On June 29 Mads and I left Kuta Beach, Bali, and set off on our journey to Lovina Beach, Bali, on the northern shore of the island. We wanted to spend some time in a quieter area of Bali so we could fully relax.
We had two options for our journey: take a 3 hour public bus that made no rest stops, or hire a private driver and stop wherever and whenever we wanted. We decided to opt for a private driver.
I had always thought that Bali was beautiful primarily for it’s beaches, but never really put much thought into inland Bali. Our drive through inland gave me a totally different perspective of Bali. We drove through beautiful lush fields, tall mountains and many temples. It gave me a far greater appreciation for Bali as a beautiful island on the outside (beaches) and inside (inland).
That day was very misty and it was hard to see very far in the distance. It also rained. We were very lucky because of all our days in Bali so far, the only day with rain was our travel day!
We stopped at a coffee plantation along the route so we could sample some Balinese coffee and tea.
We learned about Luwak Coffee, also known as Kopi Luwak or civet coffee. It is one of the most expensive coffees in the world. It is produced by harvesting coffee berries that have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet. These coffee berries are passed through the digestive tract of the civets, and then washed, dried in the sun, roasted and used to brew coffee. Apparently it yields a delicious coffee with less bitterness. We were given the opportunity to try it, but since I’m not a coffee drinker (and because I find the procedure a little gross) I opted not to try this interesting, expensive, coffee.
These are the civets that are used:
We continued our journey through the mountains of Bali, and came across a group of monkeys on the side of the road! They were very friendly so we stopped to make friends with them:
They were so adorable, they were grooming each other!
We finally arrived at our resort in Lovina Beach after 4 hours of driving! The resort was beautiful! It was right on the water with a nice pool area. It was exactly what we needed for a relaxing few days!
The following morning we woke up at 5:30am to go see the dolphins! It was so early and the sun was just beginning to rise when we got down to the water:
We boarded a small boat and took off into the ocean to watch the dolphins in their natural habitat.
It was amazing! They are such beautiful and graceful animals! It was magical to watch the sunrise as the dolphins were jumping and swimming around our boats.
We spent the remainder of the day relaxing by the pool:
The pool/beach area had free wi-fi, so I spent part of my time on my computer:
Lovina Beach has been wonderful and relaxing so far! It was exactly what we needed! We still have another day left here before heading back down to Kuta Beach, Bali for a few more days, and then Singapore. Bali is amazing and we are loving every moment of it!
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