Indonesia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 274

EATING
There's a night market in the Jl Durian area, between Jl
Dr Sutomo and the main market, Pasar Anyar, in the city
centre. Kampung Tinggi, just east of the bridge on the
main road east out of Singaraja, is lined with stalls every
afternoon (2-8pm).
Warung Kota Jl Ngurah Rai. A place popular with the
young folk of Singaraja, with a bamboo interior and live
music nights. It serves inexpensive tasty nasi and mie goreng
(around Rp10,000) and other Indonesian basics. Daily 24hr.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO
Lovina is famous (or infamous) for
dawn trips to see the dolphins that
frolic off the coast; opinions are evenly
split between those who think it's
grossly overrated and those who
consider it one of the best things on
Bali. It's pretty much the luck of the
draw: some days there is little to see
while on others the dolphins cavort
around and under the boats in a grand
display. Boats leave at 6am and trips
cost from around Rp70,000 per person
for the two-hour trip; book directly
with the skippers on the beach or
through your accommodation.
he skippers also know the best spots
on the local reef for snorkelling (from
Rp70,000; 1hr 30min-2hr), and dive
operators will take snorkellers on dive
trips further afield if they have space;
this is more expensive but offers
greater variety.
Situated between the main north-coast
diving areas, Lovina is an ideal base for
diving, with fun dives in the Lovina area
and further afield at Pulau Menjangan,
Tulamben and Amed all available,
though you will have to drive for at least
1hr 30min to reach each of these sites.
he local reef, perhaps unfairly, has a
reputation as being uninteresting, though
there's an excellent range of fish, and
tyres, an old car and a small boat have
been placed on the reef to encourage
coral growth.

DIRECTORY
Banks and exchange Bank Central Asia on Jl Dr Sutomo
has exchange facilities and an ATM.
Hospitals Rumah Sakit Umum (the public hospital) is
on Jl Ngurah Rai T 0362 41046.
Post o ce The main post o ce and poste restante is at
Jl Gajah Made 156 (Mon-Thurs 8am-3pm, Fri 8am-1pm
& Sat 8am-noon), and is also a Western Union agent.

LOVINA
LOVINA stretches along 8km of black-
sand beach, the largest resort in Bali
outside the Kuta-Legian-Seminyak
conurbation. While the peak season
(June-Aug & Dec) is busy, Lovina is a
whole lot sleepier than the southern
resorts, although there's some nightlife
and activity centres on the beach, with
snorkelling, diving and dolphin-watching
as diversions. It's also an ideal base for
exploring the whole of the north coast
and the volcanic areas inland.
Beginning 6km west of Singaraja,
the resort encompasses six villages, from
east to west: Pemaron, Tukad Mungga,
Anturan, Kalibukbuk (including a side
road, to the east of the centre, known as
Banyualit), Kaliasem and Temukus.
Kalibukbuk is the centre of Lovina and
full of accommodation, restaurants and
tourist facilities. East of here, in Tukad
Mungga (where the beach is known as
Pantai Happy), the small fishing village of
Anturan and along the Banyualit side road
Jalan Laviana, 1.5km from the centre, it
tends to be quieter despite the develop-
ment of losmen and restaurants. West of
Kalibukbuk, restaurants and accommoda-
tion line the roadside in the villages of
Kaliasem and Temukus. Road noise is the
enemy here; only consider accommodation
set far enough back to block it out.

4

Brahma Viahara Ashrama and
hot springs
One popular outing from Lovina is to
the Buddhist monastery, Brahma Vihara
Ashrama (no fixed opening hours, but
rarely closed; donation includes sarong
rental), 10km southwest of Lovina, a
colourful confection in a wonderful
hillside setting and with a glorious gold
Buddha as the centrepiece in the main
temple. Catch any westbound bemo to
Dencarik, where a sign points inland to
the monastery, and ojek wait to take
you the last steep 5km. From the temple
you can walk to the hot springs (daily
8am-6pm; Rp10,000): head back
downhill from the monastery and take