Other trips


2013
Iceland, Finland, Estonia, Russia, Mongolia, China, Thailand, Cambodia and South Korea

2014
Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Israel, Jordan and Copenhagen

2016
Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania, Greece, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Ethiopia, Kenya, S. Africa, Zimbabwe, UAE and Denmark

2017
Panama. Colombia, Ecuador (including Galapagos), Peru, Bolivia, Chile (including Easter Island), Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Mexic0.

2018
France (Paris and Lourdes), Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Spain, Andorra, Morocco (Tangier), Portugal and the Netherlands (Amsterdam).

2019
New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Great Britain, Antarctica, Patagonia and Paraguay.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

9/25 Bali: The Isle of Temples, Rice Terraces & Volcanoes


Wi, our driver from Be Balinese Tours, was picking us up in Ubud at 8:30 again ready to start another day in beautiful Bali. Today we were visiting the northeast region of Bali.
We needed a breakfast fit for a king to sustain us all day
 as we knew we wouldn't be stopping for food en route!
Town's entrance statue/sculpture!
From Ubud, we drove through the village of Tegallang (photos below) where there were literally non-stop souvenir and handicraft shops for a solid mile on both sides of the road. Too bad we didn't stop in the village and have a chance to walk around there. Think it was too early in the day for that for Wi and still allow us time to see other places we had on the itinerary.
There were no taxis or certainly no public transportation in sight, or tourists either for that matter. 
When I asked Wi how tourists could come here, he said that people can just wave down cars and see if they’re going where they want to go. Sounds logical enough but I was confounded by the practicalities, i.e. how to communicate in a foreign language, how to know where the driver is going, how much to pay, etc!
It was interesting to see that there was no discernible end of the city of Ubud and then the beginning of Tegallang as everything seemed to run together. Shortly after Tegallang, Wi stopped so we could walk among some terraced rice fields that you see in many parts of Bali.

Photos from our walk through the rice fields:
All tourists wanting to just drive pass through the rice field area have to pay 10K rp each as each field is owned by a separate family. We were surprised there were virtually no workers toiling in the fields so Wi told us it was because they’re only needed at this point to check on water levels, remove trash, etc. It was fun climbing and walking through the rice terraces.




Wi pointed out that the scarecrow is used in the fields 
to drive away snakes and also birds.



Rice here was just planted 3 weeks ago, according to Wi.
As an occasional rice farmer too, Wi was sure to know.



Steven and I really enjoyed our walk through these rice fields as you could probably tell from just some of the photos I took while there! Then back in the car for two minutes where we stopped at Bali Pulina Agro, a large coffee and cocoa plantation set up for tours.

Photos from Bali Pulina Agro:

The large wooden bell at the entrance is struck when there is news of an impending earthquake.

Sandy, below, was our delightful guide who showed us through the exhibits and explained everything in great detail in very good English. 

Bali, I learned, is apparently very well known for its very expensive Lewak Coffee. Its great taste is made by lemurs who are fed cereals, chicken, papaya as well as coffee beans. The lemurs are very choosy when it comes to which beans in their dish they will eat, Sandy said. Once they poo (p) them out whole (yup!), the poo is dried for a week, cleaned thoroughly (phew!), roasted for 45 minutes and then ground by hand. The result is then delicious black coffee. Did I ever tell you I am a confirmed tea drinker?!

Post poo shell and slimy feeling bean!
 Mimosa plant whose leaves close up when touched.
A huge cocoa pod. And yes, it did smell like chocolate!

The cleaned and dried coffee beans are roasted here before being ground. We saw it being done with a mortar and pestle but I am sure that was only for demonstration purposes.
Grain of red rice grown in Bali, one of  4 types also grown here.
The demonstration spice table: almost every spice you can think of was represented here. We had been lucky that Sandy had shown us so many of these spices growing during the 20 minute tour. 
Vanilla pod.
My favorite was the cinnamon whose fragrant scent could be detected in both the bark and leaf above.

Then we were served 10 mini cups of a variety of teas and coffees to sample for free in a striking location overlooking the fields. What a way to relax. Ended the fascinating tour in the souvenir shop of course!

Back in the car headed toward the 11th C. Pura Titru Empul, known as the Holy Water Temple, through the woodcarving village of Mas first. We couldn’t believe there could possibly be so many woodcarvers – at a rough guess, there had to be at least 100, one immediately after another – just mindboggling.

Photos from UNESCO listed Pura Tirta Empul:
First Balinese script we'd seen.
I had no idea that the script would also be different from other languages spoken in Indonesia.
Tirtu akaTirtha, Wi said, is the god of water and rain.
The immense Jack fruit.




Another temple and therefore more temple rules.


Drying out all the sarongs that were not supposed to be worn in the pool.
Could just see the water bubbling up from the spring here.



Sure looks like a lot of fun, don't you think? It was really hot out
but swimming at the temple was just not our thing.


People in this pool were praying unlike the first pool where they seemed
 to be just playing in the water and cooling off.

Use of the sarongs were included in the admission fee.

Up on the hill was one of the many presidential palaces in Indonesia. Wi mentioned that each state in Indonesia would have a presidential palace. Imagine having to mow this hill!


