Munduk, Bali, Indonesia ~ Where are the Jays

Floating Temple

On the road to Munduk

We leave our resort by 7 in the morning to catch the ferry back to the island of Bali where we have a driver/guide waiting for us to drive us up in the mountains to Munduk and will stop at some tourist places along the way. I should point out that driving through Denpasar, Benoa, Ubud and all the southeast parts of Bali is slow because of the traffic. They cannot widen the roads due to so many family shrines right at the road and there is too much traffic for two lane roads. Once we get out of the touristy areas and into the country traffic is much easier.

Statue of Brahma "creator god" 13M tall

It turns into an all day trip with us arriving at our next hotel (Munduk Moding Plantation Nature Resort) soon after sunset. We stop and explore 3 temples and 2 pretty views. Our first temple is one Jeff had requested when we made the arrangements. It is Besakih temple, which is considered the mother temple of Bali. We then also visited Pura Ulun Danu Batur and the floating temple, Pura Ulun Danu Beratan

Besakih Temple

My Bali Hindu lesson here. It's different from Indian Hinduism. Balinese believe in 1 god but there are 9 manifestations water, sun, land and 6 directions. It's dedicated to the holy trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. This temple is so important to the Balinese that their government built this huge, very modern parking garage because there is an annual pilgrimage to it in March/April of each year that lasts for 21 days (the pilgrimage itself but people come and go). Another thing to know is there are 3 types of temples, family, community and public. Obviously the family is for the family and is at their house. Community is the local one and only open to people of that village. Public is open to all and thus the only type we will visit.
The temple was originally built in 1284. It is huge and it is built into a hill so there are steps, a temple then more steps till you get to the top where there is the holiest temple. When I say huge, I mean huge and so old! It is amazing what people did so long ago for their deities. I am repeating myself but when I saw how big it was, I wondered how big Angor Watt is that I hope to visit in a couple of years. Anyway, we have a guide who tells us about the different areas and takes great photos of us, so Jeff is in them for a change. Our guide tells us that family is very important to the local people and that each family is part of a clan of which there are only 9 in all of Bali. While the temple was originally built years ago, they are working on parts and renovating areas - this is a working religious site not an archeological site.

very top temple

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan

This one was a bit disappointing to Jeff and me. Supposedly it is the 2nd largest temple, but we have our doubts. Full moons are very important to this temple in that every full moon the local village has a special ceremony and, on the 9th, full moon of the year there is a large ceremony where others are invited to attend. One interesting thing was that part of the main temple area is set aside for a Buddhist Stupa. Our guide told me that was because one of the kings married a Buddhist woman, so they include them at this temple.

Buddhist Stupa

Ulun Danu Beratan Temple

Was our last temple of the day, which was good because now that we are up in the mountains the temperature is a bit chilly for my sleeveless top and shorts. This temple's nickname is the floating temple, but our guide tells us that in Bali beliefs a temple must be on land. The temple complex is right at the edge of a lake and there are a couple of little islands that have temples on them so that is probably where the floating name comes from. This is an interesting temple, it is part religious site and part amusement park. There are restaurants, a play area for kids, a couple of places to feed fish and oh yeah a couple of temples. We wander around for a little bit on our own, take some photos and then head back to the van.

Longest and highest Bridge in Indonesia
Our guide takes us to a long and high bridge and we walk across it looking way down there. We finally see a stream with fast running water, but the size of the trees foretells how far down you have to go to get to it and the trees are not close to the height of this bridge.

Panorama
This is a nice place to look at one of the 3 main lakes in Bali (Buyan, Beratan and Tamblingan). All of these lakes are craters from the volcano. We get out and enjoy the view for a few minutes. I should add it was an overcast day so not great views or photos.

Munduk Moding Plantation - onsite activities

The resort has a variety of activities that you can partake in onsite, and we decide to start with a couple of them. This is a nature or eco resort so they do a lot of things to minimize their impact on the environment.

