May 24, 2026

May 24, 2026

Indonesia doesn't get too many American visitors so the closest one of the nine kings in Bali invited us over for dinner. He is just down the street and I bet owns the land our hotel sits on. One of the granddaughters gave us a tour of the home. Of course we have to wear a sarong to enter. Like all Balinese homes it is more of a compound with several separate apartments around courtyards. Every generation of the family lives here together. Since he is a king, it is a little bigger and quite a bit more ornate.

Today is a holy day for Bali. They are celebrating Tumpek Uduh or Plant Appreciation Day. We are also celebrating. It is our twentieth anniversary of retirement and freedom. So we get our photo taken on his throne.

This is still Bali, so the king doesn't have a proper dining room with chairs. We have to sit on the floor to eat our meal. Lucky thing I am used to sitting cross-legged

Near the entrance is an elaborate stage. The local community put on a traditional dance performance for us. It is much better than the one we watched in Java. We are sitting at the foot of the stage and the weather is slightly cooler. Plus the tempo of the action is much more upbeat. It is very interesting watching the Gamelan band play. I can’t believe they can keep the fast tempo up for so long while maintaining synchrony.

This morning I was going to just eat cereal. I was looking for granola but it wasn’t available. Surprisingly when we travel the one cereal that is always on tap no matter where we go is Fruit Loops. How did that become so universal??

Bali is a triangular island with mountains across the top. Most of the population lives on the southern lowland tip. Bali is part of the ring of fire. After breakfast we drive uphill to the slopes of Mt Agung, an active volcano in the northeast corner. An eruption in 1963 devastated the island.

Today Bali grows coffee (Kopi) on the slopes. Surprisingly the world’s most expensive coffee is produced here. By accident they found that if the coffee beans are first eaten and partially digested by a Luwak, the local cat-like Civet, the coffee bean gets a unique flavor. Humorously they call this Kopi Luwak, Bali cat-poo-chino. We get a tour. Locals go hunting in the forest for Luwak droppings. They are like gold. Aimee and I both get Poo Hunter t-shirts.

Afterwards we explore more of the local World Heritage site, Cultural Landscape area of Bali Province. Two days ago we saw the rice terraces. Today we start by visiting Pegulingan Temple. It is the oldest Buddhist temple in Bali. It has the typical 'split gate' entryway and a large Stupa. At some point after construction the Bali Hindus and Buddhists merged their religions together with their indigenous animist beliefs. This temple was buried in the eruption of the volcano overhead and rebuilt.

We next explored the Pakerisan River system that irrigates the many rice paddies. The farmers are all in a collective to share this precious resource. We drive farther up the mountain to the springs that feed the river. The Mangening Temple was built beside the water source. Local pilgrims come here to pray to the water goddess and purify themselves in the bubbling water. The colors of the Koi in the pond are vivid in the ultra-clear water.

Our local guide today served us lunch on his property. He explained that each home has a living compound for the extended family and an attached garden for fruit and vegetables. Each family also has a rice paddy nearby. Lunch was similar to the Indonesian of the last few days with the exception of a Jackfruit dish. This tropical fruit can be used as a vegetarian meat substitute. We finished with Kolak, a coconut dessert soup.

Afterwards we drove to the southeast town of Sanur and checked into our beach-side hotel. Aimee insisted on window shopping down the street till we got to a market. Instead of Aimee buying something I bought some knockoff Croc shoes. We had dinner at a local restaurant.