After leaving Beratan Lake, we made our way to the rice terraces. It took around 40 minutes along windy country roads. The rice terraces have always been on my list of places to see, so I was looking forward to this trip.
Stopping by the side of the road to take some of these breathtaking views.
We stopped for lunch overlooking the rice fields, the restaurant served a simple buffet lunch of curries and stir fried vegetables. It was so relaxing just sitting and looking over the terraces.
I had a quick tour of the outside of the restaurant and was intrigued by the different chairs and benches in use. I also took a video of a waitress trying to evict a stray dog!
I wonder what the hole is for! Stationary Wheel ChairsPizza Oven
“I’ll leave when I want, thanks”
After lunch we walked across the road to take a walk along the rice terraces. The different tones of green were amazing and I was stopping every few seconds to take photos. We saw mostly women in the fields, of course! It looked to be back-breaking work. We could have walked the loop but it was already late in the afternoon and we had over an hour’s journey to drive back.
A little piece of home!
I can’t imagine the exhaustion these people feel at the end of the day, still so primitive and much the same as it was many years ago.
My dear hubby is a big rice fan and we eat it nearly every day at home. I have a rice cooker so it’s always cooked perfectly. Woe betide if there is too much water and it ends up sticky! Before the rice cooker is opened, he says “did you cut the rice”. Rice has to be chopped or cut before it is served.
Jatiluwih Rice Terraces are now a protected UNESCO Heritage Site and well worth visiting. They span more than 53,000 hectares of agriculture fields mostly covered with rice terraces. The system of terracing was developed based on the Hindu religion’s beliefs of being in harmony with nature.
We had a fabulous day visiting the temple first and then the rice terraces, it was well worth the drive.
Today we were going to take a trip out to see the lake at Ulun Beratan Temple. We had booked June the day before and he arrived promptly at 10.30 am. Our first stop would be the lake which was just over an hour away. Anthony loves to have a chat with taxi drivers (I think this is a male thing) and before long they were discussing the politics of Indonesia. My hubby seems to know something about any government. I could see June was very impressed by his knowledge.
When we arrived we could see it was super busy and a very popular place to visit. Once we had parked we ventured off into the beautiful gardens and down to the lake.
Canna Yellow Humbert Lily Lady Shoe Flower or Slipper VineSlipper Vine
The details on the bird above looked like dried petals, beautiful to see up close.
We wandered around the gardens admiring all the different statues and flower beds before making our way down to the lake.
Mosaic depicting early life in Bali
The History of Ulun Danu Beratan Lake
“It is said long ago there were several groups of people who found a very large area of land. It was part of an ancient volcanic eruption. They decided to make their home here. They started farming here and planted rice and other crops. The land was very fertile. The crops thrived and were ready to be harvested. It is normally the women who harvest the rice while the men carry it to the barn to be stored. A miracle happened and the rice grew again. The rice they harvest never runs out. The people soon got tired of all the harvesting and had a habit of sticking glanggang (sic) into the ground which in turn hit the water vessels in the ground. Soon the water emerges from the ground and gets bigger every day, inevitably the water drowned all the rice and became the lake”. Source: ulundanuberatan.com
Setting off from Perth to Ubud, we caught an afternoon flight to Denpasar on Batik Air at 2.15 pm. We arrived at 6 pm but didn’t reach our destination until 9.30 pm. I had booked a driver with Booking.Com who had waited for over an hour for our appearance. There was an extremely long wait to disembark before boarding a bus to the terminal, then the wait for visas and our luggage to arrive, so we didn’t meet June, a very lovely man, until 7.30 pm. The traffic in Bali is notorious and doesn’t seem to get better over the years. I’m sure the drive to Ubud would have been even longer if it wasn’t for June’s incredible prowess in driving, formula one style. I closed my eyes many times as he overtook cars and trucks, I’m not sure how this would have helped in any way!
Finally arriving at 9.30 pm, we told the reception staff that we would have dinner immediately. They were extremely helpful and we did our check in while eating a most delicious dinner overlooking one of the beautiful pools and under the magnificent “Strawberry Moon”. We were staying in the middle of rice fields in Ubud, something I have wanted to do for a while, for four nights at The Plataran Ubud Hotel and Spa.
Slipped behind a cloud, the second I pulled out the camera
After dinner we were shown to our villa, which we had been told was a free upgrade!
On first appearance our room seemed incredible, but after an almost sleepless night due to noisy people staying in a house overlooking our villa but not connected to the hotel, we decided otherwise. First thing the next morning we asked the reception staff if we could move to our original room. Just after breakfast we packed up and moved on.
