Balinese Dance, Volcanos and Rice Paddies

The dreams of youth. To be young again…

We left the beach riding towards an area called Ubud. The town of Ubud, in the uplands of Bali, Indonesia, is known as a center for traditional crafts and dance. This is a very touristy area and hence the roads were clogged with buses belching black exhaust. We had booked a hotel within walking distance of the center of town near the market. We got to where the hotel look like it was, but no hotel. After a few minutes a guy came up to us and showed us the path between two buildings that was about 1.5 meter wide with concrete walls on either side. We maneuvered the motorcycle about 100 m down the path turning into a 1 m wide gap in the wall, using a three-point turn, that was the entrance to the hotel. It was another traditional style Balinese hotel with a center pool or US$22/night, including breakfast.

After a relaxing and refreshing swim in the pool, we cleaned up and took a walk into town. We wanted to catch a traditional Balinese dance at one of the temples at night. We found a vendor selling good price tickets for a preformance and booked it right then. It included a free ride to the temple, but no ride back. My knee was feeling fairly good and with the brace on we took a walk about town. Finding a nice little restaurant on the main drag, we sat down to people watch and eat a relaxing meal. There were several cars available to take us to the temple for the dance. One grabbed us and got us there early enough to get a nice front row seat. The dance was accompanied by a traditional mesmerizing chant performed by about 50 men in traditional Balinese costumes sitting in a circle. The chanting and the movements were just hypnotic. The main dancers came out and told a story through dance about two warriors fighting for the hand one woman. Of course in the end the good guy won by killing his competition. The costumes and dresses they wore were beautiful and very colorful. The makeup of the women was perfect but the female dancers would show very little emotion in their faces while dancing. It was mostly just animated to help tell the story. It was a wonderful show complete with a fire dance also. After the show, do it to a lack of transportation, you ended up overpaying to get back to your hotel. It’s great to see capitalism at work.

The next day we were going to ride north to Mount Batur. The elevation of this volcano is 1,717 ms, (5,633 ft). Mount Batur (Gunung Batur) is an active volcano located at the center of two concentric calderas north west of Mount Agung on the island of Bali, Indonesia. Also known as the hiding spot of Tarubian Clans. The south east side of the larger 10×13 km caldera contains a caldera lake. Both the larger caldera, and a smaller 7.5 km caldera were formed by a collapse of the magma chamber, the first larger collapse taking place about 29,300 years ago, and the second inner caldera collapsing about 20,150 years ago. Another estimate of the inner caldera’s formation date, formed during emplacement of the Bali (or Ubud) ignimbrite, has been dated at about 23,670 and 28,500 years ago The last eruption of this volcano was in the year 2000.

On the way to the volcano we came across a very special rice field called Ceking Rice Terrace. Setting was in a lush green jungle area with the immaculately terraced rice patties being tended in the traditional method. We pulled off and found a coffee shop overlooking the rice paddies and just sipped our special mocha cappuccinos while admiring the beautiful views.

The road just had a gradual climb from Ubud all the way to the volcano, with the last little bit getting a little steeper. All the roads going north from the south side of the island run parallel to each other with rivers forming natural boundaries. Since we had chosen a smaller road There was very little traffic. Most of the tourist cars and buses stuck to the larger road to get to the volcano. There is a ring road that follows part of the rim of the caldera with a couple roads that drop down to a beautiful lake in the bottom. We found a coffee shop with perfect fuse down into the caldera and looking up at Mount Batur. It seem like it was time to relax and taking the views, sipping our $1 cappuccinos and eating a small, very delicious pepperoni pizza.

The ride down the mountain was just as beautiful. There was very little traffic until about 2 km from Ubud in which all the roads met and became very clogged again. Back at the hotel we had a drink and a relaxing swim in the afternoon. Our two Aussie friends Maxine and John, (we met in Candidasa Beach), were in the area on their scooter and met them at a nearby restaurant. It’s always so good to see friends. We had a couple beers and a snack and they got on their way.

That night we went to the same restaurant which had two girls come in to do traditional Balinese dance while we ate dinner. Again, the costumes were beautiful and the makeup was perfect. As they danced their faces were very animated, showing just basic emotions which tell the story of their dance. The foot placements are very precise and intricate, as are the hand and finger movements. We ended up being invited by a couple from Australia to sit at their table. We had a wonderful conversation with them and an offer to come visit them in Sydney when we get there. We really need to get to OZ in the next couple of years. It was a very enjoyable way to spend the evening.

In the morning we enjoyed a cup of coffee on our front porch before having our breakfast. We rode over to another famous site that was recommended to us by our kids, Rick and Kelly. Tanah Lot Temple is one of the most sacred temples (Hindu places of worship) in Bali, Indonesia. Here there are two temples located on a large rock. One is located on top of a rock and the other is located on a cliff similar to the Uluwatu Templ. Tanah Lot Temple is part of the Dang Kahyangan Temple. Tanah Lot Temple is a sea temple where the gods of the sea guard are worshiped. This temple is on a rock in the sea and can only be reached by walking across the rocks during low tide. Unfortunately, the time we were there was high tide and the temple was an accessible. I will also share a picture of the temple from the internet.

We carried on up the coast to a small village called Pulukan at Sumbul Beach and the Arton Resort & Beach Club, at US$24/night. It was a beautiful little resort just across from a beautiful black sand beach. It didn’t have a restaurant and only had breakfast, but there are much better options in the area. We walked down the beach a couple hundred meters and came across a surf camp teeming with activity. It seems we hit the perfect weekend as the 2023 Sumbul Boardrider Surf Challenge was just ramping up. This place is known throughout the surfing community as having a perfect and consistent left and right break. The vibe here at the The Holy Tree Kitchen, Coffee & Surfshop was awesome, a great mix of international hostel / surfing camp. We just found a seat and sipped blended juices while watching the beautiful body people show their skill on their boards. The weekend was spent mixing with the crowd, sipping drinks and eating on the beach. PERFECT!! During a break in the competition, we took a ride up the mountain to a sacred tree and had an amazing encounter, but more on that in the next blog.

Unfortunately, time to leave came after 4 days of relaxing. The knee is healing, hopefully. Little did we know what was waiting 500 kms down the road…

Cheers, and eternal “Surfs Up”,

2WANDRRs