This is our last full day in Amed, Bali, which we are quite sad about. Since it is low season, we have had these villas all to ourselves for the whole week, and the two brothers who have been serving us have been way too good to us. Everyday, they surprise us with something new. Our second morning here, we tried a local fruit called mangosteen - inside a dark, purple-ish shell, there are soft white pieces of fruit, some with pits. Tasted a bit like a mix between a lychee and an orange. We receive a fresh plate of fruit like this every morning, in addition to the complimentary breakfast (coffee/tea, fresh fruit juice, eggs, pancakes or a jaffle, i.e. a toasted egg tomato sandwich). Yesterday, it was a traditional Balinese cake, and a mixture of coconut, brown sugar served in a leaf of corn. We ate a late breakfast that day, and a very late lunch, so we had decided to skip dinner, since we didn't think we were hungry. But at 7pm, Pari arrived on our balcony with fresh red snapper caught that morning, green bean salad with rice and fresh corn on the cob. We were totally floored, and found out that we were indeed hungry. After dinner last night, we also hung out on the beach with Pari and his family, drinking the local alcohol - Arak. Arak tastes vaguely like vodka, but is made from fermenting coconut. A popular mixed drink in Amed is "Arak Obama" - it's as good as it is witty!

Last night's surprise dinner.

Since this is our last tropical paradise of the trip, we have mostly been snorkeling. Jeff recovered from his food poisoning very quickly, so we've snorkeled everyday except yesterday. It is almost overwhelming how many interesting fish there are just off the coast. A couple of times, we brought a ziploc with bread in it to feed the fish while we snorkeled. I have been working on getting used to how comfortable they are around snorkelers - a few times, some of the fish have started to come right up to us, chasing and even nibbling on us. I responded with excessive thrashing, which didn't seem to phase them.

Those white specks are bread crumbs.

Jeff diving deeper.

The fish furthest to the right with blue lips is one of the types of fish that wouldn't leave me alone.

One of many stalkers.

Hated these guys.

More stalking...

Underwater beehive!

Bright yellow needle fish.

These small blue fish were VERY bright in person.

Some kind of dolphin fish?

Fish with a horn.

A small baracuda.

2 days ago, we went on a 17-18km bike ride over to a Japanese ship wreck just off the coast. Very cool. Very tiring. It was surprisingly difficult to find bicycles around here. Motorbikes, however, are plentiful, and driven as recklessly as possible. There are a couple of rules for motorcycles here: You can never slow down under any circumstance, and you can never get out of someone's way, even if you are risking your and their life. Oh, and if your bike isn't loud enough, you don't belong here. We have also had many tasty meals out, ranging from comfy sea-side seats to live Balinese dancing and music.

Snorkeling in our pool

No-arms

Balinese dancing

Lunch spot

We actually ate one of these tonight.

Sunset. That is Mount Agung in the background.

The Japanese shipwreck.

Tonight, Pari made us another stellar dinner for free, even though (as we found out after) he isn't feeling well. Tomorrow at noon, we head back to Denpasar to catch our flight to Malaysia, followed by our flight to South Korea. We're going to have to pick up some warmer clothes while we're there! I would also like to point out that the woman who did our laundry here is a miracle worker. Our clothes look brand new.

More soon,
Jen & Jeff