We enter Bali with a slightly different agenda to our previous travels, prioritising spending time with family and friends, exploring the less travelled parts of Central Bali away from the tourist throngs, meeting up with fellow’s in the land rover community, seeking out authentic Balinese food and getting some work done on Betty, some necessary and some to make her that little bit prettier.
Exiting the ferry in Padang Bai, we headed down to Nusa Dua, immediately noticing the increased traffic intensity. We had found a lovely little spot in the back streets of Nusa Dua, close to where my cousin and his wife were staying and also close to authentic good food. We had a lovely day with Darren and Christine lounging next to the pool in their resort (a little bit of a step up from where we were staying!) and then had some relaxed time with Susi getting some spa time, eating great food including our first Ayam Betutu and Babi Guling of the trip (we were to indulge on this food for the next month!).
We had probably underestimated how much we would miss the kids on the trip and given they both had their mid year break from Uni, organized for them to fly up to Bali for a week of quality time together. We had a wonderful week in Seminyak and Canggu spending time just chatting and catching up and for them also to have a few nights embracing the Bali nightlife! We were really lucky that another cousin was also visiting Bali so got to catch up with Jason and his wife Sarah for lunch at Warung Made and also catch up with great friends Simon and Pia from our Jakarta days in the early 2000’s.
Betty also got some attention during this period. She had some immediate needs – a leak from the injectors and a general service were priority. We had made contact earlier with Putu Andy, President of the Bali Land Rover Club and he recommended his friend, 4×4 legend, Land Rover Mechanic and super nice bloke; Bli Gede. We went to his workshop and nothing was a problem. An additional bonus was wandering around his workshop checking out the 4×4’s, some his and some clients. Almost all had been heavily modified, some set up for extreme 4x4ing and others that looked pristine originals (on the surface). With the cost and limited availability of land rover parts in Indonesia, many are modified to utilize more available less costly parts. There are stacks of different engine options used, including Diahatsu 2.8’s from the local Tafts, Toyota engines from Prado’s, Land Cruisers and Dyna’s and then a collection of combinations of diffs and gearboxes. He also had a HQ Holden Wagon at the back of his workshop that was getting a 4.0 V8 Toyota transplant. His own Series 3 was an absolute piece of art (not in a pretty way) and had been very much used for purpose (maybe abused?). An absolute playground for 4×4 enthuisiasts.
We had been thinking for a while that Betty could do with some smartening up. While mechanical maintenance has always been uncompromised, she was starting look a little tatty. Every time I have sought out panel work in Australia it is met with much rolling of eyes. They really don’t like working with Aluminium. Indonesia is renown for its craftsmanship / artisanship. They will take the time to repair rather than replace, which sits well with me. One of the wheel guards had torn, the headlight surround had a chunk taken out of it and all of the panels had the scars of a full life, driven for its purpose. After receiving a glowing recommendation from Bli Gede and meeting up with Pak Firman, we locked in the work to have all repaired before undertaking a complete respray. We are so happy with the result.
In between works we spent a lovely two days at Virgin Beach on the East Coast
and then spent a great weekend camping with Bli Gede, his wife Mbok Sinta, Putu Andy and a number of other members of the Bali Land Rover Club. Just as in Australia, there is nothing better than sitting around a campsite, talking all things Land Rover and the ways of the world. The following day we explored some great vantage points to view Mount Agung and then finished up with a swim in the river. Such a lovely weekend.
With Betty scheduled in for two weeks with Pak Firman, we booked an AirBnB up in Ubud to use as our base to relax and explore Central Bali. We hired a motorbike and had a great time heading up into the mountains area’s of Mount Batur , the temples a little closer to Ubud, some waterfalls and the fascinating Trunyan.
We started with Gunung Kawi Tampaksiring, an 11th Century temple dedicated to King Anak Wungsu, with one side dedicated to his Queen Mahendradatta and their sons and the other side to his favourite minor Queens and Concubines. Impressive site, split by the Pakerisan River and surrounded by paddy fields.
From Gunung Kawi, we headed up to Pura Tirta Empul, a Hindu Water Temple famous for its holy water that bubbles up from a spring within the temple complex. Hindu’s visit for spiritual cleansing and go through a lovely ceremonial process in the pool. There is a line of fountains and at each fountain the worshipper goes through a blessing process, repeated at each one (30 in total). I expect it is a beautiful process to go through. With tourism as it is in Bali, I found it got lost a little with the sheer numbers of people with varying levels of awareness and respect. Seeing some people completely engaged with the prayer processes was great, but the others deciding to start water fights or holding up the people behind until they had the perfect Instagram shot got under my skin a little. After spending quite some time in Eastern Indonesia with much lower levels of tourism, maybe I am a little jaded with the commercialization of spirituality to this level!
We followed with a lovely trip up to Sekumpul Waterfall. While really busy, it still was quite beautiful.
Enroute we stopped in a little village and had the most traditional Babi Guling on the trip to date – it was good! Babi Guling is basically, pork cooked in different ways; roasted, sausage, blood sausage, crackling, fried and then paired with Sambal Matah. We had it many times, but the one in this village seemed the most authentic.
On the move, we then headed up to Trunyan, home of the Aga people and famous for its burial techniques. Instead of cremation (used for most Hindu funerals), the Trunyan people place the bodies directly on the ground, covered by a sheet in a bamboo enclosure where the body breaks down. The Banyan tree located next to the burial area is said to absorb or mask the odours as there is no smell from the bodies. Once the body has decomposed, the bones are then stacked together, creating quite the gruesome view.
I have a soft spot for Balinese dance and this time we watched the Kecak Fire Dance, a performance following the story of Ramayana with graceful dancing supported by the rhythmic chanting of around 50 men. Quite powerful! The dance is followed by a man under trance literally walking on coals. While he looked completely composed while on the coals, he looked completely spent afterwards – the mind power required must have been incredible.
With Betty’s makeover complete, we picked her up and had one last dinner with Putu Andy, his daughter Dinda, Bli Gede and Mbok Sinta, the perfect way to finish our time Bali.
I can not be more grateful to Putu Andy from Land Rover Club Bali and Bli Gede for the help with Betty, but more so the quality time we spent together camping and over meals at various times. We look forward to catching up again. Maybe in 2028 for the Land Rover 80th Anniversary in Cooma?
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