Day 13: BALI: PURA TAMAN AYUN, ULUN DANU BRATAN, CASCADA GIT GIT, DANAU BUYAN AND DANAU TAMBLIGAN, ARROZAL DE JATILOWIH, TANAH LOT
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Mmm ... today is a little later, isn't it? With this question we wake up when the alarm sounds and indeed, we see that last night, we hardly even remembered, we set the alarm a little later because Tomi has given us a little respite, we have a car with driver in Bali, which will take us on the road today. But being the first stop of the day Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, which is closer to Ubud, has let us get up later.
We went down to breakfast and as usual since we are in Ubud, we take it easy and we correct the letter 2 times before deciding what we want ... although in the end we end up asking for the same thing from the previous day.
When we have finished, the time has not yet come with Tomi and we take the opportunity to check the email in one of the rooms of the Bebek Tepi Sawah Restaurant & Villas and inform us a bit by reading the newspaper.
Without realizing that half an hour passes that we have "too much" and we are in the car, this time heading to Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, which was the main Temple of the kingdom of Menwi in Bali.
Once we arrive we pay the entrance fee plus the parking lot, which is 12,000 rupees and we leave, full of energy to discover it ...
Pure Taman Ayun. Tour by car with driver in Bali
One of the things that impresses us most about Pure Ulun Danu Bratan It is the great moat that surrounds it and the few people we meet.
We enjoy the visit in absolute privacy ...
Pure Taman Ayun
After this visit to Pure Ulun Danu Bratan Tomi tells us that we will make a brief stop at a restaurant from which there are spectacular views of the Pacung rice paddies.
It takes less than 15 minutes to arrive and when we do we remain with our mouths open to such a landscape!
Rice landscapes in Pacung.Tour by car with driver in Bali
From here we can only get on the way to one of the visits that makes us more excited. Let's meet him Pure Ulun Danu Bratan, one of the best known images of Bali.
When we arrive at the car park Tomi explains that we will have the good fortune to meet with a ceremony held in this temple, which takes place once every 30 years.
We could not choose a better day to visit it !!
We pay the 22,000 rupees for the entrance plus the parking and we leave without more entertainment towards the entrance.
As soon as you park, you can see the unusual movement of a normal day. There are people everywhere, dressed in their best clothes and carrying offerings.
Entering Pura Ulun Danu Bratan
Since we entered, I think we have not closed our mouths of how impressed we are.
The day does not accompany too much because it is cloudy and the photos do not highlight everything we see, but everything and that, we will never forget these images.
Pure Ulun Danu Bratan.Tour by car with driver in Bali
Details of the ceremony
The idea after this visit was to go to Tabanan, to the Kedaton Wings Forest in Bali, but Tomi tells us that it is a very tourist site, of which we don't like it 🙂 and that he thinks we can skip it.
We do not doubt it and tell you that you can take the road directly to the Git Git Waterfall. On the way we stop at the side of the road, where he teaches us a few macaques that gather in these places where tourists feed them ...
Almost without realizing it, although it took us much more than an hour, we arrived at the parking lot of the waterfalls.
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The road is full of warungs and souvenir shops. It is quite clear that it is a very touristy place, although we cannot complain at all ... in all the time we are there, we only meet a couple more couples of tourists.
Already from afar, we can see a piece of the waterfall and from afar, it impresses us.
Waterfall Git Git.Tour by car with driver in Bali
After sweating a little (and that we are now going down) we begin to hear the sound of the water colliding with the rocks ... and after a few meters, we find this:
Waterfall Git Git.Tour by car with driver in Bali
Roger and Tomi decide to go down to the river and thus take some more closer photos and take advantage to cool down for a while.
The truth is that I don't want to soak myself and I stay on top, watching how they have fun as children!
Soak
After being just over an hour there, we decided that it is time to start making our way back and diverting our eyes every time we pass in front of the souvenir shops and remind us that we will have time for shopping! 🙂
Returning from Git Git.Tour by car with driver in Bali
It's almost time for lunch, but we talk to Tomi and tell him that before we prefer to go to a viewpoint to see a panoramic view of the Buyan and Tamblingan lakes.
So said and done, we set off ... and although the stomach already asks for its daily ration, we behave like champions until we reach the viewpoint and discover one of the most beautiful views of Bali.
Danau Tamblingan.Tour by car with driver in Bali
Danau Buyan
The two lakes in the right and left margins of the photo.Tour by car with driver in Bali
Here we sit for a while to rest and when we see that it is almost 3 in the afternoon, we notify Tomi to take us to lunch.
We ended up like the previous days in a buffet restaurant, very touristy, but where we eat very well and where after fighting as usual with Tomi, we end up sharing desserts and coffee with him.
And finally I try coconut water today! And I don't like anything… hahahaha
Coconut water
After this respite, we tell Tomi that we would like to visit a vegetable market near where we are.
We want to mix a little with the local population and this is a unique opportunity.
We are not too long, but enough to enjoy that mixture of colors and smells that excites us.
Vegetable marketTour by car with driver in Bali
Chili peppers and offering
We look at the clock and how it is happening to us since we are in Indonesia, time flies by.
So without entertaining us more, we look for Tomi who has bought some things so we can test them on the road and get underway to Jatilowih rice paddies.
On the way we pass through a town where Tomi, because of the concentration of people he sees, tells us that they are surely celebrating a cockfight.
