Tuesday, October 17, Day 4 North Bali continued

After our seaside lunch at Warung Taman Sari where we enjoyed the food and the beautiful blue ocean beside us, we continued East for a few kilometers arriving at our next destination of Air Sanih, where we swam in the fresh water spring pools. There was a temple across the street honoring the holy springs (remember basically any spring or water source is holy on Bali) but for once we didn’t visit the temple but headed straight to the spring pools located right next to the ocean. Wayan waited outside in the car for us. We paid our very reasonable fee and headed in to view the pools and change into our suits. It was a warm afternoon and several locals were enjoying the pools and grounds around the freshwater pools. We enjoyed floating around the pool in the clear water and sunshine before heading back to the changing rooms. Neil took a photo of the (clean) changing room to give you an idea of the full local experience with the squat toilet and bucket! We found Wayan across the street catching a nap and were on our way again.  

We continued East toward our final destination on the North coast. As we drove along the coast, we saw many stony beaches lined with small outrigger fishing boats with brightly colored accents. I got the impression that they fish early in the morning or at night.

Our next destination was Pura Ponjok Batu, a large temple constructed of black lava stone situated right on the North shore of Bali. Some say it was built to balance all the temples built on the South shores of Bali, however, that idea might be misleading. Restoration work was started in the 1960s and statues and carvings uncovered are estimated to date back to the 8th century. Other excavations provide evidence of religious activity as far back as 2500-3000 BC. 

The name Pura Ponjok Batu, means “stone on the edge.” (link) The temple sits on the point of a small peninsula and the structure itself is made from volcanic rock. There is a holy spring coming out of the volcanic rock at the ocean side at the base of the temple and it is only accessible at low tide. A shrine has been built there and all the holy water for ceremonies is collected from this spring. When Neil went to photograph the spring, the priest hovered nearby very protectively to make sure he didn’t get too close.

It was time for us to leave the coast and head back up the mountain. Wayan was somewhat familiar with the area because he has an uncle who owns property a few kilometers away. So, rather than take one of the major highways, he took a small single-lane farm road. We began our climb back up the mountain by driving through a village on an alley that just kept going up and up. There was no traffic and people openly stared at the rarity of a nice car going by. 

We drove up and around a huge stone walled area that Wayan said was a failed resort project funded by local politicians. It appears they ran out of funds before the building construction was completed. It is much drier on the North side of Bali and we were seeing different types of crops in fields and forests. We passed miles of clove trees and we would see tarps laid out beside the road where the farmers would spread out the clove pods to dry before bagging up for sale. We passed what appeared to be wild cacao trees and Neil had us stop for photos. As we drove up and up we were soon ascending right along the narrow ridge top and we could look straight down on both sides of the road. Impressive road engineering! There were villages and houses situated right on top of the ridge clinging to the edge. The slopes on both sides were used for farming and orchards. 

We eventually rejoined the main road we had taken on our downward journey to the coast. A short distance uphill was Pura Indrakila which we had bypassed on our way down. The website states: “Indrakila Temple stands on a hill as a replica of Mount Indrakila, the place of Arjuna in India.” We made a sharp turn up a small road and came into an empty parking lot only to find the temple locked up. However, the views in all directions were incredible and we spent time feeling we were on top of the world. It is said the king used to meditate here; we can see and feel why. In the interest of time, we decided to forgo our backup plan of visiting the megalithic site Pura Puncak Penulisan.

During our planning, we had selected a spot on the Google map labeled Pinggan Viewpoint because the guidebook said it was a good overlook of Lake Batur. But Wayan’s navigation app failed to find the “Viewpoint.” Wayan doubled back a few times and we finally settled on a spot to get the best “overlook” photo. 

At this point our backcountry adventure began. We were winding around country roads among garlic, shallot and onion fields and taking turns Wayan thought would lead us downward. He finally stopped to ask some guys hanging out at a road intersection and they said the turn was back a ways but he could make it eventually the way we were going. Hahaha, turns out they drive scooters, not cars. decided to continue on and the road got much narrower and came down between a steep cliff and a bamboo forest where only motor scooters were traveling. We even saw one scooter that had died on the steep track and been left to rot. What were we getting into?? And suddenly we were out in the light and among garlic fields again. We still laugh about our adventure through the backroads.

We wound our way around the North end of Lake Batur into the town looking for our hotel: The Ayn at Toya Devasya. Wayan was unsure of the location and finally asked a security guard at the “day visitor” entrance to Toya Devasya who pointed us to the main lobby. Once the staff was assured we had reservations, everything happened quickly with our luggage being unloaded, goodbyes said to Wayan, and we were sitting at the hotel lobby front desk. It had been a long day driving and I was ready to get to the room and then into a hot pool! A few things were explained (lots of flies due to the agriculture fertilizer in the area and wristband needed to charge things at the resort), some arrival papers signed and then the bell boy and our front desk agent were carrying our luggage down, around trees, and up steps to bring us to our lovely villa named Gerbera. (All the villas are named for flowers.) 

The villa was marvelous. After photos and videos, we quickly unpacked to get our bathing suits on and get out to the hot water infinity pool for sunset overlooking Lake Batur and Mount Abang. Neil was antsy while I unpacked a little longer than necessary and we just made it out in time for the last of the light and color. It was still beautiful and fun to be hanging out in the pool and watching the light fade on the lake and mountain. For dinner, we decided on pizza because they had a wood fired oven. They even delivered it to the room. Unfortunately it was made by Balinese who’ve seen photos of pizza, but never tasted one. Imagine an undercooked soggy crust with no flavor in the sauce and you have the right idea. We ate the whole thing anyway! We took a night time dip in our private pool and slept well in the big comfy bed. Neil dreamt of going into the restaurant kitchen and teaching the chef how to make a fantastic pizza from scratch (which he could totally do). In his dream it made the resort a tourist destination for the pizza alone.