Water rafting

Finally the highlight of the trip, Ayung River water rafting! We arranged water rafting on the 2nd last day because muscle pain is expected and we do not want the muscle pain affects the rest of our trip. 

Most small companies are charging USD35/pax or Rp350,000 for water rafting tour in Bali. There are quite a few bigger water rafting operators in Bali are charging higher price like USD75, such as Bali Adventure Tour, Telaga Waja Bali Rafting, Alam Amazing Adventures, Bali