Feeding The Stomach and The Eyes at Kintamani

So – WE arrived at Kintamani after stopping briefly at the farm called Wedang Sari to see for ourselves how the world-renowned Luwak Coffee is actually made out of an animal’s dung. LOLThe volcanic Mount Batur might not be at its best looks with the tip being shrouded by thick clouds and all but the experience of sitting on the verge of something and see the whole of it right before my eyes – I could have passed out right there. LOL!So – we didn’t simply stop there for the scenery. The scenery was of course the biggest extra to everything but people actually come to Kintamani to have lunch.Having lunch while looking at the astonishing view of Batur Lake and Batur Volcano was something that you shouldn’t miss out on when you come to Bali. Please – it’s much more worthy then looking at the sagging flesh of mat salleh out on the beach of Kuta and Sanur.90000 rupees (RM32/USD10) is all you need to fish out from your big fat wallet to get a buffet lunch for your hungry stomach and the view for your eyes and soul.The food is quite of a variety actually. I tried to scoop up a bit of everything so that I could have a taste of all the dishes there were but I didn’t want to spoil my pictures by eating too much and letting myself be photographed with a bulging belly. *kiddingThe thing is, I was so amazed by the view. The beauty of it was eating up on me that everything I ate suddenly felt bland and tasteless. I don’t remember how exactly the food had tasted like but I DO remember sipping on my cup of hot coffee and shaking my head in disbelief – you know, it was one of those ‘too good to be true’ moments. He.WE were seated next to a super-friendly guy from India who was there with his mother. His face lightened up when I told him that we were from Malaysia.“Ahhhhhh! I’ve been to Malaysia! A few times! Which part of Malaysia are you in?”.

His face brightened up ever more when I told him I was from Sabah.

“Aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I’ve been to Sabah! Once! I like it there especially Kota Kinabalu. It’s very nice! So you flew directly from Sabah to Bali?”.

I told him I was working in KL and the mention of KL didn’t seem to please him. “I lost my wallet there. Somebody pick-pocketed it when I was on a train”, he told me with a sullen face as if telling how unsafe KL is to a Malaysian like me is such a big and difficult task.“Oh well, I’ve been mugged three times in KL so far”, I told him, almost indifferently. And I actually told him the truth.

“India might be big and overly populated but you’d feel safe when you’re there”, he assured me when I told him I was going to India in a few months’ time.

I silently said AMEN to that.

I wish we could stay there longer but of course we had other places to go. Besides, the fact that the restaurant was on the very verge of some cliff or something and I couldn’t even see the basement of it was giving me a goosebump. Just imagine if the whole thing suddenly colla … OK, I don’t even want to imagine. Not now, not then. I wish I didn’t watch too much of Al-Jazeera. LOLzSo – we continued our journey towards Mount Agung – or rather a temple called Besakih at the foothill of it  as our next destination. It was beginning to drizzle a bit but I refused to look at it as a bad omen or something. Mind to tell you that you can actually view Mount Batur and Batur Lake from many other different spots of the area so you don’t have to spend 90,000 rupees over lunch if the intention was merely for the view. The lunch is an OPTION.There was a long stretch of road that allows you to get the view of Mount and Lake Batur from exactly the same angle although you might have to deal with the distraction caused by the insistent peddlers.Going to Besakih Temple requires you go on a zig-zagging road across mountainous countryside. It was a totally different part of Bali where you’d get to see different setting of houses and villages that indicate different lifestyles of the people. In this part of Bali, you wouldn’t really see much of paddy fields but more of vegetables or just plain highland bushes.I gotta tell you that Besakih Temple is very much worth to be considered in your list of to-be-visited places in Bali. It might be quite far from the rest of the attractions but believe me – it’s worth the long ride. In fact, it has suddenly become one of the highlights in our whole trip to Bali, not only for its magnificence buildings and majestic surroundings, but also for what we call the ‘un-holy experiences’ at the temple.You gotta follow me to the next post to know what  are these so-called un-holy experiences that I’m DYING to write about.