Day 3: Bike ride, Monkey/chacha dance etc.

I'm rooming with Noah in Bali.

Roomie: Noah

The morning began officially at 8.45am after taking coffee. I joined the rest of the team to leave for a tour of some parts of Bali. We drove and drove and drove, up the hills, down the valleys, into sharp corners and narrow passages. Most of the ride was uphill.

At the lobby of Permana Cottage is Ganesha, the god with the head of an elephant

At the summit of our drive, we were able to see Mt. Batur. Unfortunately, due to cloudy conditions, the (in)famous Agung mountain was not visible from our vantage. We had guides who took us around some farms and some highlights are as follows:

Various tastes of coffee

A meme about Luwak coffee

Visited a coffee farm where   the highlight of the production is Luwak coffee i.e. coffee produced from the poop of a mongoose. The mongoose feeds on ripe (red) coffee beans, and the beans pass through its system with a little fermentation. The poop is then collected, and the beans washed, dried and ground to coffee

• The farm produces about 10kg of ground coffee per day
• Most production is manual and therefore labor intensive
• The farm produces the specialty Poo-coffee; I had a chance to taste the mongoose-produced coffee, and it tasted, well, like coffee

We tasted a bunch of teas and coffees flavored with various herbs

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  Temples
  

Afterwards, the tour turned to the bike section. This involved riding bikes, mostly downhill, in a single file across cobbled streets, valleys, bridges, flooded rivers. It rained a little, and because the road was wet, we all got our bums thoroughly soaked.

• We visited a Balinese home, where we learnt that the houses are built in fours each with its own purpose:
•  a temple to the north
• The main house where children and members sleep
• An events parlor i.e. where celebrations for filing, naming ceremonies are held
• A kitchen
• And a cattle pen/area. We saw some two cows tethered in a shed, and Russell made a moo pun
• We visited a subak and the guide explained to us the process of sharing water and being part of Bali Subak. Every farmer has to be part of a subak. The subak coordinates the cultivation of crops whether rice, corn, mung beans etc.
• Subak helps settle disputes especially as far as sharing water is concerned
• Because it was rainy season, and most of the rice paddy was already maturing, the canals to the individual fields were blocked to prevent excess water from entering the field
• Cock-fighting arena: we visited an arena where trained roosters are put in a ring to fight to the death. We learnt that the cock fights attract people from all over the place, especially rich ones, who come to bet on the cocks. A typical cock fight yields upwards of 300 million rupiah in bets, entrance fees and sale of goods
• The village around the area usually takes up organizing the cock fights
• This events usually lasts for three days, and follows a three-day temple celebration

When our bike tour ended, our vans transported us to lunch at about 3pm. Afterwards we were driven back to Permana Cottage. A couple of us went to Ubud market to get sarongs i.e. the wrappers we need to cover ourselves to enter temples (stuff for tomorrow). As always, haggling over pricing was key to avoid exorbitant prices because we are seen as bule i.e. white, annoyingly loud Americans/foreigners.

some of the cast of the chacha dance

Afterwards, we showered and went for a traditional dance ceremony. This was a spectacular event featuring the defeat of a Hindu demon. A second presentation involved entrancing a performer, who then walked on coal.

• The performances were eerie, nothing like I have seen before.
• Even though it was hard to follow every scene, the presentation of chanting, dance-like movements, and confrontation was great

I ended the night at the Why Not café where I had mie goreng i.e. fried noodle and egg, plus a mojito.

This was a great day, with varying experiences. A lot of the stuff is so new, but it’s moving so quickly. Looking forward to tomorrow when we will visit more subaks, and temples.