Bali (Day 9) - Bedugul

Today is our last full day in Bali and we have a lot to see and do.  We have our rental scooters, so we have complete control which is nice after having drivers take us around on many days.  If you were wondering, the scooters only cost $10 USD each per day.  If we got the smaller scooters it would have been only $5 USD each, but we wanted the extra power since most of today will be on winding, mountain roads.

Before leaving we had breakfast (me: Egg Fried Rice; Tim: Scrambled Eggs & Toast) and were on the bikes heading out the gate before 9:30 AM.  We will go to the furthest site first that is about 1.5 hours away.  Right after leaving the villa, the fun began...check out the Google Maps screenshot:

Those kinds of curvy road was most of the 1.5 hours of riding.  We did pull over a few times to take a break.

This was a pull off at the top of the road.  I noticed others stopped here, so I pulled over.  It was great views of what is called twin lakes.

Also at this viewpoint stop was a crazy guy with animals that you can interact with.  I took one step towards it and then two steps back.  Do you see what is under that umbrella?  Those are giant bats!  Tim was crazy enough to go over there and "play" with all the animals.  He was even scratching one of the bat's heads like it was a kitty cat or something.  Need less to say, I wasn't there to take that photo.

There were even some monkeys enjoying the view.  It isn't a proper day in Bali without seeing a few monkeys.  These guys are wild and has nothing to do with the "bat guy." 

We road all the way down to those lakes then rode inland to finally arrive at Jatiluwih Rice Terraces, an UNESCO designated world heritage sight.

There are many trekking routes you can take through these fields.  We originally planned on doing the longest, white route, but it said on the map that the route would take 3.5 - 4 hours.  It was already almost noon, so we didn't really have time for that and to get back to the villa before dark.  There is no way we want to ride the scooters on those curvy mountain roads in the dark.

We opted to do a hybrid round which worried us a bit because we weren't sure how the trail markings were going to be, buy once we started the walk, we noticed very nice markings with signs (as below) as well as maps at all the intersections.  The scenery along the walk was just amazing. The volcano in the photos is Mount Batukaru.

Here is a short video that shows the beauty of these rice fields.

Of course there was a couple of temples scattered throughout the rice fields.  This one is called Pura Besi Kalung.  We had the place to ourselves giving us the opportunity to take some gate photos.  

It was getting late, so we continued the walk and actually cut it short a bit. We still got to experience much of the rice fields alone.  It wasn't until we got closer to the center that we saw many more people. 

We arrived back to the scooters about 1.5 hours after setting out for the trek.  It was now after 1 PM and we still have a couple of stops left before heading back to the villa.  First thing is first, we need some food.  I read about a strawberry farm that serves everything strawberries, so we headed that way.  20 minutes later we arrived at the Strawberry Stop.

We ordered two Strawberry Milkshakes, one Strawberries and Chocolate, and two Strawberry Crepes.  Everything was delicious and all cost 93,500 IDR => $6.25 USD.

The last stop is one of the most popular temples in Bali, Ulun Danu Beratan Temple.  It is not the biggest temple, but the setting is amazing.

This temple is quintessential  Bali.

These photos makes it looks like we are alone here, but there are hundreds of others here taking the same pictures.

It was now after 3 PM and we have at least a one hour ride through the mountains to get back to the villa, so we hopped on the bikes and headed back up the mountain with a few stops to rest along the way.

The end of the ride was 20 minutes down a steep, winding road.  We had to pull over multiple times to let the brakes cool off.  Luckily there were small stores along the way that made for good places to pull over and have snack before continuing down the mountain.

We arrive back to the villa at 4:15 PM.  The host made a reservation for us at a beach club for dinner with a driver picking us up at 5 PM.  That gives us just 45 minutes to get a quick swim in and showers before leaving.  Somehow we managed it and was heading down to the beach just after 5 PM.

I love the way they put reservations on tables here.  And what better to go with beer on the beach than pizza.

The sunset, which we had front row seat for, was super nice tonight.

After we ate, we were ready for the ride back.  They told us that the driver was out picking up other customers and it would be about 30 minutes.  No problem. We can sit here and watch the waves on the beach some more. After 30 minutes the manager told us that the driver was still busy and asked if we minded to back in the open car...sure.

 I asked the driver if he knew where to get Arak, a drink I have heard about that is made here in Bali.  He asked if I wanted a plastic or glass bottle.  I took that to mean do I want a homemade one or a store bought one.  I said plastic, but he insisted on taking me to a store to buy the "safe" kind.

Can you believe that we drove 5 miles partly up a mountain in that golf cart like vehicle?!?

We arrived back to the Villa at 8 PM and opened up the Arak.  The girl at the store suggested I buy the strawberry flavored one. 

I pour TIm and I a glass and took a sip...wow.  I thought Arak was a rice wine like Sake, but when I read the label I noticed it said it was 42% alcohol...this is not a rice wine...it is a rice whisky.  Tim was done after a few sips.  I managed to finish the glass in the next hour or so as I watch YouTube videos while trying to drown out the Karaoke neighbor who was at it again tonight.

​Tomorrow we head to the airport at 9 AM, so we wanted to go to sleep a bit early since we have a very long day of traveling ahead of us.  ​After the glass of Arak, the Karaoke didn't bother me that much anymore and I managed to fall asleep.  Until tomorrow...