One of the first things we did was a sustainability tour. The resort has several programs from water retention and reuse, solar panels and material reuse. They showed us where they collect rainwater and then we got a long discussion on how they clean and reuse much of the water from the plantation and resort which include underground equipment and 3 ponds that are the final and natural steps to the cleaning process. We also went to the workshop where they melt plastic down into large sheets that they then use to make all sorts of things from kleenex box covers to small stools/tables and trays. They also reuse paper and styrofoam. I had used a straw the night before and had commented on how thick it was. Well, that is because they make their own bamboo straws that they can reuse for 3 months and then it becomes an artwork project for guests of the resort. Above the workshop the roof has over 100 solar panels which help power the resort. The resort has electric golf carts and mopeds to get around this hilly enclave. He said the solar panels provide about one month's worth of power over the year for the resort. We finished the tour with look at their vegetable garden. The regular religious offerings the Balinese make requires flowers and in preferred colors, so the garden grows a lot of marigolds and blue hydrangeas (conveniently the hydrangeas are naturally blue here). Additionally, there were avocado trees in addition to a variety of plants we did not recognize.

On right is computerized equipment to cut out pieces to be assembled into the products on the left

In the afternoon, we did the buggy plantation tour which was a tour of the coffee plantation that is an integral part of the resort. I thought I was going on a tour of the whole resort when I agreed to it. The tour was interesting to see the flowers and beans. I did like the taste of the sweet outer part of the bean. At the end they showed us the old way to roast the beans over a flame and then to ground them in a clay pot with a huge mortar. Of course we finished with a cup of Balinese coffee. Balinese do not strain their coffee they put the grounds in the cup pour hot water over it, stir let it sit for a minute or so and then drink it (stop before the grounds). As you know, I am not a coffee drinker. I did taste it actually a couple of sips. The taste was better as I sipped more but I still think it has a nasty after taste! Even so I might buy some for a present.

They return three times to pick as beans ripen- red beans are ripe

Kopi Luwak coffee is popular for a reason I can't fathom.
The Luwak eats the coffee fruit, but can't digest the bean.
People collect the beans from the scat.
We didn't buy any.

Banyumala Twin Waterfalls

We took a couple of the excursions they offered off the plantation too. The first place we went was to the Banyumala Twin Waterfalls. We drove for a half hour or so, parked the van, walked for 15-20 minutes downhill seeing interesting plants and animals.

Top Right white fish
Top left Heliconia "Lobster Claw"
Bottom right is Poinsettias taller than us
Bottom right is cut hydrangea flowers being hydrated before going to market

After a long descent we reach the waterfalls. They are big, impressive, and pretty. There is a twin waterfall (2 falls from 1 river) and another large waterfall too plus lots of little ones coming down in the area. Your almost surrounded by waterfalls. At the bottom of the twin waterfalls is a small pond that you can swim in. The front desk had told me the water was cold so we elected just to wade in it which was a good choice. We probably spent around an hour standing in the water, exploring the area and just appreciating the area. Then it was time to head back up. It is so hilly here you can hire a motorbike to take you part of the way back to your vehicle - we walked it at an easy pace.

Turn up your speakers

Jungle Trekking

Originally, we had only planned to do the waterfalls, but our driver pointed out we were going past the jungle trekking spot and suggested we do it too. We took him up on the offer. We parked at another scenic spot where we could see Lake Tamblingan. Then we paid our entry fee, met our guide and got out trekking sticks.

Macaque Monkey

We started off down a long series of steps. I mean probably a couple of hundred. Then we hit the jungle part. We would pass 3 temples on the walk. All related to the lake we were close to. Along the way, our guide pointed out some plants and we found some lizards. I asked about plants that made you itch (I am very allergic to poison ivy) and our guide said yes they had a tree whose leaves would make you itch and hurt all at the same time for 4 days. He pointed out the tree to us and I stayed clear! We also talked about banyan trees a bunch.

Salamander

Note the thorns on the very large fern
On right is bloom of a passion fruit

Seems those trees are murderers! The tree starts out up high in another tree (seed takes root), then it will start to send its roots to the ground from up above like you see on banyan trees. The banyan tree keeps doing this until it basically smoothers the original tree which is now in the middle. He showed us some banyans that still had the original tree alive and a couple where the middle was hollow since the original tree was dead.