Day Two – Exploring the hotel grounds
The Plataran Hotel is surrounded by beautiful lush gardens, situated minutes away from the hustle and bustle of the busy Ubud streets. The rooms look out onto bright green paddy fields of rice, where you can watch the women harvesting and whacking the rice.
You can walk through the paddy fields by following a path of stepping stones. We continued our walk around the rest of the grounds and found fish ponds and waterfalls and sheep, rabbits, chickens and ducks.
Heron having a rice grain snack
Rice Field
Sheep in the mini farm
Grains of Rice
Scaring off the little rice birds
It was such a peaceful setting with only the noise of the birds and and the water gurgling along the little gullies.
Tunnel of Serenity
We followed the route through to a small village just outside the hotel.
Happy Chappy trimming his grass Dog Whisperer Hubby
Breakfast is served at the same place we had dinner overlooking the pool.
The restaurant is on the fourth floorWatching me have a swim
View from our room
Ubud’s Main Streets
Today we were just going to be tramping the busy streets of Ubud. Soaking up the atmosphere and trying to keep dry.
Ubud is a town in the uplands of Bali, surrounded by rice paddies and steep ravines. It’s also a popular destination for arts and crafts and made famous after the film and book “Eat, Love, Pray”. Home to shrines, temples, yoga barns and warungs (small cafes and restaurants). Also nearby is the famous Monkey Forest, which we would not be visiting!
Not too busy Monkey on a wireMonkey in Monkey StreetThe rain is getting closerStaying dry Time for some refreshmentTaco anyone?
It’s hard to work up any pace walking along these pavements, the paving stones are generally sticking up at odd angles and then there are the ubiquitous motor bikes and scooters parked haphazardly. Anthony was constantly telling me to “be careful” as he knows my predicament of footcidents over the years.
I had time to have a pedicure and foot massage in one of the many spas along the roads and have to say it was most relaxing, although she could have gone easier with the pressure!
We eventually headed back to the hotel to have a shower before dinner, but disaster was awaiting us. After having a rain shower I noticed that the bath was black! I ran the water again and sure enough there was black silt coming through. I’m not sure how I didn’t notice, maybe because I had my eyes shut. Anyway a long story short, we had to move rooms once more until the problem was fixed.
During our week in Bali, Anthony and I hired a driver to visit one of the many waterfalls that Bali has to offer. Tengenungen was around 30 minutes drive away and our driver was going to wait for a few hours while we explored.
This not a free attraction but the fee to enter is minimal. Before walking to the steps down to the waterfall there is a small strip with many stalls selling the usual Balinese crafts. They were all calling out to us to visit on the way back.
This was the first sight of the waterfall and the glass bridge across the river. The bridge wasn’t open that day, which was a relief with the sun beating down.
It was an extremely hot and humid day and there were nearly 200 stairs to traverse! The stairs of course were not nice and even enabling one foot after the other, rather they were all different sizes; steep, wide, narrow and shallow. So it was a case of walking down like a toddler learning to walk, for me anyway.
There was a hotel set amongst the rocks with a gorgeous looking swimming pool and tables with umbrellas around it. I’m not sure if you would want to spend more than one night here.
A cute bird’s nest, large enough for a person to sit in. I did see a lady climb in, I wasn’t brave enough as the drop was too steep! It didn’t look that safe, it definitely wouldn’t have passed health and safety requirements in Australia.
Face sculptures set in the hillside
Finally at the bottom we saw there were “bridges” to cross the pool to the waterfall and more steps going up the other side. I decided to sit and watch Anthony go across as it all looked a bit risky to me. If someone was going to fall in it would be me.
I thought you would be able to swim in the pool down below but there were signs saying no swimming, I probably wouldn’t have gone anyway because of all the rocks. The sight of the waterfall amongst all the lush tropical greenery was worth the effort.
Anyone could use these signs to take selfies with, but again I wasn’t brave enough to climb over the logs and through the water to get to them.
Anthony’s journey across the river
“Hello from the other side”
I’m glad to say Anthony made it back in one piece and then we made our way back up again. Oh, boy was this tough going. I was stopping every four or five steps and with a lady hot on my tail. I had to keep turning round and apologising but she said, “no, you’re okay, it’s exactly my pace”. Then she said “you must be 30 years younger than me”! Well that would have made me 30 or her 90, maybe it was my hat and dark glasses.
Once at the top we stopped and looked at one of the stalls and I bought a dress and Anthony bought himself a sari! He said he wanted to wear it around the garden at home, but he wore it to dinner that night. He surprises me everyday.
Stopping off for a coconut and a last look across the river at the bridge.
