2nd Day of Bali

The next day, we started the day at 9.00 am with breakfast which is included in our hotel rate of USD250 per night. It was hard though, because Bali is a non muslim island, we have to be very selective. In the end, we had omelet with stewed mushrooms, potato wedges and grilled tomato on the side, after the chef guaranteed of a halal omelet. The easiest is to have muesli and the variety of bread, pastries and scones.

Our breakfast at Suku Restaurant, by the pool

Koi Pond

My muesli and scone

The weather was fabulous. At 10 am, we went to meet our driver for our 8 hours tour. We were expecting to see Bapak Made, but another person came to greet us. He was Mas Koko. Bapak Made couldn’t make it because he had an urgent personal matters to take care of. Of course we didn’t mind as long as our agreement with Pak Made, is acceptable by Mas Koko.

It turned out that our driver cum local guide was excellence and every informative. He took us to Kintamani, on the north of Bali, to look at the spectacular Mount Batur. What really amazed me was the journey to Kintamani, we went thru areas of development according to the businesses surrounding the specific area. We travel comfortably in a mini bus, even though there were only two of us.

Our plan was to visit Kintamani for its spectacular view of Mount Batur and Lake Batur, visit the Rice Terrace, Ubud to shop since they said that the quality in Ubud is much better than in Kuta, and then to view the world famous sun set in Uluwatu.

That was our plan. The first half of the plan was great. We reached Kintamani at 1.00 pm after travelling thru Denpasar, Sanur, Batu Bulan, Celuk, Sukawati, and other areas that I didn’t get the names.

We stopped at a local batik store to look for the kids' 'iket' for their silat. But unfortunately, they do not have the iket that we were looking for, so we settle for the Balinese 'Udeng' instead. I don't know if Paman will allow that, but its okay. Cost for each was only USD2.00.

Jazz at the front garden of the Batik Store

This is our driver and tour guide, Mas Koko. Very informative and a jovial character. I recommend his service to any friends who is visiting Bali. Affordable price and friendly chap.
Visit his website at : http://www.kokobalidriver.com/


The entrace. Similar to the rest of Bali


I do look pregnant!

Our guide dropped us at a restaurant with the view of the valley, Mount Batur and the Lake Batur. It was chill up on the high land. The wind was cold and fresh. The view was spectacular. We had our lunch at a muslim restaurant that served buffet lunch. Again, the food wasn’t something to brag about.

Mount Batur. An active volcano.


Lunch at Kintamani

Muka takde make up....

The view was breathtaking

I wonder how do they get home

It was really cold up in the high land

On our way to Uluwatu, we were fortunate enough to witness a religious ceremony at a village called Bajar. The ceremony was at a small temple, and it took half of the road, so the traffic travelled very slowly. Koko, our guide stopped us there, to let us take few photos. Koko was excellent, he took the trouble to get down and get info from a villager that act as a traffic warden, about the ceremony. He said that each village has their own ‘Hari Raya’, to give thanks to the Lord for the previous month ‘rezki’. Or something like that.

A small village called Bajar, the villagers were having a small religious ceremony.

Big and small, young and old. Everyone was there to do their religious ritual.

We also stopped at a small warung, which was selling durian. One durian cost IDR30,000, equivalent to USD3.00. It tasted like ice cream! Jazz bought a bottle of coke and a pack of Malboro. All in all, it cost us IDR50,000. Koko said that in a small village like that, making IDR50,000 a day is ‘lumayan!’

By 3.30 pm we made our way to see the Rice Terrace. The weather changed from cold to a very hot afternoon. By the time we reach the Rice Terrace it was scorching hot. The guide told us that if we were to see the sun set, we won’t have enough time to visit Ubub for shopping. So we just passed Ubud on our way to Uluwatu without stopping.

At some point in the journey I fell asleep. And Jazz said that he saw what he called “The Old Balinese Way”. Something like the girls in the following video. I reckon it could be one of the ladies in the video… in her present age. He he…




At first I thought Jazz was rather upset, but when we reached Uluwatu, he said that missing the shopping part was worth it, when we managed to catch the Kecak Dance.

We reached Uluwatu at 6.00 pm, just in time to see the sunset, but due the cloudy day, sunset was just string of orange sky. The temple or Pura in Uluwatu was located on a cliff, and on the background was the ocean. Infinity.

The Kecak Dance was amazing. Just imagine this, no instruments, no modern hip music, but only the voices of the dancers/performers. Truly unique.

It was a long day. When we reached Conrad, we quickly changed and headed to the pool. Had a refreshing swim while were were entertain by the Conrad dancers. It was almost like heaven.

The beautiful Conrad Resort and Spa, Bali