Around Munduk, Bali, Indonesia

October 13, 2019 1 By admin

This series of ten posts comes from a three week trip to Indonesia. I traveled to the islands of Java, Bali and Lombok with G-adventures. Along the way, I saw incredible cultural sites, enjoyed delicious foods, met great people, and took in beautiful views. Here’s the story…

Local Market Outside of Sanur

Leaving Sanur we first stopped at a local market to learn more about the local traditions and cuisine. Bebez, our CEO, provided a tour and invited the market stall owners to tell us more.

The first section of the market was dedicated to everything needed for traditional offerings. The people on the island of Bali mostly practice Hinduism and place offerings daily at their temples, in front of their stores and outside their homes. One lady demonstrated folding the pandan leaf boxes which she secured with a staple at the bottom. She also sold marigolds and other flowers. People include other contents in their offerings depending on their personal wishes. Offerings may include rice, cigarettes, coffee or coins. As we walked through the market, I noticed several small temples on raised posts in each stall and a larger community spot for more offerings.

Next, this market contained a huge section of fruits and vegetables. Vendors sold much of the typical produce that I had already seen around Bali; bananas, oranges, mango, jackfruit, onions and chilis. Here, I learned about manggis. It was small and purple like a plum but instead contained six white sections of fruit. We also tried that salak fruit, which has an outside that looks like snake skin. The inside looked like garlic cloves but tasted sweet and had the texture of an apple.

Outside the market, the parking lot was filled with vendors with items for sale on motorbikes. Some sold toys, household plastics and kitchen items. Others contained mini-restaurants with little grill stations on the backs of motorbikes.

Jatiluwih Rice Terraces

As we drive out of the city, we saw more open valleys, rounded hills and green everywhere. The layered rice terraces were just unreal beautiful. UNESCO recognizes both the Jatiluwih rice terraces and those near Ubud for their family-style irrigation systems. Here the land is owned by those in the village and the water flows from each family’s terrace to the one below. The technique supports the Tri-Hita-Karana philosophy on the island of Bali. It translates into “three reasons,” or the interactions between human and human, human and God, and human and nature, providing for harmony and balance for the community.

These fields were just harvested. When we visited, farmers were plowing the rice paddies. Some families plowed by hand and used the overturned mud to build up the walls between the terraces. Other farmers used oxen to assist their plowing.

There were several paved paths through the fields. I would have walked all of them but we were short on time. We walked down the side of the valley and back out the middle. We saw oxen pulling plows and rows of banana trees between the sections. A towering volcano stood behind the layered terraces. Lastly, we ate lunch at a restaurant overlooking the valley with a breathtaking view of the rice field landscape.

All About Rice

Indonesia produces two kinds of rice. These fields use the top quality of rice, which harvests twice a year. Other farmers produce a second quality that harvests three times a year. I learned that in Indonesian there are many distinct words for rice; depending on when it’s on the stalk, in the form of a seed, when it’s dried or when it’s cooked. The word that we most commonly hear is “nasi” which is for cooked rice. It seemed to me that Indonesia produces a lot of rice because I saw it all along the roads. But they also eat tons of it and still import 20% of the rice they need.

Lake Danu Bratan Temple

The Lake Danu Bratan Temple was built in 1633. The temple honors the Balinese water goddess Dewi Danu. We walked around the temple on the shore where a 400 year old tree is wrapped in black and white checkered fabric to symbolize the ying-yang spirit. Near the shore, the pagodas sit on the small man-made islands. The larger island holds a pagoda that stands 12 layers tall and symbolizes fertility.

We witnessed the arrival of a processional entering the temple. At this temple, a whole village worships together, not as individuals. They proceeded in a specific order. First men entered wearing white, holding tall colorful flags. Then, women continued with platefuls of offerings on their heads and carried offerings in gords and vases decorated with splayed palm fronds. They wore long sarongs or skirts with thick waist belts. Next, the older generations of men and women walked under a long scarf, with the men carrying boxes and decorative umbrellas. Lastly, young men and boys in dark blue entered playing music with drums, gongs and symbols. Everyone passed through the gates of the temple to begin their worship.