It was a lovely morning and I’m glad we made the effort to go. There are so many different places to see in Bali but the heat does affect you, early morning is the best time to go.
We’ve recently returned from a fun filled week in Sanur, Bali. It was wonderful that we could all be there, a great family reunion. Originally I had booked a place in Seminyak, but after looking at reviews I really wanted a place where the beach was more child friendly.
I had booked us all rooms at Segura Village Hotel, which was right on the beach. Checking in at Perth airport was not as bad as I thought, there is an app you have to download and you need to show vaccination certificates. On arrival at Denpasar you need to buy visas. This rule was brought in again earlier this year.
After we had collected our luggage I looked for our driver which I had organised through Booking.Com. I thought I had got quite a bargain, but you get what you pay for! Our driver’s van was literally on its last legs and the exhaust falling off, it’s a wonder we didn’t all pass out from carbon monoxide poisoning.
As soon as we had checked in we headed to the pool to join Laurence and Maddy who were already five cocktails in!
As you can see it was evening before we decided to get out
Over the next week we relaxed and unwound either at the pool or the beach. The beach in Sanur is probably one of the more child friendly beaches in Bali. The tide has to be fairly high for a proper swim.
How elegant, Anthony said I should try this to improve my posture!
Lachie channelling his inner guru and Rosie building sandcastles
The hotel was set in lush tropical gardens and had two beautiful pools and a small baby pool with a slide.
I preferred the smaller pool surrounded by rocks and palms, it seems like the resident ducks did also.
The winding path to our room. We had the upstairs room.
Sanur has a 7km boardwalk all along the beach, I thought I would be walking off my buffet breakfast everyday, but found it was far too hot! Not for Anthony though who went for long walks every day, he loves the heat. Also the ladies from the shops are extremely persistent. I know they have been struggling for the last two years and we did buy a few items from them, but they did tend to hound you and even wait while you had lunch to corner you on the way back!
Bars, Boards and Alleyways
Dinners were either at the hotel or along the beach. As both Lachie and Rosie had long afternoon naps they were able to join in the fun.
We all love visiting Bali as it’s such an easy trip from Perth. A three and a half hour flight with no time difference. It’s reasonably priced and there’s so much to do. We had a couple of trips to a safari park and waterfalls (more posts!).
This challenge kept me very busy for a few hours! Lots of fun editing and colouring in.
Cee says photos can be black and white, desaturated, sepia (brown tones) or selective colour.
Five Dinosaurs using colour fillFive tiers, Shimabara Castle, Kyusu Islands, Japan – using greyscale KagoshimaFive sun loungers, Bali – using Bandicoot Beautiful BaliFive Columns, Collbrook Bridge, Regents Canal, London – touch of colour Exploring LondonFive arches and five windows – Seville, Spain – in Sepia
This week for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge the theme is Old and New.
Over the years we have stayed in a variety of establishments – from two star to five star. It’s not always the five star hotels that are the best, I prefer ones that are a bit quirky and a view is even better.
OLD
Hotel Monterey, Nagasaki
Named after an American town and in the style of a Portuguese villa but located in Japan! This was a very cute hotel complete with an iron gated elevator. There is also the famous Chapel Bussola with its magnificent spiral staircase and stained glass windows. A sensational place to hold a wedding.
The Hotel Saigon Morin is not located in Saigon but in Hue which is around a three hour drive from Da Nang. Established in 1901 by a French businessman Mr. Morin and built in a French colonial style with a wonderful courtyard inside the hotel. Over the years many famous people stayed here, one was Charlie Chaplin. In the evening they have clips of his old films showing on the wall.
George Vl, Biarritz, France
Plantation Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Both of the above hotels are small boutique hotels. The Plantation Hotel had a fantastic swimming pool in the middle of the buildings surrounded by palm trees and our room opened up onto it.
The Belle Rive Hotel in Luang Prabang overlooking the Nam Khan River. We had the bottom left room, complete with our own front door. We loved this hotel and walked over the road in the morning to have breakfast by the river.
NEW
The Stones, Bali
We enjoyed our stay at The Stones in Bali, such an opulent hotel. The bath was on the balcony, we never did use it! As you can see there is also a helicopter landing pad on top of the hotel. We stayed here for a week a few years ago when there was an extremely well priced trip from Perth in the local paper.
Taj Krishna, Banjarra Hills, Hyderabad
The Taj Krishna was definitely a five star hotel, complete with excellent service. We stayed here for a week with our two travelling companions, Laurence and Maddy a few years ago and had the best time. The staff here could not do enough to make our stay memorable.
The Stamford, Glenelg, South Australia
Staying here was part of our road trip across five states. We had a wonderful room overlooking the ocean.
