Distance cycled: 51.1km from Ubud to Kedisan
Average speed: 14.3km/h
Moving time: 3h35m
Total distance: 3889km
Border X'ings: 3
Money spent: $65
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Today is exactly one year since I fell from my bicycle in Turkey breaking my left collarbone, the good news is that it is all well and good and in no way a hindrance to cycling.
So, today, another day of exploration of Bali, normally I set off cycling with a preloaded route on my GPS guiding me in the right direction to my next destination; today though I thought I would just wing it and make my way to Gunang Batur without the use of this preemptive helpful feature of my GPS device, I mean how hard can it be? Uphill and North... Right? As it turns out, pretty difficult as I found myself miles from nowhere on terrible roads only having to backtrack to the main road where the higher I got the steeper the terrain became.
Eventually I made it to the crater rim where I had lunch overlooking the lake within the caldera (Danau Batur) but not before meeting a local guide named 'Benny' who convinced me to organize the tour/trek through him; again, like every touristy destination in Indonesia it was very expensive but when I set off tomorrow in the early hours of the morning I have be reassured that it is well worth it. Included in the bartered $60 price was accommodation for the night, a guide for the morning, two food breaks and some coffee sampling, the latter being something I did today as a free gesture from Benny's family coffee farm. This was actually pretty neat, I got to try a variety of different coffees and teas including a coffee blend that has be passed through the gut of a small marsupial like animal called a "Luwak".
This special blend is worth it's weight in gold costing up to $3,000 per kilogram!? Apparently the luwak's stomach acids and enzymes break down the beans proteins and yields more amino acids and in turn produces unique flavor and lowers their bitterness - it was good but I am no coffee connoisseur.
The run downhill from the lip of the caldera was epically fun as I aggressively passed all the traffic due to my brakes not working all that well. I was then taken to the hotel where I'd be spending the night but before it got dark and began to rain I unloaded my gear and cycled alongside the lake viewing the volcanic landscape of the caldera.
Later I joined a beautiful Spanish girl for dinner trying out the local fried fish from the lake mere meters away from where we ate.
It was an early night as I had to wake at 3:30 the next day.
Trying various tea’s and coffee’s
Gunang Batur
Pictures taken within the caldera.
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