Day 5 - A real tourist day

Today the alarm clock rang early for us because we had a lot on our schedule: the Tegallalang Rice Terrace, the Pulina Coffee Plantation, and the Pura Tirta Empul Temple. To reach our destinations, we wanted to try our luck renting a scooter again. Since there are hardly any rental services open before 9:00 am, the choice was quickly made: Santi Star's Scooter Rental. Allegedly open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and easily contactable via WhatsApp. After the first contact, we walked about 20 minutes to the scooter rental.

Whoever thinks that you can't learn to ride a scooter on YouTube is mistaken! Erik watched all the tutorials on this topic. Starting and driving off was particularly stressful. If you make a mistake here, there would be unpleasant questions again. So this time he hopped confidently onto the scooter. Then he casually kicked up the stand, pulled the left brake, pressed the ignition button, and the machine started running, at least for now. Now you can accelerate on the right handlebar and brake with the brakes (like on a bicycle). Fortunately, the rental service was in a side street, so Erik initially trundled his first meters on a scooter, wobbly like a newborn deer. The unpleasant questions were then directed at Freya, who stayed behind. 'Yes, he has definitely ridden a scooter before... in Germany... it's been a while...'
We paid, we were shown the papers, and we were given some additional information on how to deal with the police.

We have a scooter! 🛵💨 A Honda Vario.
Erik then familiarized himself with it for a while. Afterwards, the two of us practiced various maneuvers together: accelerating, braking, cornering, and riding at a walking pace. After 30 minutes of training, we felt ready for the road. Our first destination with our new vehicle was the Tegallalang Rice Terrace.

The drive through Ubud was initially a bit stressful, but the further we went out of the city, the emptier the streets became. However, the arrival at the rice terrace was not relaxing at all. We were immediately asked to eat in the restaurant and take pictures on the swings that lined the entire street along the rice terrace (Bali is a real Instagram paradise). First impression: Very touristy. Finally, we found the hiking trail and after paying another 10,000 IDR (0.67€) for crossing the bridges (because that's not included in the entrance fee and if you don't pay, you can't go any further), we were ready to go. Fortunately, the first impression improved and we enjoyed the beautiful view of the rice terrace. We also found a bench for a short rest, where we ordered a fresh coconut and watched it being prepared. The seller was really nice and took some photos of us. Looking at the rice terraces with a coconut in hand - that's something special... We were very happy!😍 Around 11:30 am, our hike ended and the rice terrace began to fill up more and more (so here's a tip: Be there early). We decided to eat in one of the restaurants after all because the view was simply unbeatable. Contrary to what you often experience, the prices were not more expensive than usual.

Refreshed, we only had to drive 9 minutes to our next destination: The Pulina Coffee Plantation. A very nice lady showed us around the entire facility and told us interesting details about the plants. Did you know, for example, that vanilla on Bali has to be pollinated by hand? There are apparently no bees here, so growing vanilla is literally manual work. We also learned that the most expensive coffee in the world comes from the Luwak. The Luwak is fed with coffee beans, and what comes out the other end is the transformed coffee bean that is supposed to taste amazing... We got to find out just how amazing the Luwak coffee really is during the tasting. We had a selection of coffee varieties to try included in the entrance fee. Our conclusion: The Luwak coffee is far too acidic. We would never pay $50 for it in a café. We already liked the regular Bali coffee better. There were also samples of coffee with vanilla, chocolate, ginger, and a cup of pure chocolate. When drinking the cup of pure chocolate, you realize that Milka actually has very little to do with chocolate.
With plenty of caffeine in our blood, we continued towards Pura Tirta Empul.

This is a Hindu-Balinese water temple known for its holy spring water. Balinese Hindus come here for ritual purification, and tourists also like to try out the ritual. Like Freya. Erik preferred to wait in a dry place. To step into the holy water, you have to wear a sarong, which we were luckily able to borrow.

Freya's perspective: After borrowing the sarong (for 10 K), I first went to change in the changing room. Fortunately, a woman helped me tie the sarong, and after some initial difficulties, I looked presentable. I stood in front of the spring water somewhat awkwardly and watched the others. Should I just go into the water? A guide offered to explain the procedure to me, but he wanted 50 K for it, so I preferred to listen to what the others were saying and then ventured into the water. The fact that the woman in front of me turned around immediately didn't give me much courage. But the water was really icy cold. Now it was a matter of working from fountain to fountain. 3 times water on the face, 3 times head under the water. Each fountain has a different meaning. I was then stopped by screams from outside in front of two fountains; apparently, they are only for mourners. The ritual was actually exhausting, and in the end, I was shivering with cold. Unfortunately, the sun had now disappeared as well, and it became a bit colder. Now I faced a problem: I wasn't really prepared for all this. So I didn't have a change of clothes with me. I had dared to go into the water without a bra, but I wanted to keep my underwear on in the holy temple water. 30 minutes on the scooter and visiting the rest of the temple with wet underwear didn't sound inviting. Not wearing any underwear is not ideal with a short skirt either. Fortunately, Erik came to the rescue and lent me his boxers (end of Freya's perspective).

After exploring the rest of the temple, we were led out through some market stalls. We had to go around for a good 15 minutes because we were not allowed to go out in front of the stalls. The ride home went well, and back home we decided to just get something from the supermarket for dinner: bread with hummus, cucumber, tomato, and beer. The shopping actually turned out to be more expensive than eating out here. It's funny when you're "forced" to eat out. We ended the evening on the balcony. We really like it here. And it's great that it stays warm until late at night, and you can sit outside in short clothes.

With that, we want to end this entry about day 5 of our experiences in Bali and greet you again with sunny regards! 🌞