Lovina- Bali's High Contrast Northern Coast

Air Panas Banjar
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Another daytrip should take us to Bali's northern coast, which is relatively quiet and laid back compared to south Bali. Do not expect to get to northern Bali and back in a couple of hours, if you are staying somewhere in the tourism areas of Kuta or Ubud. The distances are quite far and there is a lot to see along the road. Our trip inland took us along vast numbers of lush green rice fields and small villages in the hills.

Before we reached Lovina, Bali's easy going touristy region on the northern coast, we stopped at Air Panas Banjar. Air Panas (=Hot Springs) are located in Banjar, a couple of kilometres west of Lovina. This place looked quite old fashioned and had probably not changed for decades. From the carpark we had to walk through an alley of souvenir shops. And similar to other touristy spots the locals seemed desperate to sell their goods, as tourist numbers had still not recovered after the Bali bombings a year earlier. There are several small baths, which are filled with natural hot spring water. The baths are embedded in a nicely landscaped tropical garden. There is a restaurant and supposingly accomodation, but everything was closed during our visit.

Lovina Beach
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Once we got to the Lovina area we were really surprised how many hotels, apartments and restaurant were offering their services to tourists. We were really shocked once we saw signs on the road in German saying "Zimmer Frei". It seemed by far more developed than we had expected. We stopped along the road several times; checked out Lovina's black and grey volcanic sand and had lunch at a great seafood restaurant, where we were the only guests. Once we walked on the beach we were approached by local hawkers, mainly little kids, who tried to sell necklaces, shells and other mass produced souvenirs from China. Altogether Bali's northern coast makes quite a different option for tourists who seek comfort, but not with the overcrowding effects of Kuta and other resort areas.