More Bali

Here are a couple more points of general Balinese culture/life, before I share our explorations into the beautiful nature in central Bali.

In most intersections or roundabouts, there were statues - some more elaborate than others.

You can see in the next video how a totally unmarked intersection actually flows amazingly well (as I’ve said before, please open this email in your browser by clicking the link at the bottom to insure you can watch the video) -

The motorbikes zipped everywhere, and were definitely the most dangerous part of any traffic. They would drive in between lanes of cars, as well as on the shoulders of roads. When your car was turning, you had to be very careful that a motorbike wasn’t zooming up alongside (either right or left) to try and beat your turn.

Enough civilization - on to nature!

I apologize for the commercialized picture above, but it had a great view of the Ceking Rice Terraces. Steve took this out the window as we drove back by at noon, and the light was so much better than when we were there first thing in the morning -

This turned out to be a very Instagram-y place. They definitely marketed it to young people who wanted to have their pictures taken. There were numerous swings that young ladies would swing out over the fields wearing a borrowed long skirted dress -

You could also participate in activities over the fields, like zip-lining or riding “sky bikes”, but only if you were under 50. Steve was incensed at the age cutoff, especially since the youngest allowed to participate was 7 yrs old. Once we realized the intent of this stop, I took a few pictures as we wandered along the terraces…

… and told our driver that we wanted to avoid places with lots of tourists, if possible. Our next stop was a very quiet temple, Gunung Kawi, that featured shrines carved into a rock face, from the 11th century -

This reminded us of the Valley of the Kings in Egypt and Petra in Jordan (but with a lot more moisture). Here is a view of the same shrines from across a stream -

Further back in the hills were more temple areas -

On our way to our last stop for that day, we passed a number of shops along the road featuring unique glass vases…

… and more picturesque rice fields -

Interestingly, our next destination had nearly the same name (Pura Gunung Kawi Sebatu), but it was a water temple.

We were immediately smitten by the peacefulness of the water features…

… the reverence of the few locals praying…

… as well as the very intricate and colorful decorations -

This was such a welcome and quiet change from the first water temple we visited near Amed, earlier in the month -

way too many self-absorbed people waiting to have the perfect picture taken

There were very few people at Pura Gunung Kawi Sebatu, and they were all quiet and contemplative. Because it was an active temple, we were asked to wear sarongs as respect for the local culture -

Steve was not injured; he wears the ankle brace for support of his weak ankle.

Now, our next day of exploration was all about waterfalls. There are tons of them in central Bali, but they are scattered over numerous hillsides and tucked in valleys that are not interconnected at all by roads. Thus, we spent an entire morning visiting only 2 waterfalls, but for us, they were definitely worth the trek. I had read that Tukad Cepung waterfall was best in the early morning (and that would have the added bonus of fewer tourists).

The sunbeams in the early morning moisture were magical -

We arrived at the second waterfall, Tibumana, in the late morning, so it wasn’t too crowded…

and that guy just had to go for a swim right then (eyeroll)

… but it took creative camera placement and cropping to achieve these -

We certainly fell in love with the natural beauty of Bali and the sweet kindness of its people. We’ll be back.