Around 8:30 we met up with our guide from yesterday. I did learn his name this time, Mode, though i'm a bit hesitant on the pronunciation. That said, we got in the car and immediately headed north through the traffic masses of Kuta. Having now seen more of the island I will confirm that the traffic is not so terrible anywhere else. So, the first few stops of our trip were a number of cultural experiences.
Our first stop was in Butubulan, a bit north of Denpasar. There we attended a Barong & Keris Dance. From what I learned it is not a religious dance, but cultural and describes an eternal fight between good and evil. It proceeds through a prologue and 5 acts. In the prologue we meet the Barong, the spirit representing good in the form of a lion, and he dances with his friend the monkey. In act 1 the monkey is attacked by hunters and saved by the Barong. Then, we watch 2 girls (servants of the evil spirit Rangda) dance followed by a group of men dancing. That takes us through a bit and i'm a bit hazy on the plot details. Eventually, a girl is captured and prepared for sacrifice. She is then granted invincibility, and fights the evil spirit. But one of the evil spirits followers transforms into the evil spirit again and is too powerful. So the Barong comes to help and chases away the evil. So, neither ever truly defeats the other. At least that was the gist I got out of it. What I found interesting about Bali dance, is its emphasis on motion and position of the limbs. Much of the dance is focused in the position of the feet, hands, fingers and head (even the eyes). It was fun, though the story did get a bit hard to follow in places.
Interesting note... we then saw statues or paintings of the Baring everywhere. Temples, carvings, paintings, etc...
After the dance we traveled to a few more "local" pieces of culture. First we went to a fabric painting/weaving place in the same town. We saw a group making clothe, painting clothe, and more. It was impressive how quickly everyone worked, even when freehanding designs. Then we went to Celuk, the home of silversmithing in Bali. We got a brief walk through of the process for making jewelery. What I found most impressive is that nearly everything was made out of a combination of thin plates, wires, and beads. It seemed like such simple pieces to make such elegant things. Then in Batuan we had a similar experience with local painting, being shown the process through which a painting goes to reach completion. First a pencil sketch, then ink outlines, shading, coloring, finishing. We also saw different works at different stages which made the progression easy to see.
We then headed to a town called Mas, which is the home of wood carving. What was most impressive here is the elegance of sculptures, each one carved out of a single piece of wood. There were sculptures small enough to fit in one's palm ranging all some the size of doors. Similarly, on our way there, we had stopped by a stone sculptor, and I had a similar reaction. At one point there we saw a stone rectangular prism, next to a half-carved elephant, in front of a finished one. It was quite interesting and you could almost see how the carving occurs.
We then went to the Temple of Whisnu Gods, another Hindu temple. It appears that the spire-like structures is the architectural norm for these sites. I had two favorite parts of this one. First was the design in the grass. The ground was decorated by alternating long rows of grass and tiled brick, creating an elongating feeling in the temple. There was also a fountain and pond in the back. The fountain was simple, but the platform was shaped as a turtle. What was nice about it was it was large enough that the turtle features were very subtle until noticed, but were then clear.
After that, we went to my favorite part of Bali so far. We headed to the center of the island to Seribatu, where we visit a spice farm. En route, our drive provided us with two Kalas, or "snake-skin" fruit. It is appropriately names for it's reddish-brown and scales skin. To peel it we twist the top and the skin flaked away, revealing what looked like giant garlic cloves. However, they were very sweet, with a texture that seemed to resemble a blend between an apple and sugar cane.
Anyway, at this farm we were shown around by a pair of girls with terrific english. We saw many fruits including, but not limited to, kalas, bananas, pineapples, coconuts, papayas, and kiwis. We also saw tons of spices... again, including but not limited to chocolate, lemon grass, coffee, ginger, cinnamon, tapioca, ginger and ginseng. The garden itself was gorgeous, and had a look over a huge mountain valley, all coated in trees and a low fog. It looked very much like Jurassic Park. We got to see their process for making coffee, including the roasting and mashing. We also saw a pair of mongoose, which live in the area and are necessary in the production of Luwak Coffee (Kori Luwak). But i'll touch on that in a second.
We then sat at a table overlooking the valley. There we got to try a number of things for free. They had a bowl of chips, made from tapioca. Regardless... they tasted a bit like potato chips. Then we were given ginger tea, lemon grass tea, Bali coffee, hot chocolate and ginseng coffee. They were all very different and very amazing. We then talked for a bit about the Luwak Coffee. It is apparently the most expensive, lowest production coffee in the world. Turns out, the mongoose eat only the ripest of the coffees seeds throughout the plantation But, they do not digest the seed very much, so the seeds can be ... later recollected. They are then left in either papaya or bananas to flavor for upwards of six months. Afterwards they are roasted and mashed (and I may have skipped a step or two but this is the gist). Anyway, it was the equivalent of 3 dollars for a mug of it so I had some. It was very good... but definitely different. It had some sweet and sour to it, and a very strong coffee-bitter taste. (I've no clue how well this describes it...) anyway, another interesting fact about it is that its caffeine free entirely as a result of the mongoose.
So, that was a lot of dun, and on our way our we saw some chili plants. Our guide joked about trying one and I asked if I could take one for lunch. I was given about 6. Anyway, we drove north to Kintamani to have lunch at a restaurant overlooking Bartur volcano and its respective crater. It was quite a view, including ridges everywhere, a lake in the depth of the crater, black earth from lava flows, all surrounding the volcano itself. As we looked over this view we had a lunch buffet, though mostly the same things I've been eating every meal, which in this case meant I wasn't missing out. As I sat down I did not Heep the warning on the pepper. So, I threw one in my mouth and bit. At first it wasn't so bad... but it got worse and worse and worse... eventually I was crying and my lunch was halfway gone. I did not taste lunch until the last few bites. I will say, the pepper did have good flavor, until I lost all sense of taste. (Temporary loss).
That was the end of the sites. We then had a long windy drive through some mountains to the north coast of the island and a town of Loving. There we stayed in a very nice resort/hotel, right on the beech. We walked around a but and heard a thunderstorm coming, so opted to have a small dinner in the open but covered dining area, with some cocktails and listen to the storm. All of this came to fruition... except the bartender was away so there were no cocktails. Quite a sad story, but still a nice time.
Moral of the day... when warned about peppers... take heed...
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Two things: 1) Sounds like a great day, I wish I were there. 2) Of course the peppers were hot!!! You're pretty much in the global center for extremely spicy food.
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