He asks us if we want to see her and doubting a little, in the end we say yes.
After walking for a while, following the directions of the locals, we are in the back of the town, mixing with hundreds of people shouting nonstop!
Tomi explains a little how the issue of cockfighting is going and although we do not share "the subject" at all, we really were stunned seeing the atmosphere that is created around this "show"
Cockfight.Tour by car with driver in Bali
After a good while, in the end we decided it's time to leave.
We cross a good stretch of road until we reach the rice fields of Jatilowih, which means "really wonderful".
We paid a ticket of 3000 rupees, which we discussed with Tomi for quite some time. He believes that the country is going through prices a lot and takes advantage of the tourist.
We tell you that while it is true, if you really (as you have explained to us on other occasions) this money is invested in the care of heritage, we consider it a very well invested money.
We stop in a couple of areas and get quite disappointed. It is not what we expected to see. The harvest is over and now everything is quite yellowish ... and it does not look like when it is with that bright green color that we usually see on postcards.
Jatilowih rice.Tour by car with driver in Bali
Jatilowih rice
We do not stop too long because we are going very fair today if we want to finish where we have planned seeing the sunset in Tanah Lot, so squeezing a little more if planning, we ask Tomi one last visit before he takes us to “that grand finale”… we want to go to Pura Luhur Batukau, a temple located in the hills of Gunung Batukau.
We have read that it is the most spiritual temple of Bali and of our trip to Indonesia, which can be visited without hindrance.
And when we arrived, after putting on the sarong and reserving a donation of 20,000 rupees for the departure, we found one of the most beautiful temples we have seen so far ...
Pure Luhur Batukau.Tour by car with driver in Bali
Detail of Pura Luhur Batukau
When Tomi looks at the time, he tells us that we either run like the children of the wind or we don't see the sunset in Tanah Lot.
And as we do not want to take the opposite we get into the car without thinking, but not before returning the sarongs and giving a donation at the entrance.
As we move away from Pura Luhur Batukau, we turn our heads to see it for the last time ... or not ... because we may return one day, to enjoy it with time, with much more time ...
Pure Luhur Batukau.Tour by car with driver in Bali
During the trip to Pura Tanah Lot in Bali, as Tomi had already warned us, we found an infernal caravan, where traveling 100 meters means 10 minutes of car ... the clock is moving forward and we begin to be aware that everything Tomi has been reminding us during the day is true !!
"Today is not a day of entertaining too much ... this afternoon we will watch the sunset in Tanah Lot"... and we joking, we have not stopped saying" Tranquil, tenim temps, arrivarem "(we have not said that Tomi speaks a little Catalan and has been practicing with us :))
We are arriving at the parking lot and as a movie Tomi tells us to take the backpacks, the tripod and run out of the car. He gives us the direction we have to go and tells us not to entertain anyone!
That he will come looking for us once he parks the car.
We don't have time to think about it and we run away ...
We don't know where we are going very well, but we follow people. We stopped to pay the entrance fee: 20,000 rupees and we kept running. We see that the sky begins to change color.
We arrive at an esplanade where we see the temple in front. There is no place, there is not even a gap between people.
But Tomi has told us that we have to turn left, follow a path and reach an area from which you see the sunset in Tanah Lot With the sun hiding behind.
And after another race we find this:
Sunset in Tanah Lot.Tour by car with driver in Bali
Sunset in Tanah Lot
We are here, almost without moving until Tomi comes running to find us.
It tells us that we are in the right place to see the sunset in Tanah Lot, which is where he wanted to show us this sunset.
He assures us that normally there are many clouds and it does not look so clear that we have been lucky.
We do not doubt it, but we would have liked to arrive with more time and have enjoyed it more quietly.
We are there until 7:00 p.m. Today has been a very long day ...
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- Guide to prepare a trip to Bali for free
- 10 essential places to visit in Indonesia
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- Rent villa in Bali with Airbnb
- The 15 essential temples of Bali
- The best tips for traveling to Bali
- The 5 best rice paddies in Bali
- The 5 best beaches in Bali
- The 5 best waterfalls in Bali
- The best things to do in Ubud
- The best places to eat in Ubud
- The best coffee shops in Ubud
- Where to stay in Ubud
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Indonesia
And we return to the parking lot.
And Tomi tells us that the return to Ubud from Tanah Lot, it will take us about 2 hours ... we can hardly believe it !!!
We make the way back between asleep and awake, between conversations and silences ... but above all we are thinking that we are living one of the most impressive trips we have made so far.
(And for the record, we always think the same about everyone we do. And that's where the “grace” is, that we always get excited about any trip, we always get the juice out… let's go wherever we go !!)
And so, between thought and thought, we reach Ubud.
We tell Tomi to drop us at Pizza Bagus restaurant, where we have read that they make the best pizzas in Ubud.
There we ordered a couple of pizzas and they take a long time to serve us. We do not know if we are quite tired today and do not appreciate dinner too much, but the truth is that we do not quite like it at all.
So after lunch, we called the Bebek Tepi Sawah Restaurant & Villas to come get us and like yesterday, I think he has not given us time or talk ... we have fallen!
More tomorrow…
Day 14BALI - UBUD: MAS - BATUAN: PURA SUSEH AND PURA DASAR - SINGAPADU - KUTA - IMPOSSIBLE BEACH - PURA LUHUR ULUWATU
