21st December 2017 – Getting to know another Bali!
Alarm clock went off at 7.30 this morning as we were going to have a busy day sightseeing with our guide Madi, or better known as Open. And……. the rain had stopped!!. When we planned this day trip with Open, he said he would be praying to his gods that the rain would stop for today – well he must have prayed hard!!
After an early breakfast, Open, together with the chauffeur Tomy, were waiting for us at the reception exactly on time – 9.am. Our itinerary was as follows:
~ visit the village of Batubulan to watch the Barong and Kris dance theatre; the story goes that the Queen Mother offers her son to Rangda, the god of evil . However the Barong, the god of goodness intervenes so that the son is saved. The costumes, dance and characters were really wel played and danced and the music – gamelan – was played by a full orchestra sitting on the side of the stage.
~ Our second stop was at the Kampong – a traditional family house dating back to the 1920’s and hardly changed since then. Typically there would be a number of families living in the enclosed areas with houses for the children in the south, for the parents in the west, the kitchens and cleansing areas in the south and the shrines and temples in the north. In the middle of the enclosed quarters there is also a main area used for official gatherings, weddings, funerals, births and special family meetings.Till only a few years back, the families would also have their own cows and pigs roaming on their own land just outside the kampong enclosures but nowadays this is no longer permitted especially due to the complaints from neighbours.
~ Our next stop is at the temple – The Desa Adat Batuan Temple – built nearly 1,000 years ago is a local Balinese Hindu temple looked after by the local residents of Batuan countryside. The temple is designed exquisitely, full of Balinese ornaments and the roof temple building is made from the fiber of chromatic black palm tree.
It is strategically located beside the main road from Denpasar to Ubud. The village of Batuan is well known for over a thousand years, as being a village of artists and craftsmen, old legends and mysterious tales.
Once the men had their sarong draped around their waists, we could get into the temple.
~ our last stop before lunch was at the Tegenungan waterfalls offering us a glimpse of natural beauty against a lush valley landscape. The 20m-tall falls are located in the village of Sukawati. Of course we were not the only tourists and it was quite busy also with all the shops spilling over the sidewalks. Naturally everyone wanted to take the same picture from the same vantage point. Our guide informed us that we could walk down to the bottom of the waterfall by taking some 165 steps – as it was the middle of the day and quite warm, we were happy to admire the view from the top of the stairs.
~ after enjoying a light lunch we made our way to the Tegallalang Rice Terraces which are famous for the beautiful scenes of rice paddies involving the subak (traditional Balinese cooperative irrigation system), which according to history, was passed down by a revered holy man named Rsi Markandeya in the eighth century. Tegallalang forms the three most splendid terraced landscapes in Ubud’s shared region, with the others being in the villages of Pejeng and Campuhan.
Again this was a real hotspot for Kodak moments and of course we were there to take part. Mind you it is very scenic and just like the pictures in most guide books. Am really glad we did get to see these rice fields.
~ our last stop was at the coffee plantation and exotic spices nursery. This coffee plantation specialises in the production of Luwak coffee. Luwak coffee is the world’s most expensive coffee. The main factor of it’s high price is the uncommon method of producing such a coffee. It has been produced from the coffee beans which have been digested by a certain Indonesian cat-like animal called the palm civet or also civet cat. This is the reason kopi luwak is also called cat poop coffee or civet cat coffee. The feces of this cat will be collected, the coffee bean extracted, then roasted and ground. The short supply, in comparison with the high demand, the different taste and the uncommon production methods define the value of kopi luwak – the most expensive coffee in the world. Of course we did buy 200 grams of this coffee after having tasted a cup of this coffee which I must say is tasty!! We will only be using this coffee for special occasions, needless to say!
