Bouncing around Bali

Sorry I missed you the past couple of days. Mrs. Gym and I took our first full day here off and then were super busy yesterday. Let me catch you up on the past couple of days in Sayan and the surrounding areas:

On Sunday, November 4th, 2012, we basically took the day off from scurrying about and mostly rested.  We had a mostly relaxing day at the resort, with only one thing on the agenda - we both had massage appointments. However, these were like no other massages we have had before. We both had a Balinese Massage. As a result, we are both smarting from the beating we each took at the hands of a couple of determined, 90-pound, Balinese masseusses.  Balinese massage therapists have many weapons available in their arsenals, including some for which I was not prepared. In addition to the normal conventional weapons which include fingers and thumbs, there is the liberal use of the heavier artillery, as the therapist's elbow is applied to the knots and tight spots. But it doesn't stop there! When you agree to a Balinese massage, you have unwittingly allowed the therapist to use unconventional weapons. I have never been on the receiving end of the skillful use of knees and heels with 90 pounds of determined Balinese on my back. Try it some time, or alternatively, become a UFC fighter.

Monday, November 5th, 2012, was the antitheses of the previous day. We got busy again! We hired the same driver that we had from the airport and went for a long road trip which took us all around central Bali. We had several goals including a thorough examination of some of the cultural and religious sites in the area and a geomorphological highpoint - literally and figuratively. In addition, and this was Mrs. Gym's favourite part, we visited several local merchants ( I have to admit that I enjoyed this a little bit too).

Our  first stop was at a Silver merchant in Celuk which was about 15 minutes drive back towards Denpasar from Sayan. Celuk village is famous for its artisan hand-crafted, silver jewelry. The establishment we visited today not only had a beautiful store at the rear, it also had silversmith shop right there adjacent to the store itself. We were shown how the silver jewelry is made by the artisans themselves, prior to crossing the Koi-pond and entering the showroom armed with our wallets at the ready.

actually glueing pure silver bits to be melted onto an intricate design

heating silver wire so it is easier to work with

Our second stop was in Batuan which is about 10 minutes north of Celuk, and it was in Batuan that we visited our first Balinese Hindu Temple. Our driver, Agusta, briefed us on Hindu Temple etiquette and hauled out a couple of pretty nice sarong and sash sets for us to wear so that we conformed to religious custom. We then trudged off and toured the temple which Agusta told us was a good one to visit if you were starting a business. While inside, I fired off a silent Hail Mary for my latest business venture. What could it hurt? This visit was a dress rehearsal for a second temple visit later on, to one of the top six temples in Bali.

Front entrance of Bali Hindu Temple in Batuan

Main Courtyard

The author sporting a sarong and sash - very becoming, wot?

Next we stopped at the village of Mas, about 10 minutes farther along the road to the north. Here we stopped at the Ketut Puja wood carver's gallery. Unlike many of the storefronts along the roads, this establishment is tucked in off of a small parking lot and through an elaborate gate. Once past the gate, you have actually entered a collection of workshops and residences which surround the gallery. I believe that the owner, his extended family and a few apprentice artists live and work inside the enclosure. These guys are doing OK because not only are they showcasing one of the best and most valuable collections of wood carvings that I have ever seen but they also have a huge collection of exotic birds housed in ornate cages that are situated all around the various buildings. I was drawn away from the purpose of this stop to perform a rushed inspection of several of the species that were housed in the courtyards between the buildings but after a short time remembered that it was probably in my best interests to rejoin my dear wife, who had entered the gallery. Inside the showroom, were wooden treasures of unimaginable quality. After browsing the displays of exquisite artwork in teak, mahogany, ebony and other hardwoods, I made overtures to the attendant regarding a particularly becoming likeness of Brahma, the creator god, sitting on a lotus pedal and Mrs. Gym had her eye on a grey-green elephant. Well, I sure am glad that Mrs. Gym was there because she was the only one of the two of us that realized everything was priced in U.S. dollars. I had selected a carving that had the number 700 on the bottom and had instantly thought that it was priced at 700,000 rupees which is equivalent to about $70. Fortunately, Mrs. Gym, threw up a red flag just prior to Gym's culmination of the sale and I disengaged from the closing. We left with a beautiful elephant priced at $50 and I was slightly embarrassed but happy to leave the $700 Brahma behind. Bravo, Mrs. Gym!

