Great Royal Cremation for the lake King of Peliatan

It is a grand Royal Cremation for the late king of Peliatan Palace, Ubud. The cremation was attended by hundreds thousand of local community and visitors who flooded the area of Peliatan Palace into the sea of man from early morning even if the procession itself was start moving at around 14:00. They all were patiently waiting and standing under the heat of the sun and people who are flocking into the area of the palace and along the street to the cemetery ground that was approximately 2 km away. The procession was moving slowly to the cremation ground because of the height and weight of the tower itself.

Peliatan Royal Cremation

Bali Photo Hunting

Bali is also paradise for visitors who are in love with photography and there are so many hidden places that you can create your fabulous shot for Bali hidden beauty and also its wonderful people. Great shot could be created from its stunning rice terraces, cultural activities, fauna as well as its inhabitant who are doing their daily routine and all are offering you such a great object for your unforgettable shots.

Please be prepare to get up from your sweet bed early in the morning when you want to capture the best moment of our mother nature where the sun light is still so soft early in the morning and it would be offering you such a wonderful experience to enjoy its beauty along with the sun rises up behind the sacred volcano and its golden light shining through the tropical foliage and dancing coconut leaf, reflecting on the flooded paddy field and sparkling on its peaceful lake and morning dew on vivid leaf of rich local vegetation.

All are waiting for your special skill to capture them into images that you would be proud of and would be a lifetime collection of your great work.

Bali Monkey

If you are driving or touring over the central mountain region of Bedugul or heading up to Lovina, it is a wonderful stop to be made around the rain forest at Wanagiri where you can feed the monkeys that are always be waiting along the roadside for food from the passers by. The whole group are just hanging around the roadside waiting for people to throw fruits on them.

Many visitors are making their short stop just to take some great shots to these cute animal or just for a great short over the Buyan Lake and Mountain scenery. Have fun feeding the monkeys!

Munduk Waterfall

It is one of Bali natural beauty and attraction that you should not miss when you are visiting Bali.

Hiking in the Golden Valley

If you have time and love to enjoy the beauty of Ubud's country side, the Ayung valley is one of the most spectacular view that you can enjoy while having some great hike. It is about 10 minutes west of the main town of Ubud where you can reach it by public transport or easily arrange a driver in the town to bring you to this great place.



You can start your hike from the main temple of Kedewatan Village which is called Pura Desa Kedewatan and follow the steps down into the valley and have your eyes spoiled with this breathtaking panorama over the terrace paddy field down under and the great river runs at the bottom of the valley with some visitors having their white water rafting tour.

Have fun! be sure to bring your camera, hat and sun scream and surely your swim suit if you wish to have a good swim at the Ayung River.

Mountain of Poet

Gunung Kawi (Mountain of Poet ), is an 11^th century temple complex that is located north east of Ubud, in the village of Tampaksiring. The site comprises 10 rock-cut Candi (Shrine). It is presumed to be the burial complex of King Anak Wungsu and his family that ruled Bali in around 1049 – 1077. 

The temple is built on both side of the Pakerisan River that runs along the spectacular lush river valley, breathtaking rice terrace view and coconut trees.  With the height about 7 meters, all the Candi are carved on the rock cliff on the west and eastern side of the Pakerisan River. 

To get to the temple itself, We have to follow many steps down to the bottom of the valley but the great scenery along the way down would make your exercise a lot easier. 

Amed Fishing Boats

The Charms of Amed

If you are keen to enjoy some great snorkeling and diving on the island and being on the beach area where it is not to crowded and commercial, Amed on the eastern part of the island is quit a great option to go and spend for a few days. Amed has such a beautiful coral reef and enchanting coast line view with its colorful fisherman outriggers.

Amed has quit a wide range of hotels, Villa and little accommodations along its seaside. The one that I used to go and recommend to my clients is Vienna Beach Cottages that's right on the beach and has such a fabulous coral reef right on front of it. It is offering you such a great value of the prices that they offer a night which is including breakfast and dinner. You can easily relax on its sand beach or have your great snorkeling.

If you get up early in the morning, a spectacular sun rise could be seen right from your veranda which is overlooking the sea. There often be dozen of local fishermen with their colorful outriggers could be seen around sunrise returning from their night out fishing.

At night time, your sleep would be pampered with the beautiful sound of the waves that would bring you to your sweet dream in Paradise.

