Bali Bike Trip

We were picked up at 8am for a bike trip that would start us near a volcano and then we were to cruise downhill through small villages and rice terraces. The normal guide had called in sick, so the owner of the company was our guide. Steven, an Aussie who married a Balinese, was great at educating us on the culture, beliefs and customs. We drove north and stopped at some beautiful rice terraces for photos.



As we were driving, a half dozen dump trucks filled with people in the back as well as countless motorcycles and cars filed past. They were heading to the beach to cleanse sacred objects that are kept in their temple.



From here we continued north to where lake Batur was bordered on both sides by volcanoes called Kintamani and Mount Batur. We had breakfast at a restaurant overlooking the lake and volcanoes.



Before starting the ride we stopped by a tourist plantation to see how they grow crops. Nothing is separated - no square of coffee, no square of pineapples, etc. Everything is mixed together in one plot, so you really have to look closely for specific plants, trees, etc. We were able to taste their coffee, tea and cocoa. Evan's favorite was the Bali Coffee and Michelle's favorite's were the hot cocoa and lemon grass tea.

We passed some people carrying offerings to their temple for a ceremony:


We got on our bikes with storm clouds in the distance. The beginning was all downhill and our hands got more of a workout than our legs. We stopped at a Balinese family's compound and took a look at how they lived. They were making bamboo mats from the bamboo forest in their backyard.



Off we went on our bikes and then the rain started. We stopped at a temple, put on our rain ponchos and got back on the road. Minutes later, it was so bad that we had to pull over again. Michelle was the only one in the group to cave in (or maybe the only one with brains) and decided to ride in the car that was following us. It was so hard that her contacts were popping out of her eyes and we were riding through small streams that were now flowing through the streets.



When it stopped raining, she hopped back on and we cruised on to lunch. After making our way back to Ubud to drop off the other riders, we were driven on to our next stop in Bali - Sanur on the coast.