Bali day three finally commences!

So after the trip to the coffee plantation and the lake, we headed over to a UNESCO designated site. The Jatiluwah rice fields in northern Bali were so vast and expansive. My tour guide actually walked us through and around the rice fields, explaining in great detail how important these fields really were to the island of Bali.

Balinese people eat rice with every meal, and its not uncommon to find a small rice field growing on someone’s private piece of land. But what our guide also took the time to explain was how important these larger rice fields were to the economy and export industry of the island. Its amazing how something so simple as a rice field could be impactful and beautiful.

So by this time we were all starving! More than half the day had passed since we started the tour, but what came next was worth the wait! Instead of eating at a typical tourist restaurant, our guide reccomended a local shop which had some of the best food I had on the entire trip. We couldn’t leave Bali without trying their famous pork dish called Babi Guling. All I can say is, wow, it was amazingly delicious. I mean how can it not be delicious; look at all that delicious pork!

After getting all of our bellies sufficiently full, we headed down from the rice fields. The intention was to get to the next temple, but what happened next was the most memorable (unscheduled) moment I’ve had on a vacation thus far. While driving down the mountainside our guide was slowly passing a village ceremony. He slowed down as one of the older gentleman waved to us. Unknown to us, was that there was a village ceremony taking place to celebrate the completion of that village’s temple. We were invited to see the ceremony, and of course I couldn’t refuse! This wasn’t something that happened often. In fact, once we piled out of the car, our tour guide quickly whipped out his camera and started taking pictures like a tourist!

He quickly explained to us that a village completing its temple didn’t happen often at all. He hasn’t seen one in the span of 25 years. So this was indeed a special occasion. What made it even more jaw dropping was that there was a celebrity priestess presiding over the ceremony. The guide had explained that he had seen her on television, but never in person.

We didn’t stay too long because we didn’t want to intrude too long. But everyone was welcoming, and to experience a real part of the islands culture was something so special to me. Getting to experience the music, dance, blessings, watching the locals and kids interact with each other showed me how full of life and hospitality the Balinese people really have.

After the unexpected ceremony at the local village, the last stop was another temple and iya beautiful grounds. Again, I must have been lucky that day because no one was around. The grounds and architecture were stunning. You can see similarities to other temples, but as I said previously, each one has its own kind of flare and character to distinguish it apart.

So as full of activities as day three in Bali was, I felt grateful and fulfilled to have seen and experienced so many things in just one day. At the end of the day we even had a wonderful Swedish massage from our tour guides highly rated family spa in Ubud. All in all, not a bad way to spend a day of your vacation!!

See you guys in the next post!