Travel from Ubud to Lovina, with a few stops...

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Geo: -8.16799, 115.027

Traveling from Ubud on the south side of the big volcano in Bali to Lovina Beach on the north side of the island means going up and over the biggest volcano on the island. On a road barely wide enough for two cars to pass each other, with no line down the middle, no guard rails and a wing and a prayer. On the way down the other side, even though I was sitting in the front seat, I had to open the window and breathe deeply. My driver had just a little English, and I managed to communicate "many turns" to him, to which he replied, "yes, 175 I counted once". So, just a few switchbacks to get up and then down the other side. Good thing I had the good fortune to have a light breakfast and packed a Fanta for the ride. That little bottle of orange soda saved my life.

On a happier note, the views from the top of the mountain are simply fantastic. I suggested a couple of stops I wanted to make along the way and my driver, wait for it -- Wyan (of course!) said no problem. So we stopped at Pura Ulun Danu which is this fantastic little temple situated high up on a lake inside the volcano, and then at Gitgit waterfalls. Which is this cool "twin' waterfall where two streams of water come down into the same little pool. It wouldn't be so fantastic if it were just that, but to make it even cooler one of the water sources is a surface stream from higher up on the volcano and the other waterfall source is a natural spring. My guide apologized for the fact that one of the waterfalls was all muddy because of the "big rain' we had that morning, but I thought that was the coolest part, because you could see that the two waterfalls were different colors - the surface one all muddy from the rain and the spring falls were pristine. And there they were right next to one another in the same spot.

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Photos

a - Lake Bratan, Puru Ulun Danu Temple 1
A small side Buddhist temple here.

b - Lake Bratan, Puru Ulun Danu Temple 2
This temple has two small buildings, both built just off the coast of Lake Bratan. Looks a little bit like the Loche Ness in this weather! LOL, same overcast rainy day as that day!

c - Lake Bratan, Puru Ulun Danu Temple 3
The Temple from the north.

d - Lake Bratan, Puru Ulun Danu Temple 4
Close up of the frog guards, they are on all four corners of the temple.

e - Lake Bratan, Puru Ulun Danu Temple 5
The temple from the south, and a local fisherman and his son taking advantage of the nice weather =)

f - Lake Bratan, Puru Ulun Danu Temple 6
Some of the fantastic landscaping on the Temple grounds.

G - Gitgit Falls
Ok, so they said the falls weren't really that far from the road and it was an easy walk to get there. NOT! LOL! It took forever to get there and it was really steep. Plus it has rained that morning and all the mossy stones were really slick. Luckily I had a great guide, Wyan, who didn't mind holding my hand most of the way. =) These are some Bali coffee beans that Wyan pointed out on the hike down to the falls.

H - Gitgit Falls
I knew it! I just knew that I'd forget the name of these things before I posted this picture. It was too slippery for me to take out my PDA and jot it down so I repeated it five times in my head, and now I've got no idea. Anybody? Papya? Mango? Avacado? LOL!

I - Gitgit Falls
The fantastic Wyan showing me the spices that he and his brother collect from the jungle here and package up for tourists to buy. He showed me where most of these grow, white pepper, lemon grass, cool!

J - Gitgit Falls
I might be totally sticky from the muggy hiking, but I'm still smiling! You can see Lovina Beach way down in the distance behind me. Gitgit falls is only about half way down the volcano. (Perfect timing for a break from the descent though, and a chance to buy another Fanta. Ugh!)

Q - Gitgit Falls
Jack Fruit, these things are mammoth and sold on the road side fruit stands everywhere. They smell, they smell so strong you smell them way before you see them, even when you are whipping past them on the road. The smell is like really ripe fruit, but with the transportation capacity of a skunk spray, potent stuff. If you eat it, you need to make sure the person you are sleeping next to ate it too.

R - Gitgit Falls
A Ginger flower! How many times have I peeled and chopped ginger root and never once did it occur to me that the root must have an accomanying plant! It never even crossed my mind what a Ginger plant would look like! Well here it is!

S - Gitgit Falls
See that the falls on the left are filled with sediment from the mornings rain run-off, and the falls on the right are all clear because they came from the springs.