I met Mehdi around 9am for another long spin around the island. This time we went directly north through the centre of the island to Gitgit waterfall in the Mountains. We made our way out through Seminiyak, the more upmarket, expensive end of the resort and then out into the countryside. One feature of the main roads here is that they are lined with buildings. In this part of the island it doesn't feel like you're moving from one town to the next. The buildings are continuous so it feels as though you haven't left the original town. Off the main routes its different but all the businesses are attracted to the main roads.
It was a hot humid morning. We stopped off at the Royal Temple at Mengwi. There are many different kinds of Hindu temples. Large public temples such as Besakih, smaller village temples reserved only for the inhabitants of the locality down to family temples such as this. The royal temple, however, does appear to be for public use judging by those worshipping ther during our visit. Tourists may not enter the temples which are reserved for the use of worshippers only but you are free to wander round the perimeter. Three times within the first 10 mins of entering the temple grounds I was asked to pose for photos with the locals. Indonesians like to have their photo taken with tourists. I had to do a double take when one pretty girl approached me and asked "Would you like to make a photo with me??" Wandering around I felt like a bit of a rockstar but I was one of very few westerners onsite at that early hour.
The temple itself was open air, quite beautiful with well attended gardens surrounding it. Inside worshippers were at prayer. It felt a little intrusive gawking over the walls at them. Those who weren't praying sought some sheltering shade to have a quiet chat with friends. We left Mngwi for the central mountains. The continuous build up of houses by the roadside petered out and we passed through tracts of lush wet Padi fields. We pushed on into the highlands passing through small villages and by many temples, Buddhist as well as Hindu. Clouds lay heavily on the mountaintops ahead. It was noticeably cooler up here. The heat no longer beat through the top of the car. You could actually move in the seat without breaking into a sweat. The air-conditioning began to feel cold.
As we crested the mountains and began to descend into the northern half of the island the rain started. The padi fields of the lower slopes had given way to drier vegetable plots not requiring such heavy irrigation. Up here the vegetable plots had in their turn given way to a thick covering of rain forest. We parked up close to Gitgit waterfall in heavy rain.
Mehdi gave me an umbrella and I followed a path towards the waterfall. I came to a souvenir stall run by a woman. I declined her invitation to buy "Shopping" I did ask her if I could step in under the stall to shelter from the torrents of water which were now falling. The lady had a young daughter who appeared to be 'working' the pathway selling trinkets. She stood beside me as I took shelter, watching me curiously. I smiled and she smiled awkwardly. She's been primed to sell to tourists and has all the lines for it but now, standing beside me sheltering from the rain she seems unsure of what she should do or say. She smiled, fidgeted, smiled again. Then she said her name. I told her mine. She sat down beside me and we watched the rain for a few minutes until it eased. When I showed signs of stirring to move on the girl jumped up and ran a few yards up the path. As soon as I joined the path she started into her well-rehearsed sales routine. Her persona changed completely.
Up at the waterfall I got changed into swimming togs. You can swim in the pools here but I was expecting much better weather than this. I tried getting into the water but it was too cold for me , and anyway there were plenty of mosquitoes around. I changed back into regular clothes. On the way back I had to shelter again as the rain hammered down. This time there were two young mothers under the shelter trying to sell me knick knacks. They wanted me to "buy for their babies" and on cue the two todllers began to cry and look at me. I couldn't believe it. These kids were still in nappies.
We left for the south side of the island as soon as I got back to the car. We stopped to view hillside filled with terraced padi fields at a restaurant which, I think, I was supposed to eat at. I went in and asked the price and it was double what I would pay in Kuta so I didn't stay. I was already over budget for the day doing this tour. I surprised Mehdi by returning to the car so soon. I told him the food was too expensive. Perhaps he was on commission from the restaurant and was about to lose out by my return, whatever, foir the rest of the day the atmosphere seemed to alter a little. Mehdi wasn't quite so jovial as he had been after this.
By skipping lunch we had time to kill so Mehdi took a long route through the countryside to the next stop, "the monkey forest". We descended from the hill country through increasingly narrow country lanes. We passed through fields of moist green rice paddies. The roads were poor, rutted, cut up from floods and lack of maintenance. Few vehicles passed through here. We saw small farming villages, a far cry from the tourist resort at Kuta. Locals hanging out at the only local corner shop stared at us as we drove slowly by. We returned to the low country and, as we did so the temperature again increased in the car. We had to sit still in our seats again. The humidity drained me and I began to doze off. Eventhough I fought the sleep I couldn't help but nod off for a few minutes at a time.
I spent nearly an hour at the monkey forest looking at...... monkeys. There's a small temple here dedicated to them and three troops live in the vicinity each with their own defined territories. Its quite entertaining to watch them but you have to be careful as the least rustle of paper wil attract a gaggle of expectant monkies.
We reached the rock temple at Tanah Lot in time for sunset. There were crowds here for the evening spectacle. This temple is spectacularly located on a rocky outcrop which, at high tide is cut off from the mainland. It is part of a complex of similarly sited shrines on adjacent outcrops. I watched the sunset from a ledge overlooking the shrine. It was full moon and the tide was high so the ledge was being swept by crashing waves sending spray high into the air. I tried to get ambitious shots of crashing water and unfortunatley got over ambitious. I was caught by the tail end of one wave and the camera got wet so I'm hoping there is no damage to follow. Still the sunset was beautiful.
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