During the days leading up to Eid, there is a mass migration of thousands leaving the city, leaving Jakarta relatively quiet. The traffic is definitely less, some of the restaurants close and the usual security and gardening team at our apartment complex are replaced by hired help.
As Ian was on holiday, we decided to take a short break in Bali.
We left on the Saturday morning. We had been warned that because of the mass exodus the 45 minute drive to the airport could take up to 2 hours. So, we set off early. However, much to our surprise, and more so by our driver, the roads were virtually empty. We made it to the airport in record time and on arrival were through security and checked-in in only 15 minutes.
The domestic flight to Bali took just under 2 hours and after a short taxi journey from Denpasar Airport, we were in our hotel at Nusa Dua on the south of the island by early evening. There is a 1 hour time difference between Bali and Jakarta.
On Sunday, we decided to take it easy at the hotel, reading our books under trees on the beach, taking strolls and simply looking at the clear blue skies (no Jakarta air pollution here) and enjoying hearing the birds singing (no constant traffic noise).
On Monday, we set off to explore more of the island. We used a private tour guide, Agus Bali Private Tour which we had booked via email a few weeks before. Agus was a great guide. He is from Bali and speaks excellent English. Together with him and his driver we set off for our tour.
We starting by visting the Wenara Wana Monkey Forest. Here we saw many of the Balinese long-tailed monkeys - Macaques. There are around 600 monkeys living in this sanctuary which also houses 3 Hindu temples. I was pleased to hear from Agus that these monkeys are very friendly and do not try to steal your camera or other items. They were very well behaved and let me get up close to take their pictures.
Then we drove up into the hills to Ceking Village to see some of the smallest rice terraces in Bali.
We drove further upwards and stopped for lunch over-looking Kintamani, Mt. Babur, the active volcano on Bali. You should be able to see in the picture below the remains of the black lava flow from an eruption in 1963.
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| In 2012, UESCO made Mount Batur Caldera a part of the Global Geopark Network. |
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| View from Penelokan over Mt. Babur, Lake Batur and Mt. Agung |
We then continued on to The Mother Temple of Besakih. The largest and holiest Hindu temple in Bali.
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| The Mother Temple of Basakih or Pura Besakih |
Here we were lucky to see many Hindus visiting the temple wth offerings for Amavasya - New Moon Day.
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| Some of the temples musical instruments |
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| Some local boys giving us a tune |
On leaving the temple our guide Agus took delight in showing me the many spiders in the power lines by the lights. There were thousands of them.
We also stopped of at Seribatu Village. This is a plantation where we learnt much about the plants important to the Balinese. We learnt about the process of making coffee and the unusually processed Coffee Luwak, the most expensive coffee in the world.
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| Roasting coffee beans |
And much to our delight getting to taste it, and also many types of local teas.
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| Coffee beans |
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| Guava |
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| Durian fruit - an acquired taste |
Finally as we drove back to our hotel we passed many Hindus returning home carrying their offering baskets on their heads.
After our long day on the road exploring Bali we decided to spend Tuesday relaxing down on the beach and around the hotel.
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| Monitor lizard in one of the hotels many ponds |
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| Cooling off in the bar |
We also made a quick trip to the local shopping mall, Bali Collection for a little retail therapy and tried a fish foot spa - which was not as ticklish as expected.
Wednesday came all to soon and we had to leave our island paradise and return to the busy city.
We only saw a very small part of what Bali has to offer and look forward to returning some day soon.
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| Pond at the Hotel Reception with a glimpse of the sea |
