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Today is our 2nd day in Bali and we opted to take a tour called “Bali as You Please” with our friends Franco and Judy. The tour included a mini van with a driver and a tour guide and we got to pick the itinerary.
Click here for the detailed Bali Day 2 Photo Gallery.
Our first stop was at the Royal Temple that is locally known as Mengwi. The grounds were lush and as we moved closer to the entrance, our guide told us some of the rules they have in Bali about whom can enter the temple. The primary rule is that you must be “decently” dressed…which means shoulders and knees are covered. They also have a rule against menstruating women entering the Temple. Now, I didn’t (and still don’t) want to broadcast the timeline of my cycle, but I had a feeling that if I didn’t say something that I might have bad karma (don’t need that when we still have another 5 ½ weeks to go!). So I told our guide that I couldn’t enter.
He was glad I told him (this subject is not taboo in Bali as it can be in western societies) and he told me indeed I could not enter. Our guide, it turned out, is a high priest of his village temple…so he was probably stricter than another tour guide might have been. So Dale went in to take some photos while Franco, Judy and I walked around the garden area.
The next stop was at a coffee “plantation”, although we didn’t see coffee bean fields, we did see some plants and they had examples of the different ingredients they add to their coffee, and how they hand toast the beans. The coffee they produce, called Kopi luwak or civet coffee, is one of the world’s most expensive and low-production varieties of coffee.
The coffee gets its name from the luwak, a cat-like animal that has a unique way to “season” the coffee so it ends up tasting less bitter. After the luwak eats the coffee berries enzymes in its’ stomach seep into the beans making the peptides shorter and creating more free amino acids. The berries then pass through the luwak’s intestines and the beans are defecated, all the while keeping their shape. After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness. This type of coffee became popular in western cultures after being referenced in the movie “The Bucket List”.
We got to see some luwak’s (in cages) and then we tasted the luwak coffee as well as some other coffee, cocoa and tea products. The coffee was interesting, the kind they gave us was “instant” and that may have been why it didn’t taste too strong. It was a fun experience…they even had a jar of the actual feces studded with the coffee beans. At first we thought the jar was full of candy bars…not even close!
It was lunchtime so we stopped at the Saranam Eco-Resort and had a nice lunch with a great view overlooking terraced rice fields. The countryside is pretty and we were lucky that the weather was getting clearer and the temps cooler as we climbed higher toward the wild monkey area just past Lake Bratan.
We started spotting monkey’s in the trees and before long we turned off at a small turnout area. There were some local women selling banana bunches for 20,000 rupiah (about $2 US). When the monkeys saw us with the bananas, they’d come down out of the trees and jump up to grab the bananas we held out. There were very cute and would “perform” for us, making noises, bobbing their heads and generally trying to get our attention so we’d give them more food! There were 15 or 20 monkeys of varying sizes and we did our best to feed them all.
Next we drove a few miles back to Lake Bratan and visited the Temple on the Lake, which is beautifully situated on the shoreline. Again, I couldn’t go in, but this temple’s surrounding gardens were more extensive and I was happy to hang out and take pictures of the temple from the outside, confident that Dale was taking great pictures of the inside.
Our last stop of the day was at the Tanah Lot Temple. This is one of the most photographed temples in Bali due to its location on the cliffs of the Bali Strait. The weather was much warmer at sea level and we felt both the heat and humidity as we made the rather long hike out to the cliffs. It was getting late so we opted to take a few pictures and head back to the ship.
All in all, it was a great day. Between what we saw and learned yesterday and today, we now have a good understanding of the Balinese culture. It is a beautiful area and the people are happy, friendly and highly skilled in their crafts.
Photography Comments:
Having spent two days in Bali and observing what happens on our taxi and bus rides around the island I have suggestions for our next trip here. First, I’d stay in one of the eco-resorts that are located in the middle of one of the villages, typically near a rice field. This allows you to observe the villagers in their natural environment which creates lots of good photo opportunities, almost all of them with interesting characters. Next, take the time to walk around the village, find out when the temple ceremonies are and make friends with your tour guide and other locals you might meet. I talked with a couple on the ship that came to Bali 10 years ago and ended up being invited to attend a funeral (both regular and cremation) at someone’s house! They even got to participate in the processions to the cemetery. Fantastic! I had some plans to capture images of several things (women carrying things on their heads, families riding on motorbikes, temples in front yards, etc.). This proved difficult in the time we had and so I managed to do a halfway job of it through the car windshield or side window. Better than nothing when I wanted to fill in the gaps for you and remember it for myself. Next time, just walking around is the way to go. My favorite pictures are the ones of the holy man sweeping up and the young boys at the temple ceremony. What an interesting and spiritual place and one worth returning to someday.