Munduk Waterfall

 Andrew Vermeulen with his Taro leaf umbrella

 

It is one of the fabulous waterfall on the island that is located in the village of Munduk, north Bali. The path down to the waterfall is densely planted with clove and coffee trees as well as Avocado, Taro, Banana and some Durian tree. You can have such a great exercise while learning about the local farm and getting to know better of the local vegetation along the path down to the mighty waterfall.

Munduk lies on the altitude of about 800 meters above sea level is offering such a fresh mountain air and far out of pollution. Amongst a number of waterfalls in Bali, Munduk would offer you a chance to really enjoy its beauty as it is not being so commercial yet, no one would bother you with buying things as at most of the tourist sites on the island. There are a few waterfalls here and if you want to do further exercise, you can easily walk up the hill side from this waterfall and get down on the other side of the hilly village and walk down to another one that is quit as high as this one. The walk will offer you a great view to the coastal line of the northern Bali.

 William and Andrew from Belgium at Munduk Waterfall

Hiking at the Ayung River Valley!

Taman Rice Paddies & Ayung Valley Hiking With Planet Scuba Group

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Walking along the irrigation canal.

A three hours walk, Starting from the farm village of Juwet on the western out skirt of Ubud, We followed the ancient farmer’s path along the irrigation canal, through the lush scenery of the tropical farm and rice plantation. We walk through the dike of the paddy field, sharing with the group about the local farming system and sharing knowledge about the local vegetation that we see along the tracks. It was the perfect time for the walk as we could see some stages of the rice farm along the way in different area of the local Subak (The rice Farmers Association that maintain and organize the irrigation).

We walk through the village of Bongkasa, seeing the ancient Banyan tree, cruising along the ancient path overlooking the gorgeous Ayung River Valley, walk across the bridge and finally finished our walk at the village of Kedewatan, Ubud.

Rice field walk

We started our walk from a small village of Juwet, at the nicest point of the village itself with its stunning view of the rice terraces that is sloping down to the small river. We walk up to the village and watching the women of the village were doing their laundry along the canal of the irrigation and also a man that was fishing by the river but was only catching a tiny fish.

A short stop we made in the village where we saw a couple Chameleon was fighting in the bush and took some pictures and video if them. It was such bless to see that on our walk.  

I was also happy to have a chance to introduce Belinda how to make bubbles from the stem of the castor oil tree. She had such a great fun doing it by herself and have her dad took some pictures when she was blowing the bubbles.

We then continued our walk through the village and sharing about the local crops along the way and also having a little chat with some school boys of the local village who were riding around on their bikes during the break time of their class. They were riding around us while saying a few words in English trying to have a little conversation and being naughty by saying, “money, money”.

We left the village and walk out into the big paddy field where we could view the central mountain range and also the active volcano in a distance. The day was so sunny and was a bit hot for us but we kept walking through the big paddy field while sharing about the rice farming and also the irrigation system of the local Subak while Taking some great pictures of the scenery over the terraces and some of the local farmers that were busy with their work.

We crossed the river by a big dam and up the other side of another rice paddy with more stunning view of the terraces along the small river that runs in between.  We followed the wet track along the dike of the paddy field and practicing our balance not to fall in to the muddy field.  As the day was getting so hot, we made a little stop and rest by a Bale in the middle of the paddy field where we could enjoy some nice breeze and also a great view all over the field.  Some of the farmers were still busy on the field planting the young baby rice and some are busy with hoeing the flooded field for the transplantation of the new seeds.  

After a little bit of rest, we walked on through the little road in the middle of the paddy field, along the irrigation canal until we got to the main Subak temple where we finished our walk and waiting for our pick up.

On the drive back to the hotel, we made a little D-Tour around Taman Village and seeing the old Banyan tree on the outer courtyard of the village temple. It was the highlight of our walk for the day.

Walking in the Green of Taman Village

It was a wonderful morning when we started our walk from the Village of Kedewatan, West of Ubud. We followed the steps down next to the main village temple where we could enjoy the spectacular scenery over the lush Ayung Valley with its stunning rice paddies at the bottom of the Valley.

It was a bit wet when we were swinging our steps along the dike of the paddy field caused of the irrigation and also the rain over the last few days. We walk through the dike of the terrace field while enjoying the stunning view all over the Valley.

