Bali Adventure Tours : The Waka Land Cruise Tours
A rain forest camp and restaurant deep in the mountains of Bali - Gunung Batukaru. Your journey to the soul of Bali is
one of comfort excitement and adventure. We travel in a legendary customized land rover - only six people together
with a Balinese expert guide and driver. Air conditioned, comfortable and the route through scenic country side is not strenuous.
You visit the unusual and traditional -you see the Balinese people as they work pray and play sometimes, smiling with hellos, sometimes sombre. You traverse spectacular country side-slowly and in comfort. Take photos you only dreamed of taking.
The trip is not arduous as there are plenty of stops a long the way-looking-looking. You visit an amazing quarry of stones where it seems time has stood still for centuries. You pass temples and small forgotten villages and shrines and always the mountains are in the distance - getting closer. A stop at a small farm to see the crops ( vanilla, coffee, cocoa, cloves ) and the local animals - there we serve coffee and tea with cakes from the baskets we carry on the roof of the car.
The hot spring in the rice fields where local people bathe and have done so for a long long time. The endless beauty of the rice terrace; green or golden brown - depending on harvest time. See the amazing irrigation system and the rivers that flow down to the sea. The vehicle climbs to over 900 meters and you are above the rice bowl of Jatiluwih and the plains of Bali.
The mountain air is cooler and you are in an area so different - its not anything like the Bali you are staying in. The forests have turned into bamboo jungles and ferns abound - the people change and its here you find the Waka Camp and restaurant. A restaurant built from local bamboo in the middle of nowhere serving delicious Balinese mountain food - not quite 'haute cuisine' but almost. Great food, good wine and cognac with your coffee - where are you?
In the mountains, in a bamboo restaurant, high in a forest - miles from nowhere, the soul of Bali.
There are tracks and paths and cool mountain water, wild orchids and birds and an overall stillness. Relaxed, happy, and different, you are then taken back to your hotel by luxury Land Rover after a very remarkable day.
You will remember this special journey through the 'remarkable, unseen Bali'
ITINERARY OF WAKA LAND CRUISE
' Luxury Adventure to the secret soul of Bali '
Travel by legendary luxury Land Rover, on tiny country roads and tracks, through terraced rice fields and untouched rainforest to the real heart of Bali.
As you experience the mystical heart and soul of this amazing island, hidden far away from the bustle and the crowds of the Bali you have already seen.
Included:
Transfer from / to hotel, Mineral water, tea, coffee at the morning break, buffet Lunch with complimentary soft drinks, imported wine, beer, tea or mountain coffee and Cognac
Pick Up Time:
Our Land Rovers depart every morning between 8.30 am and 8.45 am Approximate return to hotel 16.30 – 17.00 PM.
Following are a few explanations about your route and stops on the Waka Land Cruise.
Tegal Jadi Village
You will visit an amazing stone quarry. Time seems to have stood still for centuries. The people from Tegal Jadi cut the stone, know as paras, out of the cliff the same way as always, using traditional methods and techniques handed down for generations. The stones are rectangular shaped and weight about five kilograms each. They are used to build the temples and shrines of the island.
Tajen Sedahan – Malgunung Village
Approximate Time : 11.00 – 11.45 AM
At this stop you will be in a typical family run farmhouse. It is a very good Example of the Balinese architectural concept which has buildings positioned in a courtyard accordingly to the family temple. Note the kitchen wall made out of bamboo and rendered with a mixture of mud and rice husk. You will be taken for a short walk around the garden to discover some of the fruits and vegetables grown there – banana, mango, rambutan, salak, jack fruit, pineapple, tapioca and others. But look for vanilla, cloves as well as coffee and cocoa. From our kitchen – tea, coffee and biscuits have been brought in the baskets on top of your car and will be served to you.
Rainforest Camp High on the Slopes of Mount Batukaru
Approximate Time : 13.00 – 14.30 PM
Your vehicle climbs to over 900 meters and you are above the rice bowl of Jatiluwih. The mountain air is cooler and the scenery becomes different. You are entering the rainforest where giant bamboos and fern trees abound. Sacred Mount Batukaru reveals.Its splendor and a short stroll leads you to our rainforest camp. Built out of of bamboos cut and assembled by local craftsmen. It sits in the middle of nowhere.
You will be served a delicious Balinese Lunch with excellent wine. Some of the produce is straight out of the rain forest. A chance also to taste the famous Bali mountain coffee, cognac though remains French! Small shrines to the divinities that inhabit the rainforest of sacred mount Batukaru, pure spring water running in suspended bamboos, but overall a tremendous stillness and a great sense of peace – The Soul of Bali.
Hot Spring at Banjar Belulang
Approximate Time : 15.00 – 15.30 PM
In the rice fields is a sacred hot spring where local people have always come to bath. The spring bubbles up at temperature of approximately 30 C or 86 F. You will enjoy beautiful scenery of manicured terraced paddy fields that continue to function efficiently on an age old, unique, irrigation system. |