13/04/2017
For those who travel to Bali only for the beach, well, you, guys, miss the real experience. Moreover the most popular bali beaches are far from beign in the top of the most beautiful. What catches your heart is the atmosphere, the beauty of the rice fields and the people.
Neither Kuta, nor Ubud will introduce the island to you as the places like this one, where the side effects of the tourism haven’t come yet .
I spent my lovely weekend at the most peaceful and lovely hotel surrounded by ricefields, rain forest and waterfalls. To avoid lazyness absorbing you, do like us – go for a trekking in the neibourhood.
The guide we had is amazing, besides English, he also speaks very good French, very informative and at the same time not intrusive. You have that chance to get to know so many herbs and fruits, cacao and coffee, growing right next to you along the road. You follow the path, the farmers still walk to shorten the distance from home to work, with up and downs of the hills, after work in the field, you realize once again how hard physical labor is. The green beauty of the valley , the wild birds and trees, the secluded waterwall with balinese offerings – I lack the works to describe how magnificent the nature is and how unspoiled the area is.
You may see the farmer collecting the harvest, or planting the rice, or ploughing the ground for further cultivation. You might think no one uses the buffalos or horses anymore, but you’re wrong. It’s very expensive for the farmer here to rent a tractor, so having a cow to plough the field is actual nowadays. So I tried to do it myself and it super hard and heavy. You dive up to knee in a mud and try to balance behind the cows, which inspite of beign slow on the video are in reality going pretty fast in the field. My aim was to try and keep myself out of mud, but the real worker has to watch that the plough goes exactly the way he wants it to. Oh my, that was difficult but fun.
After the long trek, it’s so nice to chill in the fresh waterfall , where the local people also make offers and pray.
We also tried to make the offering ourselves. Appeared that each flower has its meaning and the colour has to correspond each cardinal directions. And at the end of the trip, you’ll get a chance to try a local refreshing drink “Jamu”, which is made from natural ingredients just in front of your eyes.
You may feel pretty tired but I’m sure you’l be happy with what you’ve seen and done, and will remember that as one of your real balinese experiences.
Valeriya Khomutina