Center top stalk is origional tree that Banyon tree now surrounds in lower half

Original tree is gone leaving a hollow center

Peering up a hollow Banyan tree

I will be honest I was ready for the jungle portion to end before it did. I was hungry and ready for a break we had climbed up and down a lot of steep hills over the morning and I was ready to be done. I could tell we were getting close to the water and I was pretty sure we were getting a canoe ride to the other side. The first time I thought we were at the end was false hope - the people I had overheard were working on the 2nd temple for the lake. Happily, we were close to the boats. Ugh getting in that boat! I am not a confident person in small boats and of course I have to walk across the boat and step in and sit down. I should add this local canoe is like 2 of our canoes with a simple wooden bridge connecting them. I get in and Jeff gets to just sit down from the dock into his seat - luck!

The ride across the lake is quite nice. It is very quiet and there is fog coming in. So it is very pretty. I also see the 3rd temple across the lake so I know where we are heading, but I don't see a dock!?? We get to the end and basically the boat slides up into the mud on one side and a small dock/board on the other. I get the mud side and of course my foot slides when I am getting out and put my other foot down in a bad spot and end up taking a nasty fall. Sigh I now have a big, ugly bruise on my thigh and amazingly the other foot ended up in the water - don't ask how I did it I don't know! I will live though. We went back to our room after that, I took a shower, and we had afternoon tera delivered to us - yum.

Our guide on right

Misty Mountains

Village Tour

Next morning we watch Cierra skate halfway around the world and 12 hours behind us in time and then head out for a tour of some local villages, rice paddies and a spice farm. Our driver stops a couple of times on our way to places to show us things. We stopped at a small community field and talked about palm trees. These trees put our palms at The Beach Club to shame. They are much bigger easily twice the size. They also have long fronds that come almost to the ground when they are dead and dried up. These trees are used by the locals to make palm brown sugar or gula jawa which we will see later on our tour.

We pull over another time because we asked what was on the side of the road - spread out on blankets to dry. It is cloves. Clove trees are very common in Bali (though not native) and the locals have picked them, sorted the clove from the stem and are drying them. A little while later we pull over because our driver realizes there is a lady up in a tree picking cloves. When I say up in a tree I mean she used a ladder to get up there, but she was standing in the tree hand picking the cloves. It was a good-sized tree and we were told it would take 2 days to pick it. Also, they only pick the ripe red ones so she will come back to this tree multiple times to pick it. Picking cloves is tedious and not great pay, we realize.

Fresh picked on left
Dried on Right
Top is branches for clove oil
Bottom is cloves we use as a seasoning

That giant piece of bamboo on right has horizontal pieces to make a ladder

We stop in the village of Pedawa. It is a village where most of the people are native to Bali versus a village where many people came from other parts of Indonesia versus the 3rd type a Cina Bali village which is people originally from China. We see the local community temple and then we head to the home of a family expecting us. As we walk, we stop and look at some family temples. Our guide tells us that religion says the family temple only needs to be built from bamboo, but if you pray for something special like having a child and then our blessed with a child you need to upgrade your building materials to wood or stone - whatever you promised you would build.

Bamboo is the temple

We find our family and their home. There is actually kind of 2 homes. The original wood and bamboo structure and a concrete building from 1979 (date on the building). We learn that you cannot have just the modern home; you need to keep the original structure since they believe their ancestors spirits still inhabit the home too. The home is quite old, but only the bamboo has been replaced over time and not the wood - the wood is "seasoned" from the fires that they have inside for cooking. This home is only about 10 by 10 and the whole family would have lived and slept in this house with a bed on one side for the parents and the siblings on the opposite side. One corner was the fire for cooking; there was "shelving" above us for storage. Today, inside this house the wife is making palm brown sugar. Like maple syrup, the palm trees are carefully tapped for the liquid. In a large pot, over an open wood fire the wife is boiling that sap down to make the brown sugar. You do not stir the liquid you just let it boil away for most of a day and you do keep the fire hot. When most of the moisture is gone, you get a light brown sticky mixture which they put into half of a coconut shell to cool and dry. We try some. It is quite good. At the time, I could not recognize all the flavors in it but looking it up they say it has notes of caramel and toffee with a subtle coconut essence and I have to agree. Our guide and the husband tell us that it is much healthier than the sugar I am used to.

