Ubud Tourist Day 2010 - a success!

My last full day in Indonesia. I decided to go full bore. First, I would wake up at 2am (hardly sleeping that night!) and head for a climb of Gunung Batur (Mount Batur) to see the sunrise at about 6:15. Batur is an imposing experience. Not because it's the tallest volcano on Bali, as it's only number 3 or 4 in height at 1700+ meters. Instead, it is imposing because it is rimmed by a large crater lip, which contains the current summit as well as the largest lake in Bali. The crater gives some sense of how big the mountain used to be before it blew its top and became what it is today.

It is still quite active. There were a couple of big eruptions in the late 20th century. The day I went, there were warnings for the western part of the mountain, so we steered clear of that area.

The climb was great if a little early in the morning. After getting a ride to the crater rim, my guide and I hiked two hours in the dark. It was still hot enough that I was in t-shirt and shorts, and my glasses kept fogging frequently when we would stop for breaks. What started as forest became grassy fields which in turn yielded to volcanic rock (both grippy and crumbly at the same time). Then, when reached the summit, wow. Really perfect timing, with no one else near us as the sun came up.

As morning fully dawned, I could make out more and more people. There was a group of locals, including a priest, having a religious ceremony on a peak opposite ours. There was also a little puppy who had hiked up with us, who I nicknamed "Volcano Dog". He earned a well-deserved banana at the top.

It's a little dark, but check out this self-portrait of me with Bali's other volcanoes in the background.

Finally, the lake and views of the lava bed were superb as we drove away from the hike.

To this initial adventure I added a downhill cycling trip back to Ubud. Essentially, I got a mountain bike and rode with a group through the back roads of Bali, with a handful of stops along the way. It was an incredibly easy way to cycle, only really stressing my hands on the brakes.

Our first stop was at an eco coffee farm. We learned about typical plants of Bali, including a very spiky fruit shown below. The main attraction was the coffee processing, where they hand-roasted the beans and produced several types of coffee. The most famous (and quite touristy, but it's all in the day, right?) was luwak coffee. To make this coffee, they feed the beans to the luwak, a large ferret looking creature. Then the animal...processes...the beans and they are collected and cleaned after the animal has finished their business. It supposedly takes the edge off the coffee, and that cup was much smoother than "Bali coffee". There were also a variety of cocoas and teas granted gratis, including some ginger varieties that were wonderful.

Next we saw a typical Balinese family compound. A set of 100-200 compounds form a banjar, or community neighborhood. Within each compound there is a kitchen building, containing enough kitchens for the number of families within. Then there is a grandparents' building and an additional building for each family. In the center of it all is the ceremonial building, where many of the Hindu ceremonies take place. In the one we visited, they were drying rice crackers and bamboo for some upcoming offerings. Interestingly, when someone dies they are laid in state in this ceremonial building until the funeral. Then they are either cremated, or buried for up to five years until they are cremated. In back are areas for livestock (which our guide called the "ATMs of the families" as they fetch extra cash) and a common forest.

The third stop was at some rice paddies. We walked through the rice paddies and got a chance to beat the rice from the stalks - that is hot and sweaty work! The rice paddies are just gorgeous, both far away and up close.

The final stop was at a really large banyan tree. These trees dangle additional roots from their branches that then reach the ground and dig in. This large specimen had been groomed to keep it from expanding too much more into neighboring properties.

And through it all was my third trusty steed of the trip.

Finally, I returned to Ubud. With my last night, I wanted to continue the theme of the day and so bought a ticket for a local dance performance. I chose the Kecak Fire and Trance Dance, both because it was recommended and because fire sounded cool. It was pretty neat, with 100+ men singing a story from the Ramayana while it was acted out in an interior circle. I have to admit that I was dozing in and out, not from the show, but just as a result of having gotten up at 2am... I was awoken when a man in a horse costume proceeded to go into a trance and run through flaming coconuts repeatedly. That is quite a way to end a show.