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Posted by - ® DavidB on August 25, 2005 at 4:14 pm:
Argus drives a Honda sedan, so different from the usual Kijang, especially in that the sedan is very low to the ground and really not suited to the sometimes rough Bali roads. So we set of with Argus at the wheel and Kadek navigating for a oneway drive from Gerebig Bungalows to Cahaya Matahari Bungalows near Negara, Jembrana. It was then that I realised that Argus and Kadek between them had little grasp of the English language, but if they did they weren't letting on! I guess there isn't much use for it in the Bull race capital of the world!
I managed to make it known that we would like to stop along the way to view anything vaguely of interest to us and perhaps take "poto". At least I thought I had made it known. These boys were keen to earn their 300,000 rp as quickly as possible!
Once I had my phrase book out and my reading glasses on I was able to express a desire to look at "pantai" (beaches) and immeadiately deviated to the left into a vast carpark and park area with steps down to Pantai Soka which turned out to be a very nice black sand and large rock beach with breaking surf. This stop is apparently in existance for bus loads of people on route to and from Java and has accommodation in the form of Pondok Wisana Bungalows and luckily a small shop, much appreciated as we were out of Acqa for the remainder of the hot drive. Temperatures here seemed much higher than in Ubud. The most notable thing about Pantai Soka is the.... wait for it.... Giant Cobra, al la Coff's Harbour's giant Banana (NSW), Kingston SE's giant Lobster (SA) and Renmark's giant orange (SA). We asked Argus if cobras were common in West Bali and he cooly replied "not many". We have nothing against cobras, per say, having never met one but we weren't keen to start up a friendship, albeit brief, with one now!
On to Pantai Medewi. Lovely spot. Could spend a day or two there and I am no longer an active surfer. New words are coming into Balinese vocabulary from Medewi Beach, one being "ding" as in "Ding Dokter". You may have guessed it, large rocks along the water line (and possibly further out!) of this really pleasant black pebble and rock beach. Counted about 12 lucky surfers enjoying a great swell. The main accommodation appeared to be Hotel Pantai Medewi (no surprises there!) and apart from looking a little tired on the outside it looked friendly. Maybe another time :-)
Onward, Argus! Up the road a little from there we passed a laden truck that was awkwardly "parked" in an irrigation channel on the side of the very busy road. As we slowly passed it we noticed what appeared to be the driver surveying the situation and the front of the vehicle that had suffered major impact damage. 50 metres along the road were three men scuttling along the road with a young man hoisted over their heads, obviously headed for the medical centre 250 metres down the road, the one with the ambulance parked in front of it! Navigator Kadek put his hands together and prayed. I was concerned that driver Argus would too, but he kept his hands seriously on the wheel. The image of that haunted us for several days.
Negara and Cahaya Matahari Bungalows. Why had we decided to stop there? 1)We were on the way to Pemuteran and it seemed a good idea at the time. 2)We hadn't been there before 3) A good friend of mine had worked with the owner, "Pak Wayan Tony", a native of Gianyar, during the building of his last hotel, Villah Indah in Ubud. Previous to that Tony had built and owned Cahaya Dewarta, also in Ubud. Somewhere along the way he had built Cahaya Matahari bungalows, approx. 14 rooms, out the back of his home in Negara, facing onto the Rice Padi. We were to meet Tony and stay with him.
Things change over the years, I guess. Tony was most welcoming and showed us to our bungalow, his wife Ida in tow to sweep debris, ant, dog doo and other things out of our way and off of our verandah. Tony pointed out the spot where the rice once grew and explained that the water was "kaput", broke down and government not fixing. What we were now veiwing was an unruly young "jungle" of everything that would grow if rice wasn't. All the debris from the bungalows seemed to be pushed onto the floor of the jungle. "This your room, sorry it not very good". "Bagus", we said. We were staying 1 night.
Next, great times in Negara.... seriously!
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