Journey to North Bali

Trip to North Bali

We hadn't yet explored north Bali, the more remote, less densely populated, more arid, and less touristy part of the island, but we had heard many stories of its beauty and its peacefulness.  Shortly after Green School ended we set off for a four day trip to explore north Bali for ourselves.

We climbed in elevation as we headed north of Ubud.  After a couple of hours we came upon a vista of terraced rice paddies stretching out into the distance.  It's known as the most beautiful area of rice paddies on the island and has been given UNESCO world heritage status.  It wasn't as green and lush as it usually was as many of the rice fields had recently been harvested and the dried stalks were being burned off, but it was still a marvelous sight.

The rice grown here is different than in the Ubud area.  Red rice is mainly grown.  The plants are taller.  Only the tips with the rice grains are harvested which are then arranged in small circular piles, unlike in the Ubud area where tall stalks of rice are harvested in bundles which makes it easier to thresh by hand.

A little later, we stopped by the side of the road to watch a flower harvest.

We ended the day in Bedugul, a couple of hours north of Ubud in the foothills of the volcanic mountains near large lakes where it was much cooler.  One of the main attractions is an extensive botanical garden.  We walked quite a ways, visiting the orchid house, the cactus house and checking out the large, scary sculptures.

Then it was on to our hotel, Strawberry Hill, recommended by our friends Tracy and C'liff, who had stayed there earlier, to watch the fog roll in and pick strawberries.  The girls loved running around the paths and getting to eat their hand-picked strawberries. 

The next morning we headed back to the botanical garden to Treetops, a zip-line and high-wire adventure center located in the garden.  The girls had a great time and were quite fearless.

After checking out of Strawberry Hill, we headed north and soon arrived at Pura Ulan Danu Bratan temple located on the shores of Lake Bratan.  It's a special place, and it's is easy to see why the temple is one of Bali's iconic images, even on a foggy, overcast day.  A ceremony was in progress when we arrived.  Then a boat carrying the priest, a few men, a duck and a rock paddled out into the lake.  The duck and the rock did not return.

 

Then it was back in the car for another hour or so, heading steadily west and north.  We pulled off on the side of the road and took a 500 meter trail down the side of a steep hill.  We arrived at the bottom of a towering waterfall that plunged into a wide and shallow river.  We were the only ones at this spectacular sight.

Heading back up the trail from the waterfall.  We thought it was too steep for motorbikes.  We were wrong.

An old man and his wife lived in a small wooden house and tended a plot of clove trees beside the path to the waterfall.

We then continued our drive to the northwestern tip of Bali.  We drove around hairpin turns, along narrow ridges with drops of hundreds of feet on either side, over rickety temporary bridges built of bamboo, and eventually wound up behind this truck.  The large logs were unsecured and the truck looked like it was about the break apart under the weight of the logs.   The middle one wobbled precariously and seemed likely to tumble out if the truck hit a decent sized bump in the road.  Dewa said 'very dangerous' as he continued to tailgate the truck. 

Moments later, we heard sirens and the "polisi" appeared and pulled over the truck.  Dewa said the driver of the truck was likely facing a huge fine, as special permits were required to be able to cut down and transport large trees.  Given the slipshod way these logs were being transported, the driver almost certainly lacked the necessary paperwork.

That peril averted, we soon arrived at our hotel, an eco-lodge called The Menjangan, located on the grounds of the vast West Bali National Park.  (to be continued...)


Slideshow with additional photos.  Photos by Lynn, Nat and Alexa.