Candidasa East Bali

We flew into Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport on Thursday night, having prepared ourselves well for all the QR code requirements on entry to Bali these days. We prepared so well we got through all the entry processes in record time and were on our way up the coast to Candidasa Beach barely an hour after landing.

Rob captured this fabulous sunset over Western Australia on the flight over.

 

It was nice to wake up on our first morning to see this lovely view of our hotel's pool and dining area. It's the rainy season in this part of the world so grey cloudy skies and frequent rain storms will be highly likely throughout our stay. We're prepared for that!

Everywhere you stay in Bali the gardens are always beautiful. The Sagara Candidasa is a small boutique hotel with just 20 rooms. We are on the upper floor and our room is spacious and beautifully decorated. It's on a narrow block facing out to the sea but its tiny garden spaces are a delight!

Breakfasts by the pool with bottomless cups of Bali Kopi are nice to wake up to too.

We've been to Candidasa many times before so we don't intend to do much sightseeing. We're just going to relax and enjoy hotel life by the sea for a few days. 

Floating in the pool view .............

The hotel staff mix lovely cocktails for guests - and the prices are very generous over happy hour. Rob was pleased to get a whiskey lemongrass mix. I like my G & Ts Sagara Mule style (with lots of lime).

And no matter how modern the hotel - we can never forget we are in Bali and the significance of the daily offerings. We love the constant smell of smoke and incense in the air that goes along with it.

We've enjoyed our morning walks around the village....... the Lotus Lagoon is just as we remembered it ......

It's been a long time since guests would have paid 5k IDR (about 50c) to use these toilets.

We were out walking this morning as all the village kids were heading to school, so things were lively all along the main street.

This family looked so photogenic as they walked around the lagoon towards us (on the way to morning temple offerings), but it would have been so rude to infringe on their privacy. I did sneak this back view though as they crossed the street on their way to the temple........

Both days now we've had lunch at our old fave Puri Pandan. We love the way the same people have been running it as long as (if not longer than) we've been coming here. They didn't remember us (of course) but still gave us a lovely welcome ....... A Bintang and Nasi Campur (by the sea) for our first lunch back in Bali was pretty special.

We've slowed down enough already to enjoy watching the local lads fishing off the groyne in front of Puri Pandan while eating lunch..... exciting enough.

We could see the beach area in front of the Ashyana Hotel from here (about a 5 minute walk up the road) where we stayed last time we were in Candidasa in 2016.

Lunch today was delayed by a heavy rainstorm which we sat out, on our balcony (with a post swim Bintang).

It was drenching rain - great to watch from our protected balcony. There is a cow that grazes under the palm trees of the property next door but he(?) was taken under cover when the heavy rain started.