Wi pointed out this was the main or holy area of the temple.


 Lots of buildings in this temple; some, he said, are used for gamelan music.




So ‘sad’ that we could only exit Pura Tirtha Empul through alley after alley of shops to meet up with Wi in the parking lot again!

Photos walking through the market (literally just pointed and shot as time was running out):









Back in the car again en route to see Mt and Lake Batur in northern Bali. 

Photos below on the way:
Guess who I was thinking of here! I couldn't take a photo quickly enough as we drove by, Lina, so I asked Wi to stop and turn around for a moment.
Village entrance sign - pretty snazzy, don't you agree?

Lake and Mt Batur are located near Kintamani village and region. 
Charging the 60K rp admission fee to see the mountain fairly close up!
Photos of Mt. and Lake Batur:
What a shame it was so hazy here. The volcano on/in (?) Mt Batur has erupted 24 times with the last one being in 1963 when 1000 people lost their lives. The mountain had been the biggest in Indonesia but has shortened so much because of the eruptions. 
We’d been years and years ago to Mt. St. Helens in Washington state and seen the devastation wrought there after it had erupted. Neither of us though could remember its looking like a black river of lava had poured through the area as it appeared at Mt. Batur.

In the car again and onto the 8th C. Pura Ulun Danu Batur, another UNESCO landmark. I don’t know where we got off the tourist beaten track because for the first time all day, there were no other tourists around. Only 70K rp admission price here.

Photos from Pura Ulun Danu Batur:





Fascinating seeing for the first time, the palm fiber rooves (guess they wouldn’t be approved by the HOA and ACC, Al!) on the tall structures, called meru, which are individual buildings or shrines and part of the temple. We had seen lots of trucks containing roll upon roll of palm fiber on our way here but hadn’t known what the rolls were used for. Wi explained that the palm fiber rooves on the meru need to be replaced  generally every 7 years. 





 As we walked around the temple, Wi explained that Hindu weddings, which are normally held at the son’s home or in the family temple, are followed by a trip to the temple although it can also be done vice versa. The son’s family pays for the wedding and everyone in the banjar or neighborhood is invited.













Cocks being blessed by the priests before the fights, I thought.





Almost hated to leave Pura Ulundanu Batur as it was so spectacular but we got back in the car again and onto the eighth C. Pura Besakih, the biggest in Bali and known as the ‘Mother Temple.’

Photos en route:

Some more, albeit blurry, views of Lake and Mt. Batur.

All of a sudden we began seeing lots of cows for sale. Wi explained they are used for plowing the fields and they are not eaten by Hindus.
Another 30K rp to enter the area.
Photos from Pura Besakih:





Lots more meru.



How incredibly lucky for us that once again we happened
to witness another religious ceremony in another temple today,



Wi told us more about his religion as we walked. There are 4 castes for Hindu Balinese, with Wi being a member of Sri Aji Kresna Kepakistan below. It was just one of the smaller temples comprising Pura Besakih or the Mother Temple. ‘Membership’ in a specific caste is handed down through the father. Steven and I asked about Wi’s use of the word ‘caste’ as were thinking about it as applied to the Indian class system but that’s not what he meant. We couldn’t figure out what he did mean however because of language issues!
I asked him if he would like to pray in ‘his’ temple, i.e. the one belonging to his caste but he said he had already prayed in his heart at the entrance, knowing he hadn’t bathed just before coming to the temple. Nor, he said, was he wearing the right hat and clothes to enter. I was struck how Balinese Hindu religious attire is certainly more important than any other religion I am familiar with.




Tiny stove used to cook sate. You see loads of them whenever there are throngs of people.
I told this woman how beautiful she looked and she began almost laughing which caused her to lose some control. I felt so badly!
A food truck, really a food bike, set up in the parking lot.
We really enjoyed taking the time to see this temple. The day wasn’t over yet so on we drove through the jungle to Bangli to view Pura Kehen. 

Some photos on the way:
Food truck, Indonesian style!


Photos from Pura Kehen:


These incredibly friendly shopkeepers followed us for a while saying there had been very few tourists all day and beseeched us to stop by on the way back from seeing the temple.
Wi pointed out the bell high above in the banyan tree.


 These  two incredibly friendly shopkeepers who followed us, saying there were no tourists and they wanted us to buy something from them after we’d seen the temple.








Wi pointed out the bell high up in the banyan tree.


I could see what the shopkeeper meant – there were indeed NO other tourists in sight.



Noticed the temple was being enlarged. Wonder what they’re building?

He stated the key in the shrine is only used by the local Hindu priest.

Music Practice at Pura Kehen.
Have only seen men playing or practicing their instruments in the temples. When I asked Wi about this, he commented that women had just begun last year to play music; not sure though if he meant for pleasure or in the temples.
Heading back to Ubud through the archways of religious offerings to the temples
 - how incredibly beautiful is that!
It was a 90 minute drive back from Bangli to Ubud. 
Dinner time in Ubud after a long but delightful day.
We were sure looking forward to relaxing the next day!

Posted from Jogja, Java, Indonesia on 10/5.

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