Over the years I have found an irresistible compulsion to get in touch with the magical views of the country side and the 'real' Bali. This time around the C BALI TOUR was at the very top of our list mainly because Rach was born Australia and I was hoping to learn a lot from her. While the Balinese really do their best to educate tourists about their way of life the broken English and lack of experience about the way we live meant that I had the most of the pieces to the Balinese puzzle but there were a still quite a few pieces missing.
On our last cycling adventure we knew we were in big trouble as soon as the young athletic tourists started piling into our pick up van. On that trip I was too busy to see much of the country side because I was focused on holding on for my dear life while trying to keep up with the swift athletic pack on that bike. Fortunately C BALI has a limit of only 6 people on each tour so at least that was a very positive sign.
I needn't have been concerned on this tour as the tour was small enough so we could get to know some really lovely people and the cycling wasn't too strenuous or swift at all compared to the other dizzy and crowded cycling tours. In fact we could have cycled for even longer. Phew! What a huge relief!
We have joined many cultural tours on our jaunts to Bali however, what sets this tour apart form the rest is that Rach and Sibran speak perfectly clear english. Rach was able to describe the Balinese way of life from a western perspective without sugar coating it and suddenly everything became crystal clear and brought everything into focus. This tour is down to earth and serious must do for newbies and even those who have been around the Bali block a few times.
It was awesome to see that Rach and Sibran are also very sensitive and in tune into the traditional way of village life as we all should be. It was very clear and heart warming to see the love and respect that they have for the traditional people living there as well as the land. All of the hard work that they have put into the school is simply a-mazing. They don't just talk about living life to the fullest they are actually doing it full time by actively helping so many others. They should be commended for what they are achieving.
On the C Bali tour Rach and Sibran are a hard working couple who will personally drive you to Mt. and Lake Batur. The view here is absolutely magnificent and breath taking with great wow factor. We visited one of the houses which turned out to be great as we got to experience the sunny and beautiful personalities of the people in the village. The whole quiet and quaint village ironically reminded me of Pompeii:)
I was so glad that this tour really gives you to opportunity to let you soak in all of the fine visual and verbal details in rather than following a swift and glossy pace. Give yourself the time to stop, look at all the fine details and smell the roses... I mean frangipani :P
However, it must be said that this tour is not for the faint hearted pampered princess. It an interesting bond girl adventure that is definitely hands on. The bike riding and the canoeing is a lot of fun. The hardest part of the whole tour was carrying and balancing the canoe after giving those shaky biceps a work out while canoeing. We have new respect for those women carrying heavy goods on their head. It was also quite a challenge to keep paddling on course and away from sharp bamboo or the fish nets but apparently we endured some challenging winds that day. It was a good lesson in teamwork with Hubby. We many not have quite mastered the art of fluent and relaxing canoeing but we had fun trying to do our best to look kind of graceful:P LOL!
It was definitely a long day but we certainly were not left with any disappointments. The lunch was especially great. Thanks to the chef who also kindly looked after us. We laughed a lot and certainly learned a lot:)
www.c-bali.com
Make sure that you are completely sun safe. I even got sun burnt on the part of my hair. Bring a hat, sunblock and tissues.
I could go on and on about my favourite things on this tour but as they say a picture tells a thousand words so check out this link to our photos. Bear in mind that even pictures do not do this area justice :D
http://smedley.id.au/bali2012/C-Bali
Semoga harimu menyenangkan :D!!