The Fisherman - a life size carving so well done that he looks alive

I don't know the title but this one piece work has incredible detail

The Cock Fights - again a one piece of wood was used here and the work includes a rooster carved inside the symmetrical cage

The family temple in the compound - they are well off

carving dragons

an example of the pet birds kept in cages
 all around the compound - I believe it is a Golden-backed Woodpecker

After leaving the wood carver's gallery, we were back on the road and off to the second temple in our itinerary. The Pura Titra Empul Temple is one of the top temples in Bali. It was built in 926 AD at the source of what appears to be a fairly prolific spring. The spring water is captured in a few very large pools. One area is for bathing and the other large pool is a fish pond containing some monster Koi, the biggest I have ever seen. The water from the spring is said to have purification and healing qualities, so the bathing pool was quite crowded with both Balinese and foreign waders who wore bathing attire under their sarongs. The temple complex was very beautiful but the experience was marred by the forced exit through a maze of souvenir shops that reminded Mrs. Gym of trying to beat a retreat from an Ikea store. Our faithful driver Agusta was thankfully there waiting for us in the parking lot.

Brahma at the entrance to Pura Titra Empul

Spring water exiting the temple

Ancient Banyan also at the entrance to the Temple

bride at the Koi Pond

one of the many intricately constructed and lavishly decorated buildings inside the grounds 

The wading pool

lunker Koi

Still heading in a northerly direction we left Pura Titra Empul Temple and started climbing steeply uphill. We were beginning to near the outer caldera rim of Mount Batur. The roads in this part of Bali are built along the top of narrow ridges that separate steep gorges and that run off of the mountain, perpendicular to the rim. Notwithstanding the steep topography, the local farmers use much of the ariable land to grow crops and one of those crops is Bali coffee. Our next stop was at a Bali coffee plantation where we had a wonderful tour highlighted by a coffee and tea tasting. The free tasting included lemongrass tea, ginseng tea, Bali cocoa and regular Bali coffee. However, a special coffee was also available for $5(U.S.) and it is called Kopi Luwak. Now, sometimes I might string you along to get you going but let me tell you that I am giving you the straight goods on Kopi Luwak when I tell you that what makes this coffee special, is that the beans have already been digested and excreted once, by what Agusta refers to as the "night cat". I am serious folks! The beans for Kopi Luwak are collected on the ground, not from the tree. They have been left there by the night cat whose real name is an Asian Palm Civet (see our photo) and who likes to eat the ripe coffee beans for the fruit that surrounds the bean's outer husk. The husk protects the bean from further digestion and the civet then poops out the bean for collection by enterprising treasure hunters in the forest. I bought 100 grams of beans for $25 (U.S.) because it is really nice tasting coffee. Unfortunately, after grinding the beans, my purchase will only yield about 9 espresso cups. Mrs. Gym picked up some lemongrass tea.

coffee roaster

Asian Palm Civet (he is nocturnal)

I may be sleepy but don't put your finger in my cage

Coffee fruit on the tree - Mr. Civet likes this when it is ripe

After we left the coffee plantation, we continued to drive up to top of the outer caldera rim for a unique photo opportunity. When we reached the edge, we turned left onto a highway which was built along the knife-thin edge of the outer caldera and you can stop at several spots along the rim to look into the crater. Inside the crater is the secondary volcanic cone, that is known as Mount Batur and that still active cone, which rises 700 metres from the floor of the crater to its peak, is 1717 metres above the sea. Lying beside Mount Batur but also inside the outer rim is Batur Lake and on the shores of Batur Lake are the villages of  Songan and Toyabungkah, both situated at the foot of this living and breathing  volcano. In 1998,  Toyabungkah was grazed by a lava flow that came down Mount Batur and spilled into Batur Lake. Talk about living dangerously, huh?

Mount Batur from the rim of the outer caldera

Black lava flow from last eruption in 1998
 skirting the edge of the town on the shore of Batur Lake

lava flow in foreground and lake in background with town in between

another town in the crater bottom - Kedisan, I think

We left the rim of the outer caldera and hung a left on a road that headed back towards the resort. On the way, we spotted some pretty cool terraced rice paddies and stopped to take a picture of some ladies harvesting  rice by hand along the road.

Rice paddy terraces along the road

Another shot of the terraces

harvesting rice with hand tools

Our pal Agusta, driver extra-ordinaire

It was a very busy day indeed and we were both exhausted.

P.S. The General Manager looked us up in the dining room at dinner and he wanted to know whether we were traumatized at all by the encounter with the snake and the snake posse which subdued the poor beast. We told him we had recovered from the excitement. He introduced himself as a former San Diego resident and he admitted to us that he abhors snakes of any kind. He told us that he had already hired a local snake-charmer to come by and do some snake-charmer stuff so that the beasts would leave the Four Seasons residents alone.