World ARC crews in Bali
by World Cruising Club on 12 Sep 2014
Rice Terraces World Cruising Club
http://www.worldcruising.com
Today, September 11, 26 World ARC Crews spent the day on a tour to the Kintimani Volcano. Participants were treated to a wide range of cultural, religious and artistic experiences along the way. Benoa harbour is not the most attractive part of Bali so it was a welcome change of scenery, having escaped the morning rush hour, to firstly visit the culturally interesting town of Celuk.
Participants visited a silversmith’s workshop where the craftsmen explained how they start from the raw materials of silver and bronze to make beautiful items of jewellery. A demonstration showed first-hand the intricate and skilled work.
On route to the next stop, at Mas, it was interesting to see the different styles of architecture in the various settlements. Many of the buildings include locally crafted stone detailing and solid wood doors and window frames. One also sees the family plots, bounded by ornate stone walls which enclose the family and several other shrines as well as the family house.
Mas is known as the centre of the island’s woodcarving industry. Participants were able to see first-hand the skilled workers making beautiful wood carvings. Some of the carvings can take a month to complete and use a variety of different woods. Some woods such as Crocodile wood are home-grown but other timbers such as teak are imported from places such as nearby Java.
The tour then moved on to Goa Gajah or Elephant gift temple. In order to respect religious beliefs participants were issued with sarongs to cover any exposed flesh before entering. This temple site is set in a deep bowl of rock and has many levels of smaller stone platform areas and water features. Covering the surrounding rock cliffs are cascading green vine branches which make a striking backdrop to the stone caved shrines. Our tour guide for the day, Arsa, explained the various religious symbols around the temple and their significance to the Hindus of Bali. On leaving the temple there was one more surprise when participants had the opportunity to handle a large python!
It was now time for a coffee break and the participants were treated to a tour around the Plantation Gardens where many different fruits and beans are grown. Participants were able to taste ten different varieties of coffee and tea which are grown on the plantation. The most interesting of these was, without doubt, the Luwak coffee bean which has first passed through the digestive system of the Luwak animal. This process aids the flavouring of the bean and it is actually a much sought after and expensive type of coffee.
Lunch was taken at a restaurant high up in the hills of Bali at Kintamani. Participants were able to enjoy a fantastic Indonesian buffet overlooking Mount Batur volcano and the lakes below. This volcano last erupted in 2000 although the biggest eruption, which significantly altered the surrounding landscape was in August, 1924. On the day on the World ARC visit, thankfully all seamed relatively quiet.
The tour then headed off to visit one of Bali’s most famous temples, the Holy Spring or Gunung Kawi Temple. Along the route to this temple the tour passed by the rice terraces of Tegalalang where participants were able to take pictures. Both provided picture postcard views but also showed what the real Bali is about.
At the end of the tour participants passed on their thanks and appreciation to Arsa for his interesting and very insightful World Cruising website
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