I am living in the north of Bali, near Lovina. Lovina is quite dry compared with southern Bali and is described as a sub-tropical region.

The rainy season is supposedly late starting this year and for the past couple of days it has been raining quite a bit. It’s actually a bit of a new experience having to think about the weather when trying to make plans to go out.

Not that I am complaining though, the area badly needs water. For having so little rain, throughout most of the year, the vegetation is still fairly rich and with the extra water now, the landscape is a beautiful, lush green.

I noticed the build up in a number of yachts and catamarans in Lovina over the past few weeks and just realized that they are part of Sail Indonesia 2009. Last night they had Balinese dancers on the beach and central Lovina was packed with people.

Sail Indonesia is a three month trip around Indonesia which leaves from Darwin Australia and also travels to Langkawi in Malaysia. I am sure it would be a great trip and it provides a good boost to tourism in the region.

From September 30 to October 4th there are a number of events and activities planned especially for the sailors.

Unfortunately there is not much information available on the events taking place other than this billboard on the beach.

The first week of Idul Fistri holiday or Lebaran as it is known in Indonesia is now over, with one week to go and many hotels are experiencing strong demand in Bali.

I am living in Lovina and have always been told, it’s not a good place for a tourist business, but people I know had trouble getting a room in the town. While the beaches don’t get packed like Kuta, the restaurants are generally full every night.

From the Jakarta Post:

“All hotels, from budget to upmarket, are flooded with domestic visitors,” said Perry Markus, the secretary-general of the Bali branch of the Indonesia Hotels and Restaurants Association (PHRI).

He said that occupancy rates for hotels in those areas had reached 100 percent during the holiday period.

“The hotels in those areas were so full that a large number of visitors had to find accommodation elsewhere,” he said.

Hot spring di kawasan Lovina, tepatnya sekitar 3 Km dari pusat Lovina. Tempat pemandian air panas yang banar – benar berbeda dari tempat permandian air panas yang lain.
Hot spring ini memiliki beberapa tempat bagian pemandian, salah satu berupa kolam, ada juga berupa tempat terapi massage untuk terapi yang agak keras pada bahu anda, dan tempat terapi massage yang lembut untuk bahu anda.
Di hot spring ini anda juga bisa mandapatkan massage dan spa karena di tempat ini mereka juga menyediakan saloon untuk massage dan spa.
Air di hot spring ini tidak lah panas sekali, hingga anda tidak perlu kawathir karena walau siang bolong, anda masih bisa bermandi ria di hot spring ini, karena airnya hangat.
Anda juga bisa melihat pemandangan indah yang ada di lokasi hot spring ini, dimana taman – taman tersebut di tata khusus mengelilingi kolan – kolam tempat permandian. Restaurant juga ada di hot spring ini, restaurant yang berbentuk lumbung, berpadu design bambu yang unik ada tepat di lokasi hot spring ini juga.
Biaya masuk hot spring sangat lah murah, hanya Rp. 3000,- per orang, jadi kamu dapat lebih sering berkunjung ke hot spring ini sesering mungkin.

Most foreigners who move to Bali or even while they are on holiday get caught up in the property rush. Property prices have sky rocketed on the island, while there are still a few pockets of cheap land available.

Many people dream of buying their own piece of Bali and building their own Balinese house or villa.

Construction in Bali can be quite different from what you are used to in your own country. Even in house construction Bali has it own unique customs to follow. I am learning myself, so over the next few months I am following the build of a new villa here in Lovina. No it’s not mine! But the property is still for sale if anyone is interested.

I am hoping it will be useful for anyone considering building a house here in Bali. Any questions or feedback is most welcome.

Laying the foundations

Driveway leading away from the house

Driveway towards the house. The garden is being planted now.

This will be the view from the backyard

Rice field and mountain views

The well

I finally have the internet connected at my place in Lovina, Bali. Our first attempt was trying to get Speedy connected, where you need to have a telephone line. We had a technician come out who said there weren’t any free ports available, taken mostly by foreigners living in the area. It seems local people here are happy with just using mobile phones.

The next attempt was using a GPRS service. Unfortunately it was just too slow and unreliable to get any real work done.

I heard about the ISP Spicelink which is popular here and getting a connection involved setting up an antennae on the house to get access. I was getting sick of trying to get anything done in an internet cafe, so I was prepared to try anything.

About 5 or 6 workers came to our house today and installed the antenna and it now seems to be working fine. The technician first mentioned that he was going to fix the antenna to a neighbor’s coconut tree. I must have given him a strange look, as he tried to assure me that he would rent the coconut tree from our neighbor.

After spending the past month or so in Bali staying in various hotels and guesthouses, I have finally signed a 6 month lease on a small house in Lovina. It is only 2 million rupiah a month (around US$200) which includes a basic cable television package, electricity and water costs. It is also fully furnished, so I don’t think I need to buy anything.

The area is outside of the main tourist area in Lovina and has a rural Indonesian feel to it. The property is owned by a westerner and up until now has been living in the house.

I was also shown a beach shack which is right on the beach and was going for 1 million rupiah a month (US$100). The views were great and a westerner had been living in the property, but the whole area felt a bit rundown and security could have been an issue.

Here is picture of the shack and the views from the beach right out front.