Batukau and Jatiluwih, Bali
Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Thu 4 Nov 2010 14:01
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Thursday 4th November
Jack's here! He arrived safe and
sound late on Wednesday night after a slight interrogation about the chart
plotter he was carrying as hand luggage. Typical of the Balinese authorities,
they wanted to see the invoice and for him to pay tax but when Manuel picked up
his bag he did a runner and with the growing queue the customs guy couldn't be
bothered to chase him. Welcome to Bali!
 Everyone had signs and we
didn't want him to feel left out.............Impressive stone statue - the
Balinese like their statues, there appears to be one on every
corner
As we are running out of
days here and we wanted Jack to experience a bit of the Indonesian culture we
hired Wayan to take us out again. This time we were headed further inland, almost to the north of
Bali, to Gunung Batukau, a dormant volcano. We'd heard that this area is often
overlooked which considering the hordes of tourists and hawkers we've
encountered in some parts we decided this could only be a good thing. Gunung
Batukau is Bali's second highest mountain (2776m), the third of Bali's three
major mountains and the holy peak of the islands
western end. Yes, it would have been nice to visit Bali's most important temple
on the highest mountain, Pura Besakih, but most people
have commented that the experience was ruined by the constant hassles and con
artists so it seems like we made the right choice.
Once again, the streets up
into the mountains were lined with stone carvings, hundreds and hundreds of
them. An incredible sight!
 And before long we were up in the
clouds making our way through Wangayagede, a tiny village just before Pura Luhur
Batukau. Perched up on the sides of the mountain it was a village where you
could imagine everyone knew one another. A real Indonesian village where we
passed numerous old lady's, hunched over and walking with sticks but also
carrying huge piles of wood or leaves on their head. There's no stopping
them!
 Wangayagede high
street.............The rules for entering the temple
Pura Luhur Batukau is one of the
island's holiest and most underrated temples. On the slopes of Gunung Batukau,
it was the state temple when Tabanan was an independent kingdom. It has seven
roofed meru dedicated to Maha Dewa, the mountain's guardian spirit. The main
pagoda like structures have little doors shielding small ceremonial
items.
 The entrance............Amy and
Jack kitted out in their sarongs and sash's
 A peaceful walk to a
lake
 Miniature
temples/shrines
 Walking down from one section
of the temple.............The seven roofed meru
  Lots of mini
temple/shrines
  Amy and myself..........We
found a stream - Paul obviously needed to investigate what was the other
side
Once we had finished
exploring the temple and agreeing that we are slightly 'templed out', although
it was probably the prettiest temple we've visited, we set off on the road
again. It has to be said though that the temple did have a very relaxing feel to it, I can see why it is the most spiritual in
Bali. Anyway, we made our way back through the little towns before turning off
onto a narrow, uneven, twisting road, headed for Jatiluwih.
 Jatiluwih which means 'Truely
Marvellous' did not disappoint. We'd been taking pictures all along the journey
of rice fields that looked nice and Wayan kept telling not to worry, there'd be
more. We turned one of the windy corners to be greeted with the most magnificent
sight - centuries old rice terraces as far as the eye could see, up and down the
side of the mountain and far into the distance. To say that they were green is
an understatement, they were so lush that words just can't describe
it.
 Layer after layer as far as the
eye can see, even over to Gunung Agung in the east
 The village of Jatiluwih
nestled in amongst the terraces
 
 We even managed to get a
picture of a primary school child on their scooter wearing their
uniform..........Gunung Agung - the highest volcano
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