Asia Adventure 2012: Ubud

The day started out with a lovely dip in the pool and a bit or organizing before heading up to the Swept restaurant for breakfast; fresh pressed juices, lattes, smoked salmon, salami, fresh bread and buns, cheeses, and jams.

We were a bit late getting on with our daytrip in a fire-engine red jeep, but Soot and our driver (who turned out to be his brother) was very accommodating. He was a storehouse of knowledge about Bali’s landscape, people, religions, and way of life. He explained about education system and how the early preschoolers attend school in the morning and the high school students then use the same school in the afternoons, both getting about 5 hours of instruction per day.

The tall curved bamboo poles decorated with coconut leaves with little square offering containers at the base in front of every house are penjors. They are erected by Hindus in Bali as part of almost every important ceremony. They are offerings to the God in His manifestation as Hyang Giri Pati (the God of the mountain) to continue sustaining them. According to the Sri Jaya Kasunu manuscript, the penjor symbolizes the mountain and the mountain itself is the symbol of the universe. Therefore, for the Balinese the penjor is synonymous with Mount Agung, the highest and holiest mountain in Bali.

Every 210 days, the Galungun Holy Day celebration is held. It is an event where the Balinese honor their ancestors and pray for their departed souls. Held once in every 210 days, one Balinese Year, the Galungan Holy Day in Bali is the day when the ancestors descend into the family temples, and are feted. Another interesting practice is that Balinese babies do not touch the ground for their first Balinese year (210 days) of life.

Our first stop was a visit to the Royal Temple of Mengwe built in 1634 to serve the Mengwe family. It was surrounded by a moat, multi-roofed shrines and detailed carved wooden gates.

Although we did see numerous accumulations of garbage on the side of the road, some of which were being incinerated, it was interesting to note the recycling efforts for plastic and glass.

We barrelled down the road through small villages were we saw tons of rice paddies and dry-crop farms. The rice paddies require constant, flowing water originating from the volcanoes, and every so often, they drain the paddy and switch it to dry-crops to prevent depletion of nutrients favoured by the rice plants. In the mountains sported scars of a recent typhoon such as uprooted trees, fallen bamboo shoots, and landslides, of which the evidence was being cleared.

Our second stop of the day was a short hike to see the Munduk waterfall. We saw numerous fruit trees along the way as well as coffee, cloves, eucalyptus and avocado. The waterfall was very beautiful and some people were swimming in the pool below. At the base of the waterfall, there was a face carved into the rock.

Okay, for those of you who enjoyed the movie “Bucket List”, there really is an Indonesian Palm Civet cat in these mountains that eats coffee cherries along with the beans. It’s not really a cat but rather a member of the mongoose family and looks a bit like a ferret. The beans are not digested, but the casing is fermented inside the cat, resulting in a tasty coffee bean. The coffee beans are then collected from the forest floor and are rumoured to cost $175 American per pound. Yum yum!

We continued along to the Bendugal area in the central highlands and stopped for lunch at the Warung Coffee Shop (Ngiring Ngewedang) which was equipped as a WiFi hotspot. Greg enjoyed a Bintang beer with lunch and I enjoyed a delicious lemon ginger tea. A short way from the restaurant, we stopped to enjoy a wonderful view of 2 of the highland’s 4 lakes.

Onward we pressed to Lake Bratan where we walked around Ulun Danu Temple and the park grounds surrounding it. Again, more eye candy with intricate and detailed architecture with multi-roofed shrines and lush tropical gardens. We took a motorized boat ride around the lake where we passed by the Bedugal Wuna Villas, accessible only by boat and available for $90/night.

One pose that seems quite popular with the tourists is standing in front of a temple and being photographed while their legs are off the ground. Not sure why this is, but it does take several attempts to get that perfect shot.

Back at the hotel we ordered afternoon tea service, poolside in our villa. Ginger tea and an assortment of mini sandwiches and treats arrived before I had a chance to change into my swimsuit and get into the pool. Candle light added to the “Valentine” flavour of the day.

I enjoyed a refreshing pedicure at the Spa just before dinner and it took longer than anticipated. But Greg, being the good sport he is, waited for me at the Swept Away restaurant sipping on beer and or two really wondering if I was going to stand him up. It’s always good to keep them guessing I suppose! So our 7pm reservation started closer to 8pm.

The Valentine’s Dinner was so over the top, just like everything else around this hotel; sparkling wine, poached prawns, foie gras, white asparagus, sorbet, lamb, lobster, and mouse. The Manager, Wayan Sumabara, dropped by to see how we were enjoying the dinner and was pleased to know we thought it was extraordinary. Apparently they served this very meal at New Year’s as well and thought they would offer it as a special Valentine’s day treat as well. Upon the server’s advice, we opted for the Balinese rose rather than the white. It was delicious and surprisingly dry and it was a good coordinating colour on this Cupid’s favourite day.

We turned in promptly after dinner because our wake up call at 2:30am was not a long way off.