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| Tamar and John walking along the path |
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| The irrigation canals parallel the path |
Another beautiful cool Bali morning, heralded by the gentle pre-dawn crowing of the roosters.
After a leisurely morning, we headed east to the Yellow Flower Cafe along the narrow paths between houses and paddy fields along the ridge running parallel to Jalan Raya. Small irrigation canals run alongside the path and at times the path is itself made of cement pavers laid across the canals themselves. There is an incredibly intricate web of these canals the deliver water to a succession of rice paddies slowly dropping in altitude.
The similarities and contrasts between western Bali and Holland are interesting. Both are very green, have an abundance of water and depend on canals for irrigation. But Holland is flat and almost always windy and Bali is cut by deep valleys running north-south and has very little wind - at least at this time.
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| The huge bee (approx 2.5cm long) |
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| The Yellow Flower Cafe (from Trip Adviser) |
The Yellow Flower Cafe is only a few hundred meters away, overlooking the fields, and surrounded by lush vegetation - and the insects that depend on it. I'd already seen the giant wasps that frightened Simone on our first trip here when she was 8 years old but here were giant black bees (I'm told harmless) gathering pollen from the overhanging orchid - As one patron who jumped out of her seat when one dropped on her said "they're so big you can hear their wings beating!".
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| Caterpillar |
There were giant tree snails and yellow and black caterpillar with what looked like
banderillas sticking out of its back. John also said they'd seen a large green snake there last week.
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| Spicy green beans |
For breakfast we selected eggs on toast (
what seemed to be a corn bread) again which came this time with a spicy tomato sambal and a sambal matah (r
aw shallot & lemongrass) along with shredded carrot and lettuce - it was delicious. We also ordered a side dish of spicy green beans - which is exactly what arrived, with a hint of chilli and finely shredded fresh coconut.
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| View from the path |
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| Offering in the carpark |
After brunch, I headed off along the path to explore while T&J returned to the house. There is quite a nice feel on this side of the river from Ubud - much more laid-back and scenic because of the steeper hills.
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| Bintang shopping centre |
After only a short while I arrived at the rear of the Bintang (Star) supermarket complex. I've been reminded again of how much religion permeates the cuture here with small shrines everywhere and the delicate fresh daily offerings of flowers and food in the most unexpected places - including the middle of a car-parking area.
The department store/supermarket itself is quite large and has most of the requirements for daily life, plus lots of tourist nic-nacs.
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| Real estate agent |
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| Advertisement for the Adam Gym |
Apparently there's quite an expat community in Penestanan - and I can understand why as the this area is really nice, very lush & green - there's even a local real estate agent.
There is also a gym in the complex, pumping out the usual house music - much to the annoyance of these expats in the surrounding area here for the quietitude.
