We were heading to the butterfly park in the last post. But I was so overwhelmed by the mega sightseeing day that I forgot we stopped at a temple on the way there. I partly forgot because we hadn't asked to go there and I still have no idea what temple it was. I think it's hardwired into every Balinese person that no sightseeing day is complete without a temple visit. My favorite part of the temple visit was seeing a guy washing his motorbike and then watching a bunch of ducks play in the water! Very cute.
And the butterfly park? Well, we got there. Woo hoo! And it was pretty good. Actually to be honest the butterfly park was somewhat undermined by the fact that there are the most beautiful butterflies all over Bali at any time of day, everywhere, so you've sort of been surrounded by them the whole time anyway. We did see a few varieties I hadn't seen before, which was nice. The staff at the park actually handled some of the largest butterflies and placed them on people for photos. They probably know what they're doing, but we opted out of that part of the experience. Our driver for the day, Dewa, was a lovely guy, but a little prone to poking things with sticks. He gave the civet a little poke with a stick to wake him up at the coffee plantation - It was kinda funny as Phil and I are whispering, no, no, don't wake up the civet!! And he really wanted the butterflies to be a bit more interesting by you guessed it, poking them. None were harmed, but mostly due to good luck and unexpected hardiness of the butterflies.
The highlight of the butterfly park was the leaf and stick insects they had. There are some awesome photos, but I still can't transfer them... Grrr. I think a visit to the official apple reseller store is in order when we're back in Legian. Here is a photo I have lifted from the Internet - although it looks exactly like what we saw. They even have brown curled up edges just like the surrounding leaves!
The next stop after the butterfly park was for... More Babi Guling. This one may have been the best yet. It had a garnish of these super flavoursome shallots with hot chillis, salt and garlic. Lip smackingly yum!
Our last destination of the day was the Angseri Hot Springs, near Jatiluwih. I couldn't find much information about the hot springs, but we thought it would be a nice end to the day... The only thing I had read that stood out was that they were in a very natural setting. After a fairly harrowing drive down some slopes so steep I thought we'd flip over (I nearly got out of the car and walked a couple of times), we arrived at the site. The hot springs had a series of private bathing pools for groups which you could use for half an hour as well as a main bathing pool. All the private bathing pools were occupied when we arrived, so we walked over to the main pool.
The main pool is indeed in a gorgeous setting with a waterfall behind it and surrounded on all sides by lush greenery:
The water is warm and soothing and we were the only ones there, so blissful, right? Except that where the umbrella is in the photo above, there was a functioning construction site! Like ten guys hauling cement and dirt and building about five metres from the pool. It was quite funny floating about in the pool, opening your eyes every few minutes and smiling at a bunch of guys in gumboots!
The private bathing pool was less exposed. There were little huts built over large baths filled with the spring water, but still open enough that you don't pass out from the heat. (Unlike the Mornington Peninsula hot springs where I nearly fainted in one of their private rooms and had to sound most of the half hour with my face crammed next to the tiny gap in the window sucking in the fresh air!!)
By the time we got back to the hotel, I had enough energy to eat, blog and sleep with the plan to arise at 7am today to visit the lake and take a boat to the nearby temple. Which didn't happen. I should just stop making plans pre-8am. Instead I woke up at 8.40 with a complete inability to breathe through my nose. Awesome.
We did make it to the lake, which is absolutely massive and stunning, but without enough time to go to the temple. Ach, I've seen a lot of temples. Lake Beratan was spectacular just to look at. It is impossible to find a photograph that would do it justice. Just imagine a huge, sparkling alpine lake.
And then it was time to move on to Lovina in the north coast of Bali, famous for it's volcanic black sand beaches and dolphins as well as low levels of tourism. It turns out that Lovina is not actually a place itself, but the name used to refer to about ten villages on a 10km stretch of coastline. We're staying in a bungalow about 5km inland from Lovina, higher up, so there are lovely views out to the ocean.
The place we're staying (called Sunanda Bungalows) was founded by a Swiss woman who had the idea "after a vision in a meditation". Which is not ordinarily something that would draw me in, but appeals to me at the moment. I think it was a good choice. There's beautiful, gardens, a yoga pavilion, organic home cooked meals from the garden and a lovely Balinese family. Everything is really relaxed, except for the dog, Pino, who decided my hand would make a good snack (no broken skin= no rabies). Here's the sunset and some of the lovely gardens (taken by the iPad):
We're here for the next three days to do not too much. A few walks, massage, reading... Today's walk already yielded a close encounter with a local pig, a cow and hundreds (literally) of chickens. Awesome!!
Enjoy the weekend!!
- Posted using good vibes, man.
No comments:
Post a Comment