Exploring Bali with Kadek

March 6
Meet Kadek…..he’s my driver for the day! He has lived here in Bali all his life. Lives with his wife and two children. His sister lives in Turkey and his brother lives in Miami working on the cruise ships

Kadek picked me up at 8:30 this morning to go to Tirta Empul Temple. Tirta Empul temple is a Hindu Balinese water temple. In Indonesian it means Pura Tirta Empul. One of the busiest water temples in Indonesia, Tirta Empul is a temple considered sacred by Balinese Hindu community. The temple has several holy springs which are said to have been created by The God Indra. It is believed to be blessed water that could purify those who bathe there. The temple compound consists of a bathing structure and contains 2 pools with 30 showers.

In order to enter the temple, I needed to wear a sarong, make sure my shoulders were covered, and my hair tied back. I had to get two offerings with a lit insense held in my right palm and my left palm under it. Sitting in front of the offering table on the ground I had to mediate and ask for permission to enter. Then I had to place one of the offering on the table and the other on the ground.

The holy springs here bubble up into a large, crystal-clear pool within the temple and gush out through 30 waterspouts into the two sacred purification pools. Local Balinese and Hindu worshippers stand in long lines in the pools waiting to dip their heads under the waterspouts in a purification ritual known as melukat. Bathers start in the pool on the left side standing in the pool to the waist under the first water spout. At the spout, you put your hands to your heart (namasta), wash your face three times, then wet your hair under the spout. You move to the next spout and do the same. This process is continued until they have cleansed themselves under each waterspout. However, there are two spouts that are meant only for cleansing the dead and are not to be used by the living.

Behind the purification, pools are the final section of the Tirta Empul Holy Water Temple, called the jeroan. Mostly overlooked by tourists, the jeroan or inner courtyard is a pleasant place where people come to pray. The front part of the courtyard houses the large water spring that feeds the purification pools. The spring is filled with green algae and small fish swim among the reeds.

Behind the springs are large Hindu shrines. Today just happens to be a full moon. The temple was busy!

As you exit the temple, you pass through a large pool filled with koi fish.

Kadek then took me to the Luwak coffee plantation. Luwak coffee is know as civet coffee that consists of partially digested coffee cherries which has been eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet, the locals call them luwaks. These little mammals live in the trees and one of their favorite foods is the red, ripe coffee cherry. The cherries are fermented as they pass through a civet's intestines. After being defecated with other fecal matter the still-intact beans are collected from the forest floor. They are cleaned, roasted and ground just like any other coffee. Because of strange method of collecting, there is not much luwak coffee produced in the world. The coffee is very expensive. Most of you who know me know that I don’t like coffee. However, I did do a taste test of various other types of coffees and teas they sell…loved some of the teas but still not a fan of coffee especially knowing where they come from.

Next stop was the silver factory! They walked me through the process then sent me into the store with the hopes that I would buy something. I almost bought a beautiful silver bracelet but then realized that I would probably not wear it once I got home.

We stopped at the batik factory. The design is drawn with pencil on the white material. Next they outline the design with wax on both sides. The material is then dyed in the first colour…..and so on and so on….. once finished the material is put in boiling water to remove all the wax. .

Last stop was the Teganunan Waterfall. The amount and clarity of the water depend on rainfall, swimming is allowed only when safe. The water today was very muddy.

Number of stairs I had to climb to get back up. Stairs here in Bali are not built to code and they are all different heights and uneven.