Bali 2013 - Day 7

Today we're headed up to Bedugul to try out the high ropes courses at Bali Treetop Adventure Park.  We planned for an early departure, because it is a long drive, and the clouds roll in shortly after noon, obscuring the views.  So we didn't eat breakfast, just snacked on things we had at the bungalows.  Our friend and driver Nyoman Santra stopped by for a bit to chat and apologize for not being available last night.  One thing led to another, and an hour or two went by before we were finally ready to leave.

Made usually takes us on a quite scenic route to Bedugul, but this time he said we needed to go "the regular way" because he thought there might be some closed roads along his preferred route.  No problem!  

We had nothing else planned, and we know about the clouds, and we've seen the view.  Well, the regular way was, as Made said, a very artistic road - full of very large potholes and places where the road had crumbled away to one lane or less.  But Bali is always an adventure, and we made it through with no damage to persons or property.

By the time we got to Pacung, we were starving and ready for the buffet at Pacung Indah.  We've been coming here for years, but the place is under new management now, so we weren't sure what to expect.  It hasn't changed much.  The staff is still attentive and the food is still good.  They did run out of one of the buffet items while we were there, but they replaced it with another choice, and we did arrive later than usual, after all.  The buffet was 80,000 per person, with soft drinks etc. extra.  The drivers are usually fed separate from their group, but Made is not just a driver, he's family, so we always have him eat at our table.  Not a cheap meal by Bali standards, but it is all you can eat, and the buffet includes salad, bread, rice, noodles, soup, meat and vegetable dishes, krupuk, fruit, dessert and coffee or tea, so it still goes on my list.  Oh, and while we were here, the clouds did indeed roll in to obscure the view, and it even started to rain a bit.

After lunch we continued up the mountain to the Botanical Garden.  There was a fee of 84,000 to enter the garden, which I believe was 12,000 for the car and 18,000 for each person.  Made parked next to the ginormous statue of Kumbakarna Laga and we all piled out.  The entrance to the tree top park is just to the left of the statue.  After paying our fees, we got rigged up and instructed, then we jumped right in.  Macaela and I started on the Green course, and then did Orange.  They were challenging and fun and not too scary.  Jake skipped ahead, starting on the Orange course, then moving on to Red, then Black.  We all three finished up at about the same time, and Jake suggested we all do the Blue course together.  I wasn't entirely worn out, so we headed back up into the trees.  We made it through most of the course, but Macaela and I both lost our arms on the vertical net and had to be brought down by one of the guides.  

Okay, so we didn't really lose our arms, they just wore out and there was no going further.

We all turned in our rigging and stumbled back to the car where Made was taking a nap.  Driving out of the park, the rain really started coming down.  The trip back down the mountain is always faster than going up, and the rain just makes it that much more exciting!  Along the way, Made stopped at a roadside stand and bought some local sweet treats for us to try.  There were some little green ball things full of syrup of some sort, and some banana slices wrapped in some kind of sticky pastry.  Both were topped with finely shredded coconut.  They were good - I wish I had gotten him to write down what they were called.  After that stop, we rocketed down the mountain listening and singing along to American rock music and eating Balinese goodies.  It was a fun end to a long day.