Going Balinese I think I'm going Balinese I really think so

After a quiet day at the pool soaking up the Indonesian sun it was time to prepare for our adventure and explore the real Bali! An 0815 pick up in the Bedford rascal van and we were off for a 10 hour adventure. In the morning we visited some local craft stores including silver manufacturing and wood carving - both were very impressive and gave a feel for some of the real local talent in the area.

The picture below shows some local Balinese working to create fabulous sculptures from woods like teak, mahogany, sandalwood and ebony.





We then went to see a local Balinese dancing show. Full of Indonesian locals -there were even a few youngsters trying to take sneaky pictures of us. I could not understand or follow the plot of the play, but it was entertaining nevertheless. Here it is......




It was then time to leave the bizarreness and head for the hills to see the rice fields. These are prevalent throughout Bali but these fields were particularly impressive! Anyone for special fried rice?




We then headed to see one of two active volcanoes on the island. The last time this one erupted was in 1976 killing over 2000 people - naturally I was not nervous. While at the volcano (which was pretty uneventful) we stopped to have lunch at a local Balinese restaurant. This was ok once you saw past the flies and sounds of local hindu music!

Swiftly moving on, we headed back down from the cloud covered mountains to visit the oldest Hindu temple on the island. This was really special place even though I had to wear a sarong like David Beckham once did, although I felt more like a tranny. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures with my phone and can't post them but the place was spectacular. We also managed to upset a bee hive to the point that they started firing wax at us and Sarah's face got covered in it!

We then moved to my favourite part of the day, visiting the coffee plantations and forest area where they grew all sorts fruits etc; banana, cinnamon, cocoa and coffee berries. We also tried many of the locally produced teas and coffees including a very special coffee............
This coffee has been known to be sold in new York for up to $1500 per cup! But today I was able to buy a jar for £20 and taste it. The coffee berries are selected by mongoose who ingest them as part of their diet. The mongoose has the ability to pick out the best beans and therefore enable the best coffee to be ground for drinking. Once the beans are ingested and come out the other end (yuk) they are cleaned and prepared ready for drinking. It was very nice and I will share some of my mongoose poo coffee when we get back!

Picture shows a mongoose kept for farming good coffee... Nice!



The final destination of the day was an art gallery from local artists. There was some great pictures of local Bali and we spent quite some time wondering around the gallery before heading for the hotel. The pic below is of my beautiful wife with her new Bali made silver earrings.





So the end of an exciting day and ready for a quiet day by the pool tomorrow, before heading off to Kuta to watch the sun set. It's a tough old life but someone has to do it!
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Location:Bali, Indonesia 17/05/2011