Amed & Culik: East Bali

Beaches on the East coast of Bali, are predominately black sand. Nothing wrong with that, but people always seem to prefer a white sand beach. The beaches in the Amed area vary between the 2, and can be mixed. The little boats the locals use, are called jukung, and at night you can see them on the horizon, a line of lights. There are no banks, or ATMs out there, so if you are staying for a while, be sure to change money, or withdraw money before you leave, Kuta, or at the latest, Candi Dasa.

Culik is the junction on the road from Tirtaganga, where you turn right on, to get to Amed. Funny thing is in this area, the scenery starts to dry out and the turn, while visible, is not super obvious. In Bali there can be turning where your map says its just a straight road. If you feel you are approaching the coast and the road appears to be going left (north), you might of missed the turn.

Culik is 42km NE of Amlapura, and the drive is lovely! You rise up one side of a step valley as you pass through Amlapura, then after some switchbacks, curve through some delightful countryside, with rice field views down to Culik.

My guide book talks about the prices of bemo’s in this area, but honestly, why would you ever want to mess with bemo’s? If you car or motorbike brakes down, just realize that here, as in most parts of Bali, the bemo buses run all over, and can give you a ride to the next town. You’d probably not want to stop in Culik and will be in Amed proper, 15 minutes later.