Bali Pt 3 - Central Bali

27th November 2014

On Thursday, 27th Nov 2014, once again we made our own breakfast in the apartment and quickly left at 8.00am for the start of our second day tour of Central Bali.

We covered the following :-

(1) Barong Dance

In Bali, each region of the island has its own protective spirit for its forests and lands. This protective spirit is called the Barong which is the symbol of a good spirit. Different regions in Bali have different animals as its barong. The lion is the barong for the Gianyar region in Ubud where we watched our first barong dance ritual.

I am not sure why the character of barong appears so gory maybe because these are spirits from another realm. The evil spirit was characterised as Rangda, another gory creature. In contrast there was one segment where two pretty girls did a traditional dance which was captivating especially the head movement. Overall the message was good wins over evil.

The dance,  Rangda the evil spirit in the middle

The ticket per person for the show is Rp 100,000 (MYR 28). It lasts for an hour and at the end of it, there is an opportunity for photo-session with the dancers for free. 

Harish with two of the actors during photo-session

(2) Ubud Monkey Forest

Located in the village of Padangtegal, this is a sacred nature reserve which houses a temple complex. It is also home to 300 -600 Macaque long-tailed monkeys. The monkeys stay in groups and are watchful of visitors especially their belongings. So, to be safe, walk in only with the barest of minimum of items in your hands and body. At times, the line between who came to see who gets blurred as they (the monkeys) too watch us the visitors intensely.

In the forest you will see the Holy Spring bathing temple sheltered by a huge tree

Only one untoward incident happened to us. Harish (10 year-old) accidentally stepped on one of the kid monkey's tail. The monkey got angry and bit into his slipper so hard that it refused to let it go. Harish tried to pull his slipper away from the monkey but the monkey wouldn't let go. Finally it did. So watch your step, the monkeys are just about everywhere, roaming freely. After all, the forest is THEIR sanctuary, its us who are in their home.

A lion-head statue used as a resting place by a group of monkeys

Komodo dragon in Monkey Forest? Yup, we saw not one, but two.

The entrance ticket is Rp30000 (MYR9) for adult and Rp15000 (MYR4.50) for children. Parking fee is Rp.10000 (MYR3). 

Today there seems to be a record number of visitors taking my picture, would you all just hurry up...crazy humans.

(3) Tegalalang Rice Terrace

Situated 600m above sea levels, this is the most visited rice terrace in Ubud region. Tegalalang is the name of the village where the rice terrace is located. The rice is grown on cliff banks using a traditional irrigation system passed down through generations. According to Balinese history, the subak irrigation knowledge was actually passed down by ancient Rsi Markandeya in the 8th century.

Rice field in various shades of green 

The view is simply stunning and one of the main highlights of the Kintamani tour. If you are adventurous you can take a walk along the terrace and talk to the farmers. 

A close-up shot of paddy

(4) Kintamani Volcano/Mount Batur

Mount Batur is an active volcano. The last eruption was in 1968 and till today, the lava field is visible when viewed from Kintamani. Our trip here was to enjoy a buffet lunch in full view of Mount Batur, and so we did. We were lucky that day because soon after we had enjoyed the scenic view and lunch, the mist enveloped the entire mountain blocking all view of the volcano. 

The boys having lunch with a full view of the volcano

We were told that many tourists trek to the summit of the central crater in the wee hours of the morning (3am). This is allowed only with a guide.

Mount Batur 

There are a few restaurants that you can choose from to get the best view, check with your driver.  The price per head for the buffet lunch is Rp100 000.  The menu was extensive but we didn't really enjoy the food as there were many flies in the restaurant, a common scene when during wet season. What we did enjoy was the view, for that it was totally worth it.

(5) Luwak Coffee Plantation

We made a short stop here as it started to rain. The children wanted to see the much-talked about civets (musang in Malay) that eat the seeds of coffee berries then defecate them only to be picked up (the poo) to be made coffee beans. This is what they call as Luwak Coffee, one of the most expensive coffee in the world, retails at USD20 per kilo.

We only got to see civets kept in cages as these were old and inactive. We did however see the process of roasting the beans.

Roasting of the coffee beans 

Included in the demo was a display of various spices and their respectives names, followed by a tea-tasting session. I thought we came to a coffee plantation. Anyway this is part of the package tourists are offered and since everything was free, we went along. By the way, I must mention that we were never at any time compelled by the demo-girl to buy anything, and this is very important to us as only in Bali you can find this type of behaviour.

Display of the coffee beans before and after processing as well as many types of spices

Tea-tasting session - seven flavours including ginger, lemon grass, mint,chocolate etc

(6)Tirtha Empul Holy Spring Temple

This is a very interesting temple in Bali. In all other temples that we visited, we always wondered what exactly do Balinese pray to and how do they do the prayers. In here, we got to see Balinese doing their prayers followed by the act of purifying themselves by immersing in the waters from the holy spring.

The signage

Devotees were dressed in their traditional garments and entered one by one into the pool or holy spring standing under each spring while reciting their prayers.

The holy spring 

The entrance ticket is Rp15000 per adult Rp5000 for children. Parking fee is Rp5000. The sarongs (wrap-arounds) are available at the entrance free of charge, just don't forget to return them. They even tie the sarong for you.

The magical pond

As we walked around the templex complex, we came across a strange pond with clear water. It looked like a spring as water was gushing out from under the earth. This pond looks very magical.

The prayers headed by a pendita (priest) at the foot of the spring

(7) Elephant Cave/Goa Gajah

Built in the 9th century, this cave appears very dark and mysterious. I couldn't tell what it stood for, a cave that was used as a temple maybe, or a bathing temple for some rituals perhaps? There is also a broken Buddha head statue due to earthquake and a meditation hill. 

The entrance

The entrance fee is Rp10000 for adult and Rp5000 for children.

The mouth of the cave, inside the cave you can find Linga and Ganesha

A demo of how devotees meditated here hundreds of years ago

A collection of ruins of what I can't tell

That was the end of our second day tour. It was a very long day, we stopped for jagung bakar along the way (grilled corn) but not this was not as tasty as that sold on Jimbaran beach.