Bali, a retreat for the inner soul - Part 1

The water temple, Pura Ulun Danu Bratan at dawn.

Good morning, Bali! It's quite hard to believe that I was waking up next to a serene lake 1200 metres above sea level, a far cry from the hustle and bustle of Timor-Leste's dusty capital, Dili where I was working at that moment. Like all my previous adventures, I took a good week or so to carefully plan my travels so as to fit my personal needs, to find the most strategic accommodations and to minimise cost, while also allowing some flexibility.

It was quarter past 6 in the morning and I leapt out of bed for a quick shower because I didn't want to be late for the sunrise! That's why I booked the resort in the first place - it's the only accomodation to offer free and unrestricted passage to the famed water temple, Pura Ulun Danu Bratan regardless of the opening hours ;) As soon as I saw the dark silhuette of the wooden temple set against hues of blue and orange reflected by the water, I gasped in awe and literally ran around snapping pictures until the magical scene slowly disappeared about an hour later. Suddenly, yesterday afternoon's tiring flight and the subsequent 2 hours of unnecessarily expensive taxi ride to Bedugul seemed worth every penny!

Danu Bratan in early morning as seen from the vista point at Masjid Besar Al-Hidayah.

Room 303 at Enjung Beji Resort was especially memorable for its ultra-slippery bathroom floor, huhu.

Since most tourist guides advertised on the internet won't accept a lone traveller like myself, I asked the concierge whether he could arrange a personal tour guide for me to Jatiluwih and Singaraja. "Of course," he said, quickly phoned his brother for the car, and there we were zipping our way through the winding road down the highlands!

Jatiluwih is a vast expanse of rice terraces Indonesia nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It really gave a new meaning to the word green, as one traveller described it. There, Wayan, the concierge cum tour guide dutifully accompanied me through the terraces, offering to take pictures once in a while with my trusty camera. It was one of those rare occasions where I felt immersed in nature as I trudged along the narrow strips of earth and hopped across slender streams, glancing occasionally to Mount Agung and Mount Batukaru in the distance. At one point, it was raining lightly so we had to take cover at a cow shed in the middle of the terraces next to the cow :)

The Jatiluwih rice terraces at the further end was breathtakingly beautiful.

Next, we travelled to Singaraja. Located north of the island, Singaraja is famed for ikat, a beautiful local fabric. But what drew me to this town was Masjid Keramat (a.k.a. Masjid Kuna/Kuno), a tiny mosque mentioned only in Indonesian- and Malay-speaking blogs. Built by Sunan Parapen in 1654, it is the oldest mosque in Bali and as its name suggests, it is considered sacred by the local Muslims and Hindus alike. I took some time for prayers and reflection before taking pictures of the town's main mosque, Masjid Agung Jami' Singaraja, and heading to the nearby Lovina Beach for lunch. Lovina is of course the black sand beach from which tourists depart to see dolphins. When the brothers offered me a stop at Gitgit waterfalls on our way back to the resort, I looked at what I was wearing and I had to say no :(

Quick lunch at Lovina Beach with its black sand.

A brief stop at Masjid Agung Jami' Singaraja and the nearby Masjid Keramat.

Before Bukit Mungsu Market at Candikuning closed for the day, I dashed there for a quick look-around. It took me 45 minutes on foot (yes, I walked) to get there from Enjung Beji Resort where I stayed. Here, strawberries, snake fruits and other fresh produce grown in the neighbourhood were traded side by side with Balinese handicrafts. Indeed, ikat fabrics sold here were noticably cheaper than the ones sold at Lovina Beach, even before bargaining ;)

For dinner, I sauntered off to the nearby local restaurant for something different and ordered sate kelinci (skewered rabbit meat). It was different alright (because I never ate rabbit meat before), and the peanut sauce was a bit sweet compared to Malaysian satay. And that's the end of a promising first day in Bali!