We walked down to the bank of the river where there is a bamboo bridge that we went across to get to the village on the western side of the river. Unfortunately, the eastern point of the bridge was taken out due to a construction for a restaurant of one of the rafting company. We were a bit lucky to have a tiny simple bamboo ladder that allowed us to climb to get onto the bridge. It was such an effort for my client, Mr. Naham to climb the bamboo ladder but he was proudly getting over to the bridge so that we did not have to wait for the rafting to come by to get a free ride to get to the other side.

We walked up to the village of Bongkasa following the steps that is used by the rafting company to get to their restaurant on the top.

Walking through the village's road allowed us to see the traditional family compound and also some of the local vegetation along the way. I took Mr. Naham to make a little stop at my simple home in Taman, sitting on our Bale in the middle of the compound to have some coffee and some cold water and having a little rest as the day was getting too hot for the walk. We had a rest for about 1 hour before continuing our walk through the local rice paddies and then on to the village of Taman. Along the way, I introduced him with the local farm such as coconut, coffee tree, cocoa tree, etc. It was truly fun to show him how we get our local Palm Wine or known as Tuak in Balinese which is a very common drink for our villagers.

We stopped at a little Warung by Banjar Raketan to have a little drink and the young guys who was in the Warung invited Mr. Naham to have a little time to play chess. It was exciting for the young village boy to play with a Westerner and it was the first time ever that they could play with a westerner so it was such an excitement for them all.

I allowed him to play for one game before we continuing our walk to the big rice paddies at the southern part of Taman Village. We walked along the irrigation canal and being pampered with the greenery of the young rice that was growing. We shared about the irrigation system and also the farming system in Bali for the local Subak.

We ended our walk by the main road that goes through the big paddy field and driving back to Jimbaran where Mr. Naham stays during his holiday in Bali.

Bali Morning Traffic Jam

Wayan will also be the one who will know the ideal place for you to get away from it all

Since you speak of a PROLONGED holiday, I suggest
you contact a good driver-guide and spend the first few days touring Bali to get the lay of the
land and to look over possible places to stay.
For instance, you could contact Wayan Sueta by
e-mail so that he meets you at the airport. You won't want to stay in Kuta, where all the tourist
dreck is concentrated, so a good first stop might be in one of the villages near Ubud.
On subsequent days you will be driven north to
Lovina and to the nature preserve in the NW corner
of Bali (there is a new resort which might be
just what you want; but it might be expensive);
or you will tour to other beach and inland areas,
according to what you want to see or do. But
a guide like Wayan will also be the one who will
know the ideal place for you to get away from it
all..and to study the f&f of Bali.
Wayan's webpage: www.hiddenbali.com
Check it out!

In Bali, we hired a guide to drive us around every day and he was THE BEST

In Bali, we hired a guide to drive us around every day and he was THE BEST. His name is Wayan Sueta and you can contact him via his webpage if you want to hire him :

He took us places we NEVER would have found using the guidebook, and made the whole trip totally relaxing and stress-free. We learned so much about Balinese culture just from talking to him about his life and family and village. His english is perfect, and we ate lunch and dinner with him every day and I honestly missed him when we left. He also picked us up from the airport when we got back to Bali from Wakatobi and drove us around some more and had dinner with us on our last night as we had a 9 hour layover before our flight home to New York. He charged about $45 a day which for the 3 of us was a real bargain in our opinion. (plus we got his meals and paid him a full day's pay as a tip at the end). I wouldn't recommend seeing Bali any other way, honestly.

I can't say enough about Wayan.

Driver- Wayan Sueta ( hiddenbali dot com). I can't say enough about Wayan. He has become more a friend than a driver/guide. We took walks through river valleys and rice fields that boggle the mind. You learn so much more about a place on foot. I highly recommend his services.

Edmund Lowe Photography
P.O. Box 84183
Seattle, WA 98124
E-mail: ed@edlowephoto.com
Please visit my website at: http://www.edlowephoto.com
For fun pics visit: http://www.fotolog.net/edbob/

Hire a driver for the day...

When you hire a driver for the day, ask him to take you to his village and show you his home. It's a great experience to learn how they live and their habits.Hiring a driver for a day is very cheap , you pay about 30USD.

We had a great driver, Wayan Sueta, very good person and knowledgable of Bali. He took us to places we could never have discovered on our own. He has his webpage and I give you his contact below. Be sure to book well in advance!