Going to Amed seems like an adventure, 2 hours on the scooter, and this in the midday heat, we were prepared, but didn’t eat much. The first half of the way is going direction Padangbai, I already knew the way so easy. We ate some cookies and had some nice drinks on the “highway”. Then short after Padangbai Google took us left and the roads got smaller and smaller, up hill in the lush jungle. And then, road works, the road just turned into a gravel road. Nope, we won’t go this way, not with a heavy loaded scooter and 2 people on it, so we went all the way back to the main road and took the longer way. Our butt already started to hurt at this point and Google said 53 minutes to go. Alright we can do it, we just took turns in driving as te back seat of the bike is less comfy. The landscape was beautiful, nice green rice fields and the way we went was also quiet adventurous, the river crossing over a small narrow bridge, no cars could fit, only scooters. After the rice terraces and winning our way down from the “most beautiful hills in the area”, we finally arrived in Amed.

A one street village, parallel the ocean, business is thriving, mainly diving, still bustling even in off-season. We went to Evolution divers, a French dive school, registered and checked for a place to stay. 3 Brothers directly with beach access and a nice big room with air con should do for some days. It was very hot and humid that night. Still felt like 35 degrees for me, even Maria was tired and felt the heat this day all the driving we did in the sun. Our bodies needed some rest.

The next day we went diving, 1st dive for Maria, 3rd in the season for me. She was a bit scared, of breathing, her ears, the ocean and so on. We had a chat with our instructor David from the States. He was very relaxed and just the best that could happen to us, he made diving very attractive for Maria. Even though he took her taxi most of the time as she was a bit frightened. It was him that made her feel confident, so confident she decided to do the open water certification, 2 more days of diving, yeah. I felt her with respect but also curious and also she said without me she wouldn’t be doing it. But also I made sure I didn’t push her into it. So we both agreed and weren’t for it!

We didn’t do much in Amed, well there is also not much to do except snorkelling, diving, swimming and relaxing. Maria was studying for the exam and passed with 94%! I was going with Serge another instructor and Dave an English diver, already in pension but very nice follow to talk and have a laugh with. We went for some deep dives, Drop off and the Liberty wreck again, same as the previous day, but this time more visibility, it was just marvellous. The first dive my regulator was broken, a bit of sea water I was inhaling, not nice but also not too serious, yes I could have switched to my octopus but I didn’t. It was the second day diving with Maria and David again, doing all the safety measures again, that should have been done in my refresher that made me realize it’s all about safety and feeling safe.
We had again some nice food at our favourite Warung Pantai, next to our new how for the last 2 nights Sunrise Cafe, ocean view and breakfast included.

Going back was a bit of a mission again, we left very early this time, just before 8 in the morning. And already quite hot. Maria not feeling very well, having a bit of a fever which already started in the night, still we wanted to go back to rest in Ubud in the new place. So we went the shortest way possible again with google, I was doing the driving with maps open in my phone and being guided by voice with earplugs in and something must have happened, we didn’t take took the same rout as going there but went to the mountains instead, the roads got smaller and the hills steeper, sometimes even so steep the small scooter had a hard time going up with both of us and the luggage on top. I was just thinking, please let ther be no road works we don’t want to go back all the way again. It was small villages and some rewarding lookouts we were granted instead of roadwork. So all good and we managed to head back to Ubud in three and a half hours including breaks.

So we closed this chapter with being close to the sea, dealing with some fears and rising above. Being aware is the beginning, understanding and accepting the harder part we all need to master in life.