In Reply to: rice field walk? posted by bali girl on Friday, 30. July 2004 at 20:28 Bali Time:
and you end up walking through rice paddies. Also there is a rice paddy walk detailed on page 205 of the Rough Guide to Bali and Lombok.
From JBR 9.
I saw a brown bemo in Monkey Forest Road, and the Rough Guide to Bali & Lombok said brown bemos go past Campuhan, the start of our walk, so in we hopped. The driver and two passengers looked a bit bewildered when I told them were we were going, but without further ado they must have decided we looked like paying customers and before long we were dropped off at the curve in the road at the Campuhan bridge. I was somewhat surprised to see the bemo then do a U turn and head back to town, so figured out I must have hailed down the wrong bemo (how many shades of brown are there? – ah well I had paid them a good price for being hijacked).
We found the Ibah hotel and walked along their driveway to the turnoff to the river. We discovered the bridge to the start of the walk had been washed away and a temporary crossing had been made - a plank with pieces of wood nailed across it to prevent slipping into the deep river valley and the thunderous water below. The boys went across first and I thought heck.. should I risk it? having been so cautious so far not to break a leg or ankle in Bali ... and with their enthusiastic encouragement (even the workmen toiling away stopped working to watch) I crept my way along the plank and was across! I now call it my Indiana Jones experience across the Wos Timor!
The walk (page 213, Rough Guide to Bali & Lombok) is paved for the first few kilometres and gently slopes upwards until you reach the top of the ridge. Two rivers, the Wos Timor and the Wos Barat run on each side of the ridge. It is a very peaceful place with alang alang grass growing about a metre high covering the ridge and we passed two farmers harvesting the grass with long sickles. The grass is used for thatching in houses and temples. To the left we could see hotels that had been built down into the river valley next to the Wos Barat and to the right rice paddy fields across from the Wos Timor. After passing a small temple, Pura Gunung Lebah we stopped at Klub Kokos for a cool drink. The salt-water pool looks nice and their brochure indicates they have 7 bungalows as well as a family unit. They advertise that they can arrange activities such as Balinese dance, hat, basket, kite making, painting, music, and carving through the village next door. They can arrange a very comprehensive Bali Eco and Educational Cycling Tour (360,000 rp) through Pt. Bali Budaya Tours, Jl. Raya Pengosekan Ubud Tel/Fax 975 557 (081 833 6580).
After much needed refreshment we continued our walk through the small village of Bangkiang Sidem; there were small artist's galleries and a stone carver busy at work. The walk continues through rice paddy fields and rural life with a great view of Gunung Agung in the distance until you come to a road where you turn along a road to the left to head back to a main road to catch a bemo back to Ubud. By this time my legs were feeling a bit weary and with another hill ahead to climb I said that's enough and I went back to a road construction crew we had passed and made a request for transport. The boys were amused when I sailed past them on the back of a motorbike where I got off at the main road and sat in the shade waiting for them. Sam arrived about 20 minutes later and because Graeme had got talking to someone at the side of the road, which is a perennial habit he has, and had been given a tour of their new house, he happily arrived in an airconditioned Kijang about 45 minutes later, so we got a nice cool ride back to Ubud.