Biking in Bali

After the river-rafting, we spent one day on the beach, playing in the boisterous waves 

as the tide came in.  No pictures!  Just memories. 

(And sunburns despite slathering on 100-SPF sunscreen).

The next day, another adventure.  This time, biking for $40 each including pickup and drop-off at our hotel, breakfast and lunch.

First stop:  a coffee plantation

 which also grew cocoa beans.  (Now those are what I was interested in!)

 These are coffee beans.  Bali produces the most expensive coffee in the world, 

I think it is called Luwak or something.  

Not interested in tasting it, not only because I don't drink coffee as a Mormon,

but because this is cat-poo coffee.

The beans are eaten by wild civet cats (an example below),

then the poo is collected.  The bean husks have been digested off the beans and they are

fermented by the stomach juices, but remain whole.

They are collected by pooper-scoopers and then cleaned, roasted and brewed into a special flavor of coffee.  I just wonder who was the first person to try this?!

I'm sure the tour's hope is that we will purchase a lot of high-priced coffee.

I did get some ginger tea.

 We stuck to the hot chocolate and herbal teas they offered.

 Back up to the volcanic area for our breakfast overlooking the scene.

 A banana pancake, served with a honey syrup.  Fabulous!!!

 I finished mine off and didn't even give some to Kevin!  Our guide, Gede, is helping Steve

with his omelet.  Gede was great!  His was a story of how learning English helped him

rise out of poverty.  He has such a happy countenance!

 With the building clouds, the 2nd volcano looked like it was erupting.  The lake is part of  an ancient caldera that has collapsed.

After breakfast, on to our bikes!  They told us that we would be going downhill for 90% of the 27 kilometers we were going to ride.  They weren't kidding.

For the first half-hour, I think I only pedaled to start off.  

From then on, I was trying to figure out how to rest my hands as they began to cramp

from using the hand brakes so much!

Since we were up in elevation, it was cooler, and the breeze in our face so refreshing.

 We stopped at a Balinese home (a friend of Gede's) to see how they live.

I'm sure I was looking at a bird or the clouds--I really was listening to what Gede was saying!

 Dirt floors.  Wood cooking stove.  Thin pad on a wooden platform for a bed. No running water.

There was a single light bulb hanging on a wire in the center of the small room--a CFL bulb!

Very primitive living conditions.  This is the cabin for the 1st wife.

 As we traveled along, I noticed many yards with roosters in cages.  Yup, they are for cock-fighting.  It used to have religious significance in the Hindu tradition, but nowadays,

it is for gambling.  The fights are to the death, but as Gede noted,

then they have chicken for dinner.  The fights usually only last a few minutes

since the roosters have knives attached to their feet.

 This particular family had two wives.  Who lived in separate quarters about 15 feet from each other, and who never talked to one another.  

 We rode back roads through fields. 

  We rode through villages. And despite being downhill most of the way, there were a few uphills that were so steep we had to walk up.

 We stopped by a village Hindu temple and Gede explained more about the religion.

It is integrated into every aspect of their lives.  Each village has a temple.

Each home has a small temple--a corner with space for an offering.

Offerings are given multiple times a day (in a woven-palm small basket, with fruit, flowers and incense).  We could almost always smell incense during our time on Bali.

 The route was spectacular!  Watching people working in the rice fields,

or herding large numbers of ducks.  We really felt like we got to know what Bali was really like.

As we descended and the time moved toward afternoon, it got a lot warmer.

 By the time we finished, we were ready for the lunch (and it was 2 pm!).  The owner of the coffee plantation is the organizer of the bike ride, and lunch was at his home.

We especially appreciated the cool, wet washcloths to wipe our faces and hands.

It was a great meal--delicious!

Then they gave us the opportunity to play some of the instruments of the gamelan.

Even when we're the ones doing it, the sounds are still hard to listen to.

But the instruments themselves are so beautiful! 

(This one has xylophone-like keys that you hit with a mallet.)

Then off we went on the hour-drive back to our hotel.

What a great day!