We noticed a sign that specifically banned menstruating women from entering the temple. Bebez explained that this is not because the Balinese view menstruation as dirty. But rather, he continued, that when one makes an offering to the gods, such as beef or chicken, the spirit then takes those animals’ souls. They leave the meat, in its physical form, but if someone eats that piece of meat, it has a different taste. So, by extension, menstruating women may be confused with a meaty offering and their soul may mistakenly taken.

Driving Around the Highlands

We spent a few hours driving through the highlands and the views were incredible. Going up one mighty hill of switchbacks, we spotted at least a hundred monkeys along the walls and on the side of the road and passed through a series of high altitude lakes. When we stopped at one viewpoint to take pictures, I was quite distracted by a man charging to take pictures with his exotic animals. He had a huge iguana, fruit bats with two foot wingspan and a boa constrictor. It was too much for me, I enjoyed the view of the lakes instead.

Munduk Waterfall

Our last stop before Munduk was a tall waterfall. The bus parked on the side of the curvy road and we walked down to a cement path. In this first section, pedestrians and motorbikes shared the path. The next part was just a dirt trail and we continued down the steep path. We stopped at a small coffee shop in the thick of clove trees and cassava trees. At the bottom, we reached the entrance to the park with a nominal entry free.

From the park entrance, we followed down a trail flanked by manicured plants and flowers. Ahead of us, we spotted the towering waterfall as we moved into the clearing. The falls had a very tall, single stream of water. A few stones formed a crossing to a larger “photo rock” in the middle of the pool. I only dipped my toes in the water. It was too chilly and shallow to go all the way in.

Around Munduk

Munduk is a small mountain town with many guest houses lining the main road. We stayed in a lovely guest house with a maze of alleys and turns connecting all the rooms. From the small yard outside our room, we had the best view of the sun setting over the brick red shingles of the homes with the sea barely visible off in the distance. At the same time one of the staffers came around to place offerings at each of the three Hindu statues in the yard. He placed the palm leaf basket with flowers and incense, sprinkled water, and whispered a few words with his hand raised to the statue.

That night we walked up the road to a rooftop restaurant at another guest house. We climbed a few sets of stairs so they must have a great view in the daylight. I ate a delicious cup of tomato soup and a plate of braised pork with savory sauce served with rice and veggies and a glass of white wine. After dinner the night chill rolled in and I hustled back to the room to snuggle in for the night.

The next morning, I woke well rested although others mentioned all the noise with dogs, roosters and motorbikes along the mainroad. We ate breakfast on the patio with a view over the town and out to the sea.

Before we departed, I took a quick stroll through Munduk. It was a bustling morning with residents on their way to and from the market. The local market was easy enough to find off the mainroad. It was smaller with a dozen vendors selling fruits, veggies, materials for offerings and second hand clothes.

Banjar Hot Springs

We soaked in the waters of the Banjar hot springs after leaving Munduk. Some have said these hot springs have healing properties.There were three pools; warm, warmer and warmest, but none of them were scorching hot. Each pool had a line of concrete dragon heads spouting out the water.

Aditya Resort Lunch Spot

We broke up the afternoon drive with an extended lunch stop at the Aditya Resort.

The restaurant offered an impressive Indonesian buffet lunch with tomato soup, nasi goreng (fried rice), mie goreng (fried noodles), sauteed veggies, spring rolls, fried bananas with palm sugar, fried tempeh, chicken, fruits and salad.

We had two hours to relax and enjoy. The resort was right on the coast with a black sand beach. There were boats but no one was swimming in the ocean. The pool area was delightful with a swim up bar and an infinity edge. I spent most of my time eating lunch, reading and journaling in the shade of umbrellas by the pool.