Since we started our travels, our walks, explorations and volcano climbing has toned muscles that we didn't even know we had. However, we have yet to lose any weight - "No surprises there!" I hear you say, with the blogs having such an emphasis on food. I was keen to step up the exercise regime and as we had had a glimpse of the lakes the previous day, decided that we would walk there. On the map in Lonely Planet and at the tourist info place, it looked around 5kms away it was all up hill though. The first walk up to the top of Munduk at 8am was a punishingly steep 2kms. We had to stop to lower our heart rate a couple of times! The road took us through the mountains, overlooking farms, rice fields and cultivated gardens. We soldiered on in the burning sun still climbing uphill round bending, winding roads for a further 5kms and still no sign of the lakes. We saw a sign for Lake Tamblingan, which took us off in a different direction to the route we had taken on the bike. This road took us through the outskirts of Tamblingan town, dotted with Hindu shrines and residences. Dogs barked at us and children shouted "Hello!" This road wound down - nice rest for the legs - and we passed rhododendron farms and tangerine trees. 3kms later we arrived at the waterfront of Lake Tamblingan, we were shocked to discover that the village had been flooded. Seismic activity had caused the water level of the lake to rise by 5ms, destroying a whole community, see the eerie photo of the sunken Hindu temple. We hung around there for a while, Paul taking lots of photos as usual and then headed back, up hill now of course, for 3kms. At the top, we then headed back down towards Munduk, stopping for lunch first as it was now 12:45 and we had earned a good rest. The trek back down was much easier, although in parts a bit slippery because of the steepness. We had spotted a couple of signs for waterfalls on the way up, so feeling reinvigorated by lunch we stopped at the Golden Valley waterfall - the sign said it was a 246m walk down to it. We stumbled down some precarious makeshift bamboo steps to the 100ft plus waterfall, cascading at the top, which was beautiful (see photos). We then staggered back up the steps (stopping for breath and water on the way) to the road home. We welcomed patches of cloud cover and enjoyed the occasional cool breeze as we descended to Munduk. I noticed another waterfall at the top of Munduk, Paul's reaction to my suggestion to stop was not a good one! I thought we would do it the next day! We did a reccy at a nearby Warung (restaurant) for the evening's meal, then got back to our lovely Aditya Homestay for a much needed strawberry juice ... oh and a shower.
The next day, I was determined to see my waterfall, after a leisurely breakfast we set off at 9:15 up the hill again. Only a 2km walk, but it was hotter this time. We must be getting fitter as we didn't need as many cardiac stops. On the way up there appeared to be a bit of a traffic jam, we though it might be a protest and there was drumming and chanting. We realised that it was a Hindu funeral procession of around 50 people (no photos sorry - too disrespectful). It was a lively affair, with women carrying photos of the deceased, burning incense, colourful parasols and flower offerings. The coffin (carried by several men) was draped with a bright yellow embroidered cloth and flowers. It took about an hour to reach the waterfall sign, the waterfall itself was down a 500m pathway. Around 10 tourists had gathered at the site. Another breathtaking waterfall - quite literally for Paul as he walked into the ice-cold spray to photograph it. We stopped for lunch on the way back at Warung Akar, the place we had eaten at the previous night - Paul had beef rendang, and I had chicken and vegetable stew. As this walk was only 4kms, another one was needed. That afternoon we headed down the lane from our homestay, in the direction of the valley and the rice fields. The first bit of the road was downhill, but the rest climbed and climbed. We could have turned off down the many tiny lanes, deeper into the valley, but were afraid we might get lost. As we treked locals, both adults and children alike, waved and shouted 'hello'. All with a friendly smile. Dogs were less friendly, barking, but retreating to the safety of their houses as we passed. As we climbed Paul precariously leapt on to some rice field walls and snapped away (see photos). The weather was getting cloudier and there was some moisture in the air - we too were a bit damp from the heat and humidity. The land here was cleverly farmed, with paddies being fed water from the mountains and a cascading system of bamboo pipes and gulleys fed paddies lower down and so on. It made for a beatiful soundtrack of bubbling water and the noises of insects in the forests above. As we got higher and higher the rice fields were further and further behind us, so we decided to call it a day after an hour and fifteen minute walk uphill. We have a bit of a backblog (backlog of blogs) at present, we have not had wifi for a while and rely on using the homestay's own PC to load the blogs. More adventures will follow....