Bali - East Coast Tour

To get a better feel of Bali we decided to take an east coast tour from Bali Eco Tours which took us to Amed, the water palace, Candidasa beach and a local village tour.

First stop was snorkelling south of Amed at the wreck of a Japanese submarine from World War 2. The current and waves were strong so we couldn't actually reach the site of the wreck but we got to see many tropical fish and coral near just off the shore.

Snorkeling Site in Amed

 The second stop was at the water palace that a Sultan built for his concubine. The fountains, pools and structures were damage in a volcano eruption but everything was rebuilt and the palace was turned in a restaurant and hotel. All of the pools are fed by a local spring but the spring is isolated in a temple not open to the public.

Water palace

 Third stop was a beach in the Candidasa province. It was one of the nicest beach I have ever been too and the waves were great to swim in.  There is no local accommodation so everyone has to find their own transportation and not much has been developed besides a few seafood resturants. We stopped here for lunch, sampling grilled mahi-mahi and prawns and decided to stay a bit longer for a swim.

Candidasa Beach

 Almost everywhere we went we saw roosters caged for cock fighting. We were told that it is part of a temple ceremony where alcohol, gambling and cock flighting are done to please the evil spirits.  I am not 100 percent how much of that is true as people really just seem to enjoy the sport.

Roosters for Cock fighting

 We happened to have our tour on the celebration of "no moon" allowing us to to witness some preparations including pig roasting and the women dressing up and bringing the food and offerings to the temple. We learned that every community or village in Bali always has three temples, one for Brahma, the creator, one for Shiva, the destroyer, and one for Vishnu the protector. Each temple is used for different Hindu ceremonies.

Women bringing offering to the temple