East Bali: Bunutan

Amed is the general name for the string of small villages on the SE coast in East Bali. We already looked at Lipah, but just to the north in Bunutan.

Just 2 kms NW from Lipah, is the small, peaceful village of, Bunutan, about 8kms from Culik. On the climb up out of the village look out for tiny Waeni’s Warung on the cliff side of the road, right on the headland, a great place for a sunset drink. Their basic bungalows are clean and tiled with attached cold water bathrooms and have wonderful views west to Gunung Agung, Gunung Batur and beyond.

Down the other side of the headland, about 500m further on, Wawa Wewe II (wawaweve@hotmail.com), are straightforward bungalows set down from the road overlooking the coast with fans and attached cold-water bathrooms. In addition there are a couple of large family villas each with 2 bedrooms. Next to Dancing Dragon Cottages is designed using Balinese and Chinese principles. There’s elegant wooden furniture, marble floors, a huge triangular bath in each bedroom, along with a lovely swimming pool. All cottages have hot water and AC. There are also of smaller ones on the seafront, or bigger ones in the garden area.

About 1 km away, up on the headland, is the top-quality Hotel Indra dhyana, which has superb rooms, all with AC and hot water, and a great pool set in fine grounds stretching down to the coast. Just around the bend as the road begins to descend, Restaurant Gede is on the hill above the road. They serve more than 250 items from the menu. The place is attractive and enjoys a breeze.

If you arrive in Amed late in the day, with no idea how far you want to go down the coast, looking for a place to stay, here’s the deal. Amed is only a small village and there are many more places to stay, some very nice, in Jemeluk, Bunutan, Lipah and Selang. Once you get to The Pavillion in Selang, you are about at the end of the decent accommodation. I’ve stayed at Good Karma (decent budget place) and Amed Cafe (older budget place).