Bali/1

9 Jul 2010 – From Paradise back to SIN

3 Jul: arrived into Denpasar, capital of Bali after dark and it was good to see the familiar face of Garry ROGERS amongst the crowd. The drive to his beautiful home/Pondok Pandnais took about 2hrs and we got a night tour from the airport to Labuhan Amuk.

Front and side views of Pondok Pandnais

The shower/bathroom and views from the master-bedroom with the highest & holiest point/Gunung Agung 3,142m in the backgound. This volcano erupted in 1963 and killed app 1,500 people.

4 Jul: Happy 4th to my American family & friends. Busy day at Pura Besakih, a must-go place where it signifies the oneness for the kingdom of Balinese Hindus. There are conflicting numbers on how many pura/temples are there within the massive complex. Literatures that I have read put it between 30 to 38 temples… did my offerings and no conflicts with all the pura 🙂

As the largest lake in Bali, Danau Batur is sacred to the Balinese, with the Goddess of the Lakes. It lies 500m below the crater rim. Villages that circle the lake are called bintang danu=stars of the lake. Lunched@Puri Sanjaya Restaurant***in Kintamani.

What we thought was a wood carving place turned out to be an Adventure Camp. Was actually heading to the Traditional Village but make a wrong turn and saw the sign BaliWoso 8 20’04” S 115 21’40” E, the first time I have seen a sign with both the latitude and longitude. It was an exciting experience to discover that there are a couple of the civic cats in captivity. These are the cats that contribute to the best and most expensive coffee in the world… kopi Luwak cat poop coffee!

Thanks to the two guides from BaliWoso, we were directed to and given a tour in Pengotan/Traditional Village. There are only a couple of families living here and the rest of the people will only return to stay for a couple of days during ceremonial occasions. And we were there when it was quiet and peaceful, except for the dogs who were barking at our intrusion!