Schildkröten, rice terraces and many new experiences

Today was a very exciting day for us, a day when we finally got to know Bali properly. After a good breakfast, Janni picked us up. It was so nice that he could speak German, because we could ask him anything that was on our minds - without language barriers. Because the English of the Balinese is unfortunately not very good, communication is sometimes very difficult.

Our first stop was the turtle station. It was only about 30 minutes away from us. There we could look at injured turtles that were rescued from the sea to rehabilitate them. Afterwards, we went to my highlight. For the equivalent of 8€ we could pick a small turtle (who was only 6 days old) from a pool and release it into the sea. Because of the tourists and the beach bars, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the turtles to hatch in nature and find their way to the sea.

We were even able to give our turtle a name and in the end, we even received an adoption certificate with the name of our turtle. Mine was named "Sylvi".

Then we drove about 1 1/2 hours to the water temple "Titra Empul". It is a popular tourist destination, so it was not very nice there. But it was impressive to see the temple in the middle of the water and the sea crashing against the cliffs with its tremendous force.

We enjoyed the view for a moment and then continued to Ubud. There is a coffee plantation where the best coffee in the world is made. This is obtained through a very special process. A very rare kind of cat eats the coffee bean, digests it, and then the coffee bean is collected again from its poop, washed, roasted, and ground. We were able to try a free sample of many different kinds of coffee and tea. We were also shown the plantation, where ginger, chili peppers, cocoa beans, turmeric, and even pineapple were grown. I even learned that it takes 1 year for a pineapple to grow, which fascinated me.

Then we went to our next destination, the rice terraces in Ubud. They were impressive to see and we were told that each level belongs to a farmer and that rice is still grown there today, despite all the tourists. It looked amazingly beautiful to see these high terraces surrounded by palm trees.

After that, our trip with Janni was already over and we went back to our hotel. We were back at 7 pm and after a quick refreshment, we picked up our laundry from the laundry service. We ended the evening at a typical restaurant. There we ate delicious spring rolls and chicken teriyaki. It was a wonderful day and tomorrow we are already going to Gili Meno, to visit our cousin and her family.

But for now, it's time for "Meditation in the Horizontal" a typical Balinese saying. Good night.