7/7/13

Bali

I woke up feeling rested and had breakfast. Around 9:00 we took off toward Munduk but we had some stops along the way first.

After about an hour we made our first stop at a coffee plantation. After putting on our bug spray, we walked through the jungle as Gede pointed out different fruits and vegetable plants. He then took us to a long picnic table where we all sat down and got to try different types of teas and coffees. We then introduced ourselves to the group. There are 3 American girls, including myself, 4 British (3 girls and a guy), an Austrian couple, an Italian woman, a German woman, a Swiss woman, and a German couple on their honeymoon.

A couple people ordered a "poo" coffee for $5 a cup. It is made when a little furry animal called a Luwak eats the coffee bean and poos it out and is ground up. I had a sip of it and because I hate coffee and especially strong coffee I thought it was disgusting.

After the plantation we headed to a rice paddy. We got to walk around the tiered paddies and watched men work the fields. It was interesting to see that even in working the fields the men tie their religion to their work. They have mini temples in the fields. They also take a break at noon for 20 mins. because they believe spirits walk through the fields at that time.

During the walk we got stuck in a lot of muddy situations. I wore my hiking sandals so I was okay. One girl wore white converse and another wore ballet flats. We all ended up washing our feet in the end but a lot of people had mud all over their pants.

After the walk we took some cool scenic pictures and then headed up to a restaurant for lunch. The views of the rice paddies during lunch were awesome. Lunch was a buffet so I of course had noodles, some chicken and veggies and some fruit. When it came time to pay I was shocked that my lunch and Coke was $11! That was my most expensive meal so far. I wished I had eaten more.

After lunch we made our way a temple on the water. It was really beautiful and kind of cloudy. Gede told us all of the reasons for the tiers on the temple and told us all about the many different Gods of nature. We walked around for a while and took pictures. After the temple we headed to our hotel for the night.

Our hotel was called Mene Surung Homestay. I was happy to find out it was nothing like our previous homestay. They were basic bungalows and were actually pretty spacious. We put our stuff in our rooms and met up together to do our walk to the waterfall.

A lot of people were prepared to swim in the waterfall but I knew it would be cold so I just wanted to take pictures. The walk was pretty far- about 45 mins. and was pretty much a hike. When we got there we were very relieved. It was a beautiful waterfall with a cooling spray. A lot of people got right in but I just stayed back and took pictures. The water was freezing and I was glad I didn't go in.

After everyone got dressed we headed back to the hotel. We walked on the paved road this time which didn't take as long as getting there but was very steep.

After getting back we had some time to chill before dinner so I took a shower and read my book. At dinner, I had a chicken dish with Balinese spices and rice. The spices wee delicious but the chicken was oily which had me worried that I might not feel well later on.

Mariam (from LA) then did some tarot readings for some people in the group, including me. She told me my love life looked promising but I think too much. Haha! Then Gede showed us some awesome card tricks. After all the entertainment, I decided to try to get a good night's sleep.

Until next time!