Roadtrip to Penebel in Central Bali-part II
During this road trip I took my plastic map of Bali made by Berndtson. Its an okay map but as one soon discovers, there are a ton of roads not on the map. Sometimes I will see a through road that will be a T-junction in reality, or a T-junction. After the cremation ceremony I continued northward through the village (desa) of Buahan and then Pucangan. Temperatures were cooler than in Kuta and even though I had climbed a few hundred few I was not cold. Bali gets 3 harvests a year and one can see the various stages of rice production going on side by side. At every turn I saw locals going about their daily tasks of fixing the sawah (rice field), carrying wood, or chopping some kind of crop. A watermelon harvest was under way in the Canggu area earlier on.
Today I felt like I missed so many great opportunities for good photos just by timing. I would cruise around a bend and some local would be in a picture perfect position. After stopping, getting my camera out and waiting for it to open and focus the shot would be gone. Anyway the best way to get good photos in Bali is to take it slow, not rush around like me. I stopped and said "ken ken kabare" to a lady carrying wood. I asked if she had already eaten and she said 'yes in the field'. Further on a group of guys were fixing a mighty load of bamboo poles. I enjoy taking the smaller roads as the traffic gets thinner and the views get better.
On the road just before Penebel that turns off and winds its way along a ridgeline, I stopped and checked out the valley and the town of Penebel on the opposing ridge. Its amazing really that tight little communities exist on the ridges, nothing to look at in themselves, but are surrounded by lovely scenery. The area around Gunungsari is noted for its rice fields and I can recommend a slow cruise through Gunungsari from Apuan to Pura Luhur Batukaru, if you are planning on seeing that temple. Roads are windy in these hilly parts of Bali and it may seems like you are driving for hours. but in reality you are only travelling a short distance. I love getting lost, exploring side roads, coming to a end and doubling back. One farmer appraoched me as I turned my bike around at his front gate. "Where you go?" he asked. "Jalan jalan." I said. "Oh speak good Indonesian." he said.
The area around Penebel will take about an hour to get to from Kuta, the roads goes up striaght from Tabanan. From there you can just go off and explore.
By Nick | Permalink
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Comments
Very good write up Nick. Thanks so much. I love your “off the beaten track” views of Bali life.
” After stopping, getting my camera out and waiting for it to open and focus the shot would be gone.”
Heh-heh… that’s why I got the “big camera”, by the time yours opens and is ready to shoot, it will have 14 frames in the buffer and 5 frames written to the CF card. And maybe one of those will be a keeper. 
G’day Nick,
Excellent!. This is what I meant when I wrote in the ‘customer feedback’ post about longer posts about you on the road and what you see and experience. It gives us all a part [and feeling] of actually being there with you.
As always mate, beautiful fotos.
Thanks Nick.