Diving, diving and more diving. That was the main reason we decided to head to Amed, on the East coast of Bali.
The journey from Ubud to Amed was interesting. We were in a small, but very comfy people carrier along with two young Canadian girls and two 60+ year old gentlemen, one from Switzerland and one from Italy. A few minutes into the journey the Italian chap asked the Swiss guy where he was from…
“Ahhh good, you’re not English. If you were English I would not speak to you. I don’t like English people.”
Going to be a fun five hours.
At the point of the Italians declaration Deborah and I had not spoken a word. Therefore, the Italian was unaware of our nationality. He soon found out when Deborah offered him a sweet.
“Ahh but you are English, the English are not generous. I have never seen this before.”
Turns out the Italians dislike to all English nationals was history. He had not personally had a bad experience, but his understanding of history brought him to the conclusion that all English people were to be hated.
Deborah won him round a little with her sweet sharing and I think he drew the conclusion that at least one English person was OK. The jury was still out about me.
The guy was real entertainment value. After four hours of what seemed to be reasonably pleasant conversation with the Swiss guy. Out of the blue about half an hour from Amed, for no clear reason he declared to the bus that he didn’t like the Swiss. Priceless. You couldn’t make it up. He was ridiculously opinionated but in the majority of cases for no real rational to back his opinions up.
En route to Amed our driver took us to a coffee plantation. A highlight of this stop was supposedly the opportunity to sample Kopi Luwak, one of the most expensive coffees in the world, for a snip of the normal retail price. The reason this coffee is so expensive is that it is made from coffee beans found in faeces of the Toddy Cat. The Toddy Cat only swallows the finest beans. The beans don’t get digested so come out whole. The poo is gathered, beans removed, cleaned and roasted to create one of the most expensive coffees in the world.
When in Rome….. The coffee was very nice. Smooth. You just had to keep out of your mind the fact that you were drinking something that not long ago was contained within animal crap.
Kopi Luwak
After an entertaining journey we were dropped at our accommodation for the next few days, Barong Cafe. The place had come highly recommended and we were not disappointed. Only four apartments, pretty much the pool to ourselves and panoramic views of the ocean, all for £12.50 per night. Bliss. I had a feeling Deborah was going to be very happy here while I go scuba diving for the next couple of days.
Barong Cafe
THE MOON AND I 