We had
decided to undertake the Campuhan Ridge Walk this morning, meeting bright and
early at 6:30am at the entrance lane of our hotel. Amy and Jess were the first
there around 6:25 with me joining seconds later. This caused great mirth as Amy
does not do mornings and could not believe that they were first. There had been
much jesting the night before from Tony about not waiting for stragglers and
setting off bang on 6:30, yet here we were and no sign of any of the others. I
spotted Geoff making his way down the main road, he had dropped off some
laundry at a local cleaner – he’s a fan of arriving home with fresh clothes and
not having to do the wash yourself after a vacation. Hmm, there’s a valid
deduction there alright...
At 6:40 we
spied three sheepish individuals strolling up the drive. Lots of tut tuts and
gleeful wrist tapping motions ensued. Their excuse was that they had been in
reception and Robin had managed to make Tony believe that both me and Geoff had
slept in - as if! So apparently Tony had been knocking on my door and Lu on
Geoff’s. Kinda futile when we weren’t there; all they succeeded in doing was
rousing poor Jenny who was not going on the walk. Whoops! Still, 10 mins tardy is nothing at all, but
Amy got great delight in chastising Tony about it.
So the ridge
walk is an easy 6km hill track which gives stunning vistas of the region as you
walk along a narrow spine. At this early hour of the morning we came across a
lot of joggers who were taking the route. The start of the walk involves
passing the back of the Pura Gunung Lebah temple; pretty carved meru towers and
shrines, the quantity of which I still cannot get my head around. You cannot go
a hundred metres or so without hitting a temple or two in this country -
amazing.
Leaving the
lower section we climbed a few steps and then started our ascent into the
valley hinterland. The middle section is made up of breathtaking slopes and
long reed grasses. You walk along the ridge on a cobbled style path. It is not
a strenuous walk, lots of dippy slopes but easily done at a steady pace.
Squirrels were spotted, but not much other wildlife. The final section of the
walk consists of stunning rice fields, lots of artisan galleries and art
studios selling gorgeous paintwork and a very nice café.
Geoff bought
a lovely painting, getting a very good “morning price” bargain according to the
seller. We continued on and stopped off at Karsa Café where I had an amazing
Apple Pie and strong coffee. The paddy terraces were stunning, lovely green and
yellow hues. It was a shame that it was a bit hazy because of the early hour,
however I would not have fancied doing the walk during the mid-day heat.
After
appeasing our hunger we made our way back to the hotels, again facing all the
artisan shops. Tony and Lu purchased an extremely intricate Keliki style ink
drawing from a talented artist whose name escapes me but has had his artwork
displayed in exhibitions in Paris and Russia. Keliki is a traditional miniaturised
hand painting with incredibly tiny details. Jess and Amy purchased a few
paintings from the same vendor that sold to Geoff earlier.
On reaching
the hotel I headed to the infinity pool to chill out. Deserted as usual. I
hearby declare this pool mine! Peaceful and pretty; it was wonderful just to
rest my arms on the edge and look across to the forest straight ahead. Damn!
Such an incredibly beautiful setting. So easy to see how this is a prime
honeymoon destination. Can I just live here forever and ever? (Once I find a
way to obliterate every single mosquito!)
Mid
afternoon I went to see a place called Monkey Forest with Geoff, Jenny and
Robin. It’s a nature reserve and has three Hindu temples, oh and it’s also got
over 600 macaque monkeys! We got to witness all their fascinating behaviours
close up: grooming, fighting, mating, eating, playing and dive-bombing into
water pools – it was awesome. The monkeys have absolutely no fear of people
entering the area and woe betide you if you happened to have food or plastic
bottles in your belongings. They can smell it and will try and rummage through
your bags, and maybe even snarl and fight you for it. Bananas were on sale at
the entrance to feed the monkeys if you so wished.
On
witnessing a small monkey scarpering up a tree with some guy’s baseball hat I
quickly removed my sunglasses from the top of my head and deposited them safely
inside my bag; there was a lot of low lying branches, and these are thieving
seasoned pros – my RayBans wouldn’t stand a chance.
For the
record, baby monkeys are adorable! I’d have stayed all day swooning over them
and their cuteness only for a massive clap of thunder that sent all the monkeys
streaming for cover in the forest. Cue a torrential downpour that sped up our
exit. Thankfully I had my trusty umbrella with me and Jenny had her poncho. The
guys were ill-prepared and so suffered the consequences. I was quite smug with
myself.
Lunch was
had at a very nice sushi fusion restaurant; chicken teriyaki rice rolls for me
with wasabi and soya sauce. For nearly two hours it bucketed outta da heavens.
Bucketed!!! Unlike home though, this rain was warm, so not nearly as miserable.
By the time we were leaving it had slowed to a slight drizzle. Jenny wanted to
do a bit of shopping, Geoff went with her. Myself and Robin opted to head back
to the hotel.
Since I’m
leaving tomorrow I headed back to the pool for another swim. Figured it didn’t
matter if it continued to rain, I was going to get wet anyway. Luckily while
the sky was overcast, the rain decided to stop. The temperature wasn’t too
warm, mobile phone indicated it was 28 degrees, slightly cooler than what we
had been used to. Again I had the pool to myself. Note to self, just
approaching rainy season is a good time to visit this idyllic country.
The hotel
had organised a BBQ with traditional Balinese dancing that evening so we didn’t
venture into the city for our last night. Food was delicious, a mixture of spicy
vegetable soup, salad, pasta, rice, potatoes and four different types of meat
skewers (beef, chicken, tuna, prawns). Very tasty!
About an
hour into the meal, the staff replaced the restaurant soundtrack with gamelan music
and two Balinese ladies clad in traditional outfits entered the dining area barefoot
and proceeded to dance for us. Gamelan music is made up of percussive
instruments and is the traditional ensemble music of Bali and Java. It is quite
clangy and tinny.
Balinese
dances are very expressive with the dancers incorporating exaggerated eye and
facial expressions into the displays. It is also very angular looking and
involves lots of strange finger gestures and hand positions, all of which are
meant to emphasize the delicacy and intricacy of the dancer. We were treated to
four dances and at the end of one, a dancer came to each table trying to entice
a guest onto the dancefloor and learn some steps. Westerners are not big fans
of audience participation at the best of times, however Geoff, with a lot of
persuasion from us, was game and treated everyone to some very disturbing
moves!! Jenny recorded the entire dance and I fear that will be used for
blackmail purposes down the line...
And that was
our final hurrah. Despite being tired we all stayed up chatting for a few hours
after the meal. Tomorrow morning we would all be going our separate ways. Jess
and Amy are hanging around Bali for another few days, surfing in Canggu, before
heading to New Zealand. Tony, Lu and Robin are off to Gili Air next and
continuing their Indonesian expedition until December! Geoff and Jenny are
returning to Australia. I too am (reluctantly) homeward bound. Although maybe
the grumbling Mt. Agung might erupt and keep me stranded here...
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