Day 10 - Thursday July 8, 2010 - Bali, Indonesia

Day 10 - A diverse cultural experience.

Left: Mt Batur - an active volcano



Right: Woman walking to temple with fruit/vegetable offering on her head. Beautiful.




Woke up with the sun about 6 am and had morning coffee. Met my tour guide, Agung, in the lobby at 8:30. Shortly later my driver for the day arrived in a nice air-conditioned car. I kind of like these private tours. And this was only $75 for the entire day - a real bargain considering the distance we'll travel all of the way to the north part of the island.

We fought rush-hour traffic in Denpasar - mostly caused by too many vehicles, cars, buses, and scooters - on roads that are too small and not very well maintained. That's the only criticism of Bali I have seen so far. Our first stop was in Tohpati where "the dancers" perform each morning at 9:15 for the tourists. A beautiful stage, large group of musicians (more sticks on wood, gongs and flute doing the same routine over and over), beautiful costumes, and a program that explained the dance. This explained to me what I had seen last night - basic theme - the struggle of good over evil. Good always wins!

Then we went to Celuk to a family jewelry business. They showed me how they made the jewelry and then I got the obligatory tour through their store. "Don't you need present for wife?" I did price a couple of things and I thought it was high. Everything was $60 US!

Then to Batuan to a family painting business. Painting as in art! I watched the apprentices and masters working on pieces and then got the obligatory tour through their store. Everything I inquired about was "special piece" and guess how much - $60!

Then we went to the oldest temple on Bali - built in 944 AD. A huge complex with many buildings. Agung explained the Hindu traditions to me - sounded similar to things I believe in (except they won't eat cow beef!). I had to put on a men's sarong to enter the temple. They ask all tourists to do that to honor their religion. A small donation was requested but Agung told me that was included in the tour price. They gave me a "udeng" last night at the banquet at the hotel - this is the traditional headdress worn by many men in Bali. In fact Agung wears his every day. I should have worn my udeng today to go with my sarong!

In Bali 75% are Hindu and only 15% Muslim with the rest being Buddhist or Christian. Agung told me that there is no religious strife in Bali between the religions. But he talked frequently about the corrupt government. Many people don't vote in protest of the corruption. I tried to explain that they should vote to change things but he didn't agree. It is a protest! Oh well!

When we left the temple we passed several women walking down the street with elaborate fruit and vegetable arrangements on their heads. Agung explained that they were taking these as an offering to the temple and they would have a gathering their tonight. But the arrangement would go home with the woman for her family to eat!

Then to Mas to a family furniture business. I had never seen crocodile wood and they had some interesting pieces made of that. I priced a couple of pieces - guess how much - $60!!!!

We then started upward headed to Mt. Batur - the highest point on Bali and an active volcano - it last erupted in 1996. On the way we stopped in Pura Tirtha Empul. There is an organic garden here and we saw coffee, vanilla, lots of different spices - and most interesting of all we saw the Luwak cat. This is where the cat eats the best of the coffee beans - their instincts help them pick out only the best. There is a chemical reaction in their stomachs with the bean but they can't digest the bean so the coffee bean is excreted in their poop. The farmer looks under his coffee trees in the mornings (the cats are nocturnal) and picks up all of the poop. They clean it, roast it and then grind it. This is the most expensive coffee in the world - $2,000 a pound. The garden gave me coffees and teas to sample, but they didn't offer any Luwak coffee.

I did buy some of their Ginseng coffee and Bali coffee - hope I can get it back home! May drink it in Greece!

Then we headed the rest of the way up Mt. Batur to the rim of the volcano. It was beautiful. There are 3 cones in the middle and a huge lake in the caldera. I had lunch on a patio overlooking the caldera. The lunch was another Bali buffett (AFBB?). Tasty for the most part. The best part was the banana dessert and the fresh pineapple. Yum.

By this time it was mid afternoon and we headed back to Jimbaran. We ran into a huge rain storm with torrential rains that flooded the streets - looked almost like what I imagine a flash flood would be like. The driver and guide were freaked out a couple of times but we continued on.

We made one other stop in Tegalalango where there were beautiful terraced rice paddies. Stunning scenary. We ran into afternoon rush hour traffic in Denpasar - the capital of Bali. We arrived back at the Intercontinental a little after 6. So I decided to go have a Balinese massage. It was so relaxing.

I'd had enough Balinese food so went to the Italian restaurant at the hotel for dinner. Probably the best seafood I've had in a long time - it probably came off of one of the fishing boats this morning. I had spaghetti with seafood - mussels, scallops. shrimp and calimari - the mussels and scallops were spectacular. Delicious.

It was a busy day and I'm tired. So off for a good night's sleep. Tomorrow I head into Kuta which isn't far from Jimbaran where my hotel is. Lots of shops and restaurants. So I'll explore on foot.

Great place. Would like to return!