Amused in Amed

 

AMUSED IN AMED

There have been many times when travel has been the right life choice for me but so many people say, “You are leaving again? That is just not normal!” It has seemed unusual that I have spent so many years working at sea or on the road with George, but it is normal for me and normal for us. Travel makes us happy.

In The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger, the somewhat dramatic and crazy character, Kim says: “I wanted to go to India, which turned out to be the best thing I ever did. Have you ever noticed that—the way the best and worst things in your life can be all twisted up so you couldn’t have done one without the other?

For George and I, travel is twisted up and the most important part of normalcy. After a week in Kuta and Ubud, we traveled to Deddy’s bungalows in Amed. We looked at many hotels on Asiarooms.com and Agoda.com, finding some “in town” and some “out of town.” After three days at Deddy’s and wandering around by foot and motorbike, we realized there are about seven fishing villages that line up in a row, and the Bali Amed in Lipah (which seemed out of town on the map) would be where we’d return for our next stay in Amed.

We liked our stay at Deddy’s bungalows. The pool area with the ocean view was pretty but lounge chairs were seldom available, due to the number of guests. The staff were very attentive and friendly. Breakfast was included in the deal and we ate several meals at their café. We ate a lunch of sate ayam (chicken) under a wooden canopy next to the pool. Our room was nicely decorated with a four-poster bed and there was plenty of space for our things. We also had an outdoor area with table and chairs for more relaxing! George played one night with the guitarist at C’est Bon.

A highlight of this area was the sunset viewing spot, walking distance from Deddy’s. We saw the sunset and Mount Agung—truly gorgeous!! We drove a motorbike one day to the Japanese Wreck and snorkeled. There was current in the water, but it was not too bad and the visibility was incredible.  We had lunch at Kawi Karma Bungalows, which were in a Sulawesi style and looked very inviting.

All in all our three days in Amed were great. We knew we would return again but we’d promised to be in Tulamben so George could play with a local band there before we went back to Ubud for the Royal Cremation Ceremony. After our time in Ubud, we returned to Bali Amed for seven nights. The black sand beach in Lipah was lovely for long walks and the natives were friendly; they enjoyed teaching us a few words of Balinese! I highly recommend you stay at Bali Amed and enjoy snorkeling as well as the warungs by the sea.

August 14, 2012

Video: Enjoy Amed

Lisa Ellen Niver

Lisa Niver is an award-winning travel expert who has explored 102 countries on six continents. This University of Pennsylvania graduate sailed across the seas for seven years with Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and Renaissance Cruises and spent three years backpacking across Asia. Discover her articles in publications from AARP: The Magazine and AAA Explorer to WIRED and Wharton Magazine, as well as her site WeSaidGoTravel. On her award nominated global podcast, Make Your Own Map, Niver has interviewed Deepak Chopra, Olympic medalists, and numerous bestselling authors, and as a journalist has been invited to both the Oscars and the United Nations. For her print and digital stories as well as her television segments, she has been awarded three Southern California Journalism Awards and two National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and been a finalist twenty-two times. Named a #3 travel influencer for 2023, Niver talks travel on broadcast television at KTLA TV Los Angeles, her YouTube channel with over 2 million views, and in her memoir, Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty.

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