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  • Tag: amed

    • tirtta ganga

      Posted at 9:02 am by jasminedesirees, on December 15, 2014

      On our way back from hiking Mount Batur, we stopped in to check out Tirtta Ganga, one of Bali’s gorgeous water palaces. it’s up in the NE part of Bali, so it’s perfect to visit while you’re up in Amed, or on your way back from a day trip out of Ubud.

      tirrta ganga

      tirrta ganga

      tirrta ganga

      It’s not marked very conspicuously, when our driver pulled over I thought he was just stopping for snacks, because it’s surrounded by walls, with shops and restaurants in front, with just a little gate and a sign over the archway.

      tirrta ganga

      tirrta ganga

      tirrta ganga

      Luckily it wasn’t very busy when we were there so we were able to check everything out and take lots of pictures without there being a crowd, or a group of random people in all of our photos.

      tirrta ganga

      tirrta ganga

      The grounds was amazing, with lots of sculptures and water features, and a giant fountain in the middle. There are stepping stones all through the first pool so you can walk around it and look at all of the sculptures.

      tirrta ganga

      tirrta ganga

      We were told that the waters in Tirtta Ganga were supposed to have spiritual healing properties, and that people were allowed to swim in certain areas, but there wasn’t really anyone to ask, and we didn’t want to accidentally go into the wrong area.

      Also, there are huge Koi fish everywhere, and they definitely could have taken off a pinky toe if they felt so inclined.

      tirrta ganga

      tirrta ganga

      It was very peaceful, quiet and green, even though there is a more expensive homestay and a nice restaurant along the right side of the property, it doesn’t take away from the ambiance.

      tirrta ganga

      tirrta ganga

      Also there was a large pool filled with lilypads and gorgeous purple flowers, so that was my favourite part, obviously.

      tirrta ganga

      tirrta ganga

      Posted in Indonesia, travel | 1 Comment | Tagged amed, Bali, culture, Indonesia, tirrta ganga, travel, ubud, water palace
    • uss liberty

      Posted at 9:52 am by jasminedesirees, on December 9, 2014

      The USS Liberty in Amed, Bali was my first shipwreck dive, and it was amazing. It’s a great dive for beginners, or for people who aren’t actually certified to wreck dive (ahem) because it’s a shore dive, and the wreck isn’t very deep, only 18M, so it gets a lot of sunlight.

      uss liberty wreck
      uss liberty wreck

      The water is very clear so it’s easy to see everything, and it’s pretty wide open so even if you are claustrophobic, there aren’t really any places where you feel trapped inside.

      There were a lot of little fish, although we didn’t see anything super exciting, but just the feeling of being inside the wreck was enough to make it one of the best dives I’ve ever done.

      uss liberty wreck
      uss liberty wreck

      I was able to do some wreck diving in the Philippines a few weeks ago, and I actually had kind of a scary experience, (more on that later) but it definitely made me look back on this dive with even more affection, because for those dives it was very deep, and the visibility was pretty terrible, and it was so dark that we needed a flashlight inside the ship.

      uss liberty wreck
      uss liberty wreck

      We talked to almost every dive company in Amed, before deciding to go with BLD.

      Most of the dives around Amed are shore dives, so it was cheaper than some of the other diving we’ve done, but if one thing to keep an eye out for is that a lot of the companies will only take you to one dive site per day, to do two dives there, and we found out it’s because they have to pay a tax for each dive spot they go to, and they make more money by just keeping you at one site.

      uss liberty wreck
      uss liberty wreck

      It’s up to you if you want to dive only one site, but we wanted to see as much as possible, which is one of the reasons we went with BLD. Our second dive was actually not that great, it was a shore dive down a sandy slope, there wasn’t much to see but we did spot a black baby frog fish, and it looked like a tiny alien.

      Our dive guides were really great, they were local guys from Amed, and we ate lunch with them and chatted about our lives, and their lives and learned a lot about Bali. They both thought it was very strange that we had been married for 3 years and didn’t have any babies. They invited us out to see a band with them at a bar that night. All of the people in Amed were lovely.

      uss liberty wreck

      If you are a diver, or even a snorkeler, and you have some time when you are in Bali, definitely make the trip up to the USS Liberty, it’s so so worth it.

      uss liberty wreck

      Posted in Indonesia, travel | 1 Comment | Tagged amed, diving, Indonesia, scuba, shipwreck, shore dive, uss liberty
    • amed, bali

      Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on December 2, 2014

      After we left Sanur, we went up to the northeast coast of Bali to spend a week in Amed. It’s completely gorgeous up there, and also very relaxed. It’s very far away from the hustle and bustle of Denpasar, and the tourist trap of Legian/Kuta. It’s just a really cool, chill little town.

      amed, bali
      amed, bali

      Amed is about a 3 hour drive from Sanur, but the scenery is amazing. Amed is quite near Mount Agung, and the drive takes you along the coast, and past some gorgeous rice fields. The coast where Amed is situated is great for snorkeling, there is a reef that stretches all along the shore. although some of the beaches are kind of rocky.

      We also did our first shipwreck dive there (the USS Liberty) which was every Little Mermaid fantasy I’ve ever had come to life, but more on that later.

      amed, bali
      amed, bali
      amed, bali

      We didn’t have a place to stay, but there are tons of little cheap homestays in Amed, so we found a place no problem.

      The best part was, because we were there in October and that’s coming up on the rainy season, it wasn’t very busy, so even though we were staying at a cheap homestay, we went to quite a few of the nicer resorts and hung out there for a few hours each day, and they didn’t mind at all.

      amed, bali
      amed, bali

      We would always order food and drinks, but we couldn’t have afforded to stay there, so we ended up getting the best of both worlds. The Santai had a beautiful pool right on the beach, and delicious mango crumble for dessert.

      Amed had lots of cute little restaurants, which were largely wasted on me since it was too hot to eat anything other than mango and iced coffee, a yoga studio where you could practice yoga every evening along the beach, and no fewer than five Bob Marley themed bars.

      amed, bali
      amed, bali
      amed, bali

      The best (but coldest) thing we did while staying in Amed was climbing to the top of the Mount Batur volcano for sunrise, but that definitely deserves its own post.

      Amed was one of my favourite places in Bali, and is a great stop over for a few days before taking the boat across to the Gili Islands.

      amed, bali
      amed, bali

      Posted in Indonesia, travel | 6 Comments | Tagged amed, Bali, Indonesia, mount agung, mount batur, travel, uss liberty
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