Boiling down the Palm brown sugar

Left to right, snake fruit, coffee, palm brown sugar

Jeff (who is not a coffee drinker) is having coffee with palm brown sugar

Other things we learn: they have cock fighting in Bali and that is what all the chickens oops roosters I see in cages are far. They also compete with songbirds for the prettiest tune.

After the village visit, we go to the local rice terraces. They are growing white rice here and it is not quite ready for harvest. It is a pretty site. We learn how they use a local river or spring for the water source and then built a long trench for the main water flow then for each rice paddy, there is a divergent area that they can control so if they don't want water in the field/paddy there isn't any going in. We also saw some spices being grown in the area. We saw nutmeg and different gingers and lemon grass.

Balinese Cooking Class

Jeff and I chose to do the onsite Balinese cooking class one day. The class was held in an outdoor pavilion made to resemble a traditional kitchen area. It was part of a gazebo perched (like most of the resort) on the side of the mountain so it had a nice view and a vegetable garden below. We really weren’t sure what we had gotten ourselves into or at least I wasn’t. We arrived at our appointed time and to my surprise we had the class to ourselves. There were 4 of us, the cook and a wait staff person who was our interpreter and obviously knowledgeable in the kitchen. We made soup, main course and dessert. We talked about some of the spices they use and smelled them and then they put us to work chopping, crushing and cooking over the open fire.

I had to smile to myself, when we cook Jeff does the meat and I tend to be the head chopper of vegetables and seasonings. In this scenario, I ended up chopping up the chicken for the soup and main dish and Jeff was chopping up garlic, onion and pepper. Then he was the one working the mortar and pestle to crush the seasonings for the sambal (sauce like dish). Once I sliced and diced the chicken for the main dish, I mixed it and some pre cooked leaves all together with my hands. Then we put that mixture in 2 large hollowed out bamboo stalks, covered it with banana leaves and put it directly in the wood fire. Meanwhile Jeff was back in his normal element – stirring items in a pan over a fire. When Jeff’s seasonings were hot enough the cook put water that had already been boiling in the pan to get the soup going. Once the dishes were ready, we had a seat overlooking the mountain and ate up our cooking plus some brown rice. Happily, we did well. While we were eating the other 2 were busy getting part of the dessert going. Dessert was banana slices covered in a tapioca mixture that we put spoonfuls in boiling water and waited for them to rise and be done. Then the good stuff came out. In a little bowl we put our banana pieces in and place shredded coconut plus the palm oil brown sugar in syrup form on it. It too was good.

Balinese Dress

It was a Balinese intensive day because after cooking, we went over to the activity shed where we were outfitted in traditional Balinese attire. The outfits we had on were meant for going to the temple or special occasions. We would finish our Balinese day with a light meal in the Balinese restaurant.

Jatiluwih Rice terraces

After seeing the rice paddy terraces near the hotel, we realized we really wanted to see some of the big, impressive ones so we made arrangements to stop at the Jatiluwih ones on our way to the cruise ship. It meant we had to get up and get moving on our last morning, but it was worth it. We had been warned that they had started harvesting the rice so it might not be as impressive as growing season. Once we had paid our fee and gotten umbrellas since it looked like rain our tour guide/driver from Munduk gave us some advice and sent us on our way. Yes, some of the rice had been harvested but we appreciated seeing the process. It is amazing to look around you and on 3 sides basically for as far as your eyes can see there are terraces of rice paddies. Most of the time the route we took was a single lane road like a driveway with a grass strip in the middle. We had to be aware of people going by on motorbike since this is an actively working area. We passed some shops selling local chips with all sorts of flavorings, and a couple of places to stop and buy a drink. They were harvesting brown rice and will plant white rice in about a month. Brown rice is a taller plant than white rice and very much resembled wheat. To harvest it, they cut the plant off and then neatly pile the rice in an area to dry out. To protect the rice from birds and the rain, they had tarp tents covering the piles of rice. We saw a guide with a weed whacker that looked like he was further cutting down the plants after harvest, another step was to burn part of each paddy, the burned area would then be spread over the rest of the paddy as fertilizer. We also saw one field where someone was already tilling the old plants under. After wandering around longer than planned since we missed a turn, we got back in the van and headed down the valley to the cruise ship and mega traffic.