A leisurely two hour hike...HA!

Water Temple on Lake Bratan
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Took the Perama shuttle to Candikuning on Lake Bratan located in the mountains almost directly in the center of the island.  Rained for most of the fist day, but still beautiful. Much cooler up here...and cheaper.  Our bungalow, although not a five star resort by any stretch of the imagination, was nice and for only 50,000 rupiah (~$6.00 at the time)/night, a steal.

Walked down to the lake shore to see the water temple - very picturesque even in the dry season when the water is not at its highest levels.

...winding our way up through cloud forest...

Hillary on our 'leisurely two hour hike'
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At the market and along the main street through town there were women with steaming buckets of overcooked corn on their heads.  Looked interesting, so, on day two,  we bought some before we headed out to climb Gunung Catur, the peak that overlooks the lake.

The following is an excerpt Hillary wrote from the journal we kept while traveling:

"An eventful day finds us exhausted and achy in our room...and it's only 3:45 in the afternoon!

We awoke this morning at 5:30 am to the sound of a dozen roosters and the distant (or not so) sound of scooters and trucks from the main thoroughfare that runs through town.  After a quck and delicious breakfast of tea/coffee and a toasted banana sandwhich (jaffle), we headed off to hike the mountain trail to Gunung Catur, which circles Lake Bratan then heads up to the summit at 1920 meters.

Hindu Temple at the summit of Gunung Catur
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Much to our dismay, we followed the guidebook which suggested it was no more than a lively 2 1/2 hour jaunt with some steep points near the top.  We only brought two overcooked pieces of corn, purchased from the women in town carrying steaming buckets of this starch on the cob on their heads and 1.5 liters of water between the two of us.

All was good and fine for the first hour or so.  Getting away from the road was bliss and the trail scenery was perfectly picturesque to say the least.  But, as we neared the 500-meters-to-climb mark, and the trail reached near vertical status, we started to realize we shoud have brought more rations. Whoever wrote the bit in the 'Rough Guide to Bali and Lombok' about this climb lied...

Monkey King in the Botanical Gardens
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Overall the hike up was gorgeous and well worth the pain of the last 500 meters.  We were actually winding our way up through cloud forest and as the clouds passed through, the sunlight created a magnificent Jacob's ladder effect in the jungle.  We dodged viney tendrils, spider webs and huge flying bugs that sounded like outboard motors as we cut through the thick, steamy jungle.

Upon reaching the summit, we found a Hindu ceremony taking place at the temple there.  The 'Priest'  conducting the ceremony was a doctor from Jakarta who, upon seeing us and the German couple we were 'racing' to the summit, gave us some delicious and much appreciated oranges.  When he found out that we had been English teachers in Japan, he offered English teaching positions at the University of Indonesia! Seems his nurses were in need of some intensive English lessons. We took this meeting (they only make this pilgrimage here once every three years) as a good omen for the rest of our trip.

Hill and I in the Botanical Gardens...
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The trek back down was easier going, but made our legs feel like jello by the time we reached the bottom. Had a run-in with a ferocious jungle leach, but he was quickly dispatched and we reached the bottm without further incident.

Watered, fed and showered, we pondered the lessons learned that day:

1. Over cooked corn is not good fuel for hiking

2. Leaches are sneaky little bastards and can feel you coming from quite a distance.

3. Guide books lie.

It was a good day"

The next morning, after wandering through the botanical gardens for a couple of hours and getting stung by some sort of killer plant, we headed north to Lovina and the beach.

At the time, we thought it was a bumpy, curvey, uncomfortable ride...little did we know that this was pure luxury compared to what awaited us in other parts of Asia over the next several months!.  The ride was not without it's pleasures, however, as the scenery was breathtaking and the dozens of gray macaques, many with their young, cutting across the road and playing in the trees as we passed were great entertainment.