Bali Tourism News

Welcome to the jungle - northern Bali

February 27th, 2009

Written by Rebecca Mwase

Forget Kuta: an untouched wilderness awaits in northern Bali

Imagine escaping deep into a wild lush jungle where a guide you’ve never met before (but place your complete trust in) leads you into the depths of an untouched wilderness. Now picture a pathway made by chopping your way through the undergrowth with a machete until, behold, you stumble across hidden waterfalls, exotic wildlife and the most memorable adventure of your life. Welcome to northern Bali.

Yes, that’s right: Bali.

In an attempt to offset the hustle and bustle of Shanghai, we deliberately avoided the fleshpots and headed to the more rural and remote areas of this paradise island. Lovina is a string of villages where we found a quiet little bungalow (Kubu Lalang) that offered jungle trekking with locals as an excursion. We expected a tame waltz through a few overgrown palm trees, and maybe a few creeping vines, but the walk itself towards this jungle completely threw us off track.

The road weaved through rice fields, up back roads and eventually towards a steep incline. The initial path was concrete, but we took a sidewalk running through the wilderness. It trails alongside a stream bringing water down from the hills and, at intervals, we saw the locals washing their clothes and carting water to their homes.

At an old dam guarded by an altar to the gods, the pathway ends and the real trekking begins. Watching our guides for clues, we wondered how they could effortlessly maneuver through this restricted space. Wearing only flip-flops and jugging backpacks full of provisions, they became modern-day Mowglis leading bewildered urban folk through their secret land. Without them, you wouldn’t last a day.

The first revelation: Everything around you is alive and bearing fruit. From elephant grass to cotton trees, papaya, coffee, chocolate, guava and banana, the jungle is ripe with fresh offerings for sampling along the way. A special treat (and one native to Indonesia) is the snake fruit. After pulling back the mottled reddish-brown skin and biting in, there’s a sharp tangy taste that many liken to durian – only much, much better. The guides can identify every tree you pass, and even climb a few to toss you down a tasty citrus treat.

Once in the bush, you are led through dead trees, long grass and deep mud. Beware, leeches hiding in this wet, fragrant place cleverly find ways to attach themselves to your unsuspecting limbs. My companion was host to one of these little bloodsuckers for almost two hours before it was spotted and cast aside with disgust.

Most waterfalls on tourist treks are just cunning ploys to pique your interest, but this entire trek was a fascinating exception to that rule. We happened upon a wall of rock and water, a good 100m tall, flanked by an abundance of vegetation and a mound of clustered coffee plants. As we waded through the cold, clear, ankle-deep water, we could only wonder what treasures we’d happen upon next. We soon found a second waterfall, a much-needed resting place and a perfect spot for a tranquil photo op.

As the trek wound down through lush terraced rice fields, the sky became mirrored in the glassy wet surface of the pools. The air was so clean and bright we wondered how we could ever bring ourselves to return to Shanghai – this was before somebody mentioned lunch. Most of your lunch here comes from the jungle, and is collected on route. The plates are made from banana leaves and the wild peppers, lemongrass, limes and shallots are all freshly picked, natural and whole. These culinary delights are mixed with handfuls of pre-cooked chicken and served with shavings of rice, dried noodles and peanuts nestled in the arm of the most versatile of plants. Everything is devoured with the hands.

We sat eating under a gazebo, gazing at the idyllic view of jungle forest, the rice terraces, the cultivated land flowing into the towns and the sea upon the horizon – and we realized that Bali could just possibly be the original Garden of Eden.

Source: http://shanghai.urbanatomy.com

Entry Filed under: Bali Tourism News