After the morning surf, we headed up into the mountains through the ricefields of Blimbing and Sanda, to the clove and coffee growing areas of Pupuan and Munduk. Dawa, our driver, found places for us to stop and take pictures, and today we could see Ganung Batakaru, usually hidden in the clouds. We saw the tall clove trees and smelled the green cloves drying on mats along the road side. Most of the cloves are exported to make Jakartas - the strong clove laced cigarettes that are smoked throughout Indonesia. Vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cocoa are also grown up here on this spice island. We bought some vanilla tea and cocoa, but passed on the cat poo coffee, supposedly a delicacy.
The road climbed steeply, with many switchbacks up the old volcanic slopes flanked by coffee and cloves. We stoped and hiked to a beautiful waterfall near Munduk, the mist filling and cooling the air - a waterfall as majestic as any we had seen in Hawaii. The hike reminded us of Lombok and the stairway to Heaven. Incredible views down to the ocean from Ngiring Ngewedang, where wew stopped for a late lunch. The food was as good as the view - fresh strawberry juice, a delicious tomato soup, satay, and rice noodles with vegetables, to which I added just a touch of the hot pepper sambal. From Munduk, the road descended to the crater lakes of Tamblingan, Buyan and Bratan, where we stopped to visit the temple, Pura Ulum Danu Bratan, to the goddess of the lake Dewi Danu.
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