Day 4: Gianyar - Kintamani

We had breakfast at 7:45 am today. After that, we started packing our suitcases so that we could be ready by a few minutes before 9 am and be welcomed by our guide, Dola.

Our luggage was loaded and the journey began.

First, we went to the Tegalalang Rice Terraces. Here, you can have a great view of the terraced rice fields and take a walk along the rice fields.

After that, we visited the Gunung Kawi and Tirtha Empul Temple. In the Tirtha Empul Temple, there was a large Koi pond where Bastian bravely put his finger in. There was holy water for a cleansing ceremony. For this, you have to wear a special sarong, then go into the water, pray in front of each water spout (from left to right), and splash the water on your face or let it run over your head. However, we did not do this.

The temple visits made us hungry. We stopped at a small shop by the road where we could choose different meats and vegetable side dishes with rice. We also got a small soup. We quickly realized that this typical Indonesian food was incredibly spicy. The soup was too spicy even for Anna. It took some time for our lips to regain feeling.

We continued towards Kintamani. We made a stop for café tasting. The Luwak Coffee is very famous here. It is made from the semi-digested coffee beans from the droppings of the jungle-dwelling civets. Papa and Bastian had to try it, of course. Anna preferred a vanilla coffee.

Arriving in Kintamani, we checked into the Lakeview Hotel. Unfortunately, due to the fog, the lake was not really visible. After a short walk, a stop for drinks, and buying snacks, we returned to the hotel.

There, we redeemed our vouchers - every cocktail came with a free snack. We enjoyed our cocktails with spring rolls, fries, bruschetta, and fried cheese, and even managed to catch a glimpse of the lake in between.

After an early dinner, it was time to go to bed because the wake-up call was set for 3 am.