Lakes, Craters and Volcanoes- Oh My!!!

I left Ubud with my luggage strapped to my trusty little bike and headed north to Lake Bratan- “the area of pretty lakes” according to my Lonely Planet. The drive was fantastic – long country roads and then winding mountain roads with very little traffic through rice paddies, jungles and small villages. However, the “area of pretty lakes” was nice but nothing spectacular mostly due to the clouds that roll in every afternoon and hinder what should have been amazing views.
I then headed to Lake Batur a beautiful lake at the bottom of a huge caldera with three active volcanoes. The views here were stunning. One day I got up at 4 AM for a sunrise trek up to the top of the volcano. It was a really tough 2 hour climb in the dark over volcanic rock and deep sand and unfortunately when we reached the top the clouds robbed us of our sunrise- it was still pretty cool to walk around the rim of the volcano that drops 75 meters down and see the steaming sulfur pits. There was also a great view of the huge eruption that happened in either 1926, 1995 or 2000 (I had conflicting dates from everyone I asked). It was crazy to see how far the lava had flown- now harden to a large black wasteland that fans down from the volcano.

I really liked this little mountain town and spent a few days walking around hanging out with the villagers farming their land, boys flying homemade kites and a fisherman who attempted to give me a ride in his canoe- a dig-out tree trunk- but had to take me back after only 2 minutes because the shaky vessel had me concerned about the safety of my camera.

It’s always surprising all the little special things that happen while I’m traveling. Like finding internet at the end of a small dirt trail run by a man named (no joke) Pineh Colada who invited me to hear his neighborhood music and dance group play, or playing beach volleyball with a bunch of kids at dusk, or crying alongside the entire village at funerals for two nine-year-old girls who drowned.
The funerals were both heartbreaking and terribly interesting. The whole village comes out to pay their respects- music is playing, everyone is arguing about the proper way to decorate the grave covered with flowers, photos and gifts- it’s chaotic. One child was buried with a new pink tee shirt, satin panties, a coloring book and her favorite scruffy old teddy bear. Her mother had to be held up by the rest of the family as she wailed by the gravesite.
Well that about sums up my Bali experience. It was a great place to start after leaving The World By Road. The people were incredible friendly and always had a warm smile to share. Plus traveling here was a piece of cake compared to Africa. I’m feeling inspired again…