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!