On one of my Bali days I joined a minibus day tour, taking in a few of the places of interest to the east and north of Ubud. I had the pleasure of the company of a selection of young international backpackers, every one of whom provided delightful, intelligent company. Nobody spent any time at all playing with their mobile phone!
The first three stops were at nearby Hindu temples, known in tour guide shorthand as 'Cave Temple', 'Rock Face Temple', and 'Water Temple'.
'Water Temple' presented quite a spectacular scene, with crowds of tourists, domestic and international, shuffling forward for their turn under the holy water spouts. Some of my group would have liked to join them, but our slightly impatient tour guide didn't seem to be encouraging it.
We then called in at the Santi coffee plantation at Tampaksiring, where they grow coffee, chocolate, and tea, and a selection of spices to go with them. They also produce kopi luak (luwak coffee), using caged civets to do the eating and pooing of the coffee berries. None of the organic, free range, ethical 'cat-poo coffee' to be had here. And none of the group wanted anything to do with it.
But everyone happily got stuck into the tasting tableful of teas, cocoa, and more traditional coffees, some of which were very nicely spiced up.And I'm quite a fan of the bog-standard Bali coffee anyway, and bought lots.
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