BALI 2015: Ubud, Ulun Danu, Tanah Lot, Taman Negara, Rice terraces, Mount batur

Ok, so, on day two of our stay in the impressive city of Ubud, we took a cycling tour we had booked online some two months before our trip. We were really looking forward to it as it the tour provider, "Bali Eco tours" had rave reviews on tripadvisor. It was cheaper than all other tours too (USD $40 per person.)

Here is the itinerary they sent us with annotations based on our experience (in italics.)

Pick up from your accommodation according to time confirmed by our office. - Very punctual and polite. Nice comfortable van.

- Quick photo stop at the famous Ceking rice terraces view.  - We got there soon after picking up the last couple in our party. Beautiful spot. Pictures don't really show how beautiful it is, at least our don't. Sorry.

- Mt. Batur / Lake View Restaurant (Penelokan) to enjoy the amazing view over crater lake Batur &
breakfast buffet.  - Breathtaking view from the balcony. It's a very nice restaurant with international style breakfast buffet. Everything was pretty good.

- Stop at a Balinese herb, spices, fruit, coffee & tea plantation to learn and taste about some tropical
delights. -This was cool, great free sampling of  many delicious types of teas and herbal infusions.

And we saw this guy when we were having our tea:

It was great to see a fruit bat from like three feet away. It looked at us with curiosity and seemed pretty relaxed. But... As we walked into the place they showed us a luwak in a tiny cage. Poor critter didn't look very happy. They feed them only coffee beans so they can harvest item back from their droppings to make that famous luwak coffee which is supposed to be amazingly good. That fucking sucks for the little luwaks. So we didn't try the special coffee despite my being very curious about it. Super expensive in Europe and the US, apparently. Luwaks are like giant ferrets. Here I am carrying one the day after this cycling tour, just outside Taman Negara.

Now, before you go ballistic on me, I did not pay to have these photos taken. We had just parked outside Taman Negara and were getting some satays from a street vendor when this guy walks by with the luwak on a lead. I asked him what it was and he told me it was a luwak and asked me if I wanted to carry it. I did for about a minute, my girl took some pictures and we thanked the guy who kept on walking and didn't ask for anything.

- Bicycle instruction, start of the 25km, mostly downhill ride. Estimated 3hrs. Including educational & cultural stops where the guide will explain about Balinese life, traditions & culture.  - This was freaking amazing. It was mostly downhill as described and the back roads we cycled on were nearly empty. The whole thing was very safe and we were expertly guided by a dude called Edi. We stopped first at a traditional balinese house with its rooms, kitchen and temple, and heard a fascinating description of some of the local customs. Edi's accent was quite strong and my girl had some difficulty understanding him but I pretty much got all he said.Plus he was polite, professional and extremely knowledgeable.

We then stopped at a point in the road with loads of big spiders in the trees above us. The Aussie kid who was cycling next to me was telling me he was a bit "spiderphobic" and next thing you know Edi carefully picks one up from a nearby tree and asks who wants to hold it. I did and after marveling at it for a wee bit i handed it to the spiderphobe's younger brother.

Edi then returned the massive arachnid to his home in the trees and we carried on. 
Not mentioned in the itinerary were a visit to a gigantic banyan tree.

 and a cool stop at a beautiful rice field. This photo I got there reminded me of the cover for Depeche Mode's  "A broken frame."

- “Finish” point for those who had enough & want to go straight to restaurant by car, others can continue.  - The trip on the van at the end of the cycling tour was about twenty minutes I guess. Everything cool. This is the guy who rode a tandem with my nervous girlfriend in the back. This is an option for people who don't cycle very well. They can also travel in the van right behind the bikes. He was awesome just like everybody else in the tour.

for the uphill (more intense) part, about 40 min. -  We skipped this bit and went straight to the restaurant. We were starving!

- Balinese lunch buffet at Pejeng Restaurant.  - This was delicious, traditional buffet in a very nice restaurant.

- After lunch we can either drop you at your accommodation OR at Monkey forrest in Ubud. (If you
choose to be dropped at Monkey Forest Ubud you make your own way back to your accommodation.)  - They dropped us off back at "Sania's house" in Ubud. It was absolutely awesome and I can't recommend these guys enough. The link below is their website.

Awesome cycling and other types of tours