the three sisters from bali
I have mentioned in my chronicles, I had taken a short vacation during christmas. The destination of choice was Bali, primarily due to the fact that it was a place I have never been to, I have a local friend there and it was cheap.
I had not done my research so was not sure what to expect, but I have heard that the place is swarming with hoards of aussie tourists and could get sleazy. Well that partially set my expectations and when I landed there and hung around Kuta, I for first hand sleaze showed on me. Not one to worry about these things (and given that I can easily integrate into local culture), I looked for the real Bali. After a couple of days of being trapped in the tourist mode, I managed to find it.
To experience the real Bali, one has to go out the regular haunts. I decided to go and visit an obscure waterfall near Tajakula. A place known to locals and very few tourists. I highly recommend going there, however it is not someplace everyone knows. I spent long time with a local driver to figure out the bearings of this waterfall. Anyway, I digress and I will relay the story in another post.
I would like to discuss the three tall (still active) volcanoes in the Central-East of the island. Gunung Abang is the least known as I suspect it is not attractive to ferry tourists there. However Abang is extremely reveared and famous among the locals and the ‘culture’ tourists. The most commercial is Batur as it is easy to get to and very congested with tourist traps. I longingly looked down the not so beaten path that leads to the lake below and imagined myself trekking there some day.
The three sisters from bali
I guess the gods decided to be nice to me when out of the blue (sic), I was shown this wonderful presentation of the three sisters in harmony. Well, a fulfilling trip to me is a trip with one picture I can come back to over and over and live the moment and this is it for me for Bali.
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January 13th, 2009 09:41
That is indeed a most beautiful pic of the “3 sisters”. Is this taken in the morning or evening sun? Glad you had a great trip in Bali.
January 13th, 2009 10:29
Yes, I agree. A really wonderful picture. It reminds me to some volcanoes in New Zealand, a bit south of Taupo, but I can’t remember the names. I just remember cycling there about a year ago through the only desert of New Zealand (they call it a desert, actually I wouldn’t consider it to be a desert).
January 13th, 2009 12:00
Evening. We spent the entire morning going in and out of villages figuring out the location of the waterfall. The view was so beautiful, I was unable to stop shooting pictures. Literally 10 minutes later, the cloud cover was so dense, I could not even see the peak of Batur (foreground).
Incidentally, Bali seems to be a good place to explore on bike. Quite hilly once you leave the southern end of the island but you get rewarded by sights of beautiful forests and mountains. Well worth the effort, me thinks.
July 8th, 2009 00:43
Bali is certainly one place that i want to ride but I’m not sure about the humidity. Coming from OZ and not being your typical tourist I’d want get away from the Kuta trap as soon as possible and ride to the volcano, lake and other side of the island.
July 8th, 2009 12:19
It is indeed very humid in Bali. And hot too. But if you get out of the southern end and head inland, the weather can be pleasant. NE, seems like a reasonably unexploited by tourists and there is some form of a national park too.
I would prepare myself if heading to the mountains with lots of water. I remember going long stretches of mountains without sighting villages. So it might be a good idea to carry food and water before heading inland. Roads are fine but lighting and traffic might be a problem.