the hustle and bustle of it all.

The Rini Hotel garden

The rooms prices range from 120,000IR for fan and cold water to 400,000IR for the family sized chalets with AC etc. We took one of the top floor rooms with a fan and hot water for 180,000IR all inclusive with breakfast about 10 pounds (20,000 reduction on the normal price + no government tax).

The room is huge with a big open ceiling about 20+ feet high, a single bed for Tehya, a double for me and Han, a lovely on suite bathroom and a very large balcony for relaxing on. The pool is reasonably sized and is salt water rather than the normal chlorine. Tehya has mastered diving down to the bottom of the pool which is about five feet. It's amazing to watch just how quickly her swimming improves, she is 'Fish Girl'.

We have been in Lovina for five days and have done nothing other than swim, sleep, eat and drink. We have decided drinking is for the weekends only now as it is hard to get out of the English culture of drinking when it is sunny, plus we eat out every night where you feel you are expected to buy beer. We would like to return to the UK without alcohol issues as most people that we meet are only on a two to three week holiday.

Tehya and Gavin relax in the pool

We have managed a trip out to Hardys in Singaraja for a few supplies but haven't managed to visit any of the local sites like dolphins, waterfalls, hot springs and temples, but hey we have another three months in Indonesia, so we don't feel rushed to do anything other than have good fun playing with Tehya by the pool.

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