Thursday, April 21 - Bongkasa - Pura Ulun Danu Bratan in Bedugul – Munduk – Banyuatis – Seririt – Lovina - Singaraja – GitGit – Ubud

This was another beautiful day in Bali. Bright blue skies, 32-34F temperatures, and sunshine! The Gods are pleased with us. We set off once again with Made as our driver on a long day’s trip to Bali North. We had been driving through the hubbub of motor scooters, vehicles, and people for only a few minutes when Made offered to take us to his home so that we could experience a real Balinese residence. What a treat. The heart of Balinese cultural life is the family compound and we felt very honoured to be invited inside. Made lives in the town of Bongkasa with his mother, 3 brothers, and married sister. He was not shy in explaining to us that he belongs to the lowest of four castes, the Shudras, or peasants, which make up more than 90% of Bali’s population. It is illegal to treat someone based on the caste system and it is retained more for religious purposes, but we believe that the people still use a different dialect to address people from different castes.

We stepped through the gate into a Hindu-Balinese universe. Every building has a traditional purpose. The gate, always in the right section of the perimeter wall, welcomes higher spirits and discourages evil influences from entering the compound. Residents place offerings in small boxes in the side pillars of the gates to “recharge” the gate for its duties. Made’s compound contained 5 buildings, all strategically placed. The family temple with its shrines for the “deified” ancestors, is always in the north corner closest to Mt Agung, and is visited daily by the residents. There are three houses: one for his mother, one for his sister, and one for the brothers. Then there was the ceremonial pavilion which had a platform bed set between a number of posts. This is where the life rites and death rituals occur. Made took us past the basket-caged cockerels, and the pig sties to the view at the back of the compound. We were stunned. The pigs had a million dollar view overlooking the Ayung River Gorge to the Ritz Carlton, The Amandari, and The Four Seasons hotels on the opposite side!! Had this been anywhere else except Bali the best view would have been reserved for the human residents.

We continued on our way to the Pura Ulun Danu Beratan di Dataran (http://www.ulundanuberatanbali.com/profile/history) in Tinggi, Bedugul – or for short, Pura Bratan. This is a water temple dedicated to the worship of the goddess of the lake “Dewi Danu” and situated on the shores of Lake Bratan in the mountains near Bedugul at about 1200 m above sea level. It was built in 1663 by a king of Mengwi and is the second most important irrigation temple on Bali. Although it is a favourite tourist stop, the temple is one of the most stunning and picturesque we have seen so far. Its pelinggih meru, sort of like a Chinese pagoda, has 11 stories which are elegantly set off by the shimmering water and rich green vegetation. There are five temples and one Buddhist stuppa on the beautifully laid out and well maintained grounds, plus a number of other attractions which I will include in the photos!!

Our drive up to and past Bedugul was through the lush Bali mountainside. We were surprised to pass an area just before the temple at Candikuning renowned for strawberry growing with stands alongside the road selling baskets of the luscious red berries, and even a restaurant named “The Strawberry Restaurant”. We drove on past the temple through fields of orchids, hydrangeas, and other colourful flowers being grown for temple offerings. We drove along a narrow pretty road on the outer rim of a volcano and looked down over Lake Buyan and Lake Tamblingan. The views were stunning and at one point you could see both lakes separated by a stretch of land and one of the lake temples low down on the lake shore. Apparently both lakes were joined until a landslide separated them in 1818.  All breathtaking!

 Then we headed to Munduk where we did a 15 minute walk up and down a gazillion steps to a lovely waterfall through breathtaking forest scenery. This was a gorgeous area and we thoroughly enjoyed the drive. 

After that, we headed down the mountain to Seririt, a little town that was destroyed by an earthquake in 1976 and has since been completely rebuilt. Are you getting the picture? The land around here is not exactly stable. The last volcano eruption on Agung was 1963 when 1000 people were killed, and on Mt Batur the last one was 2000.

Our mountain drive through the little roads of Bali ended when we turned into the north coast town of Lovina. After all of the beauty of the mountain forests and volcanic lakes, Lovina seemed an interuption, a coastal, tourist town. Not our cup of tea. We found a restaurant “Jasmine Kitchen” that was recommended in one of the guidebooks on a little side street just off the shore. They boasted home made ice-cream which at least one of our party tried!!

The journey home was swift compared to the lazy drive we had on the way up. We passed a number of amazing little villages including Singaraja and GitGit and arrived back in Ubud in time to visit the supermarket, walk back to the villa, have a swim, and make some dinner.

We do have TV in the house, but we have never had it on. Somehow, by the time nightfall comes, the heat and frenzy of the day have taken their toll, and it is nice to relax in the somewhat quiet of the evening and enjoy a meal and each other’s company ….and of course a “Bintang”….or two!!