August 2011

We arrived in pemuteran and really there is not much there at first sight apart from a few hotels and a nice beach of white sand.... But then found a turtle hatchery and we looked at all the little turtles ... shame they were not ready to be released as it would have been fun but it was great to see that locals are doing a project tt protect the environment...

We also met Isabelle and Xavier and family as well as their friends so it was nice to see them all and have a chat...

Our first night was in a really nice homestay but quite expensive at 400000 rupiahs so I wanted to change ... I remembered the driver I met back in Munduck who offered a room in his house so I dropped him a text... He came back to me quickly and we went to see his house and decided to stay as he had also 3 kids with whom the kids could play... We got to try lots of local breakfast sweets.. yummy

It was nice to stay there as they were telling us where to go and what to see and told us there was a big temple ceremony at his hotel the following day so we decided to stay 2 nights at his home so we could see the ceremony with them...

Gede was working in a hotel on which beach they are doing another project to preserve coral so he got us into the hotel and we snorkelled there... The project is basically making metallic sculptures at the bottom of the sea and sending very light current on the structures to stimulate coral growth... This was quite amasing .. the sea is crystal clear, the fishes numerous.. it was great to see.

The temple ceremony was fantastic...we went to see the preparations in the morning and got to try all the food they prepared for all the hotel staff and families... it was yummy even though some was far too spicy for us...

Then the ceremony started at 1 when they took their gods next to the sea and did a parade to the sea and then back into the hotel to the temple... It was very colourful and also very peaceful.. We certainly enjoyed some of iot as it lasted between 1 and 7....

After befriending Gede family for a few days I decided that I would like to help them as they are all leaving in very precarious conditions in a beach shack with their 4 kids, 2 aunts and grand mother. We went there and they do not have a lot… a mattress on the floor which looks like it has been there for centuries and a hammock where the baby sleeps above their heads. The kitchen is basically a gas stove outside. They have no toilets and no running water.

I spoke a little with Gede and I found out that he could not take tourists to the dolphins as he did not have a licence like everyone else. And to get that licence you need to pay 1300000 rupiahs to the organisation. Now looking into on a 60000 rupiahs trip the organisation get 30 and Gede would get 20 per tourist which is not bad as at present he sells his fish for 20 a kilo to restaurants (who subsequently sells that at 50 for a slice!!!!).

So I decided with the kids that we should sponsor him and give him the money he needs to get into the organisation… If it can improve their lives I can spare £100… So we did give them the money and they were so grateful that they did a little party on the beach for us.. we had the fish we caught in the morning fried with rice and they then went to buy some fresh small tuna and we had those too grilled on the fire.. It was great!

The baby girl fell asleep in my arms and they were all so nice and friendly ... this is the real Bali and what I would liek to come back to see again....

Besakhi Temple kids in front of the bell

Once we left the temple we made our way to the lake batur where I thought we might spend the night. The area here is more like the jungle, with thick forests very lushious and green.. There are many many fruits growing in the area and we stopped at Batur village to buy some of the local fruits such as passion fruit, manggis, salak, rambutans.. all very very delicious.We bought a few and had nearly them all before we arrived in Lovina. We did not stay in Kintamani as there were too many tourists and apart from the view of the Volcano there was not much here for us just for 1 night so I oushed to get to Lovina instead. Just to note that the entry to the Kintamani area will cost you 35000 rupiahs when you are passing through.

Today we decided to head back to Lovina early via the centre of Bali as we had done the coastal path already… and visit a few places on the way… We set off at 8 after saying farewell to Iona and her family and then drove again through the rice fields towards Amlapura. We then headed off towards Besahik as I wanted to visit the temple… The road was bad and very trafficky.. but we saw where the rafting companies are and as soon as we veered right off the main raod towards Besakih the road was ours!

The temple is massive and dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu and Civa… … Each god has a colour but I am not too sure which one it was red, yellow, and black. We took a guide as I thought it would make it more interesting for the kids and he was good… He explained about the meaning of the number of roofs on the pagoda being linked to the height of a caste. The smaller amount of thatched roofs for the temples dedicated to the lowest classes such as farmers. The maximum thatched roofs of 11 for the highest castes which are the priests. The main stair case has statues on the representing the bad and the ones on the left represent the good. There are a lot of temples within the temples, each dedicated to various casts as well as the 3 gods. All statues guarding each temple had a black and white checked cloth representing again the ying and yang or god and evil. We also saw some crazy plant which if you touched was quickly closing its leaves … very funny the kids loved it…

The school teachers told us to go and visit a nearby temple starting at 1450 metres off the sea level and for which it takes 3 hours to walk to the top temple (there are at least 5 as far as we were told but we only made it to the first one as you had many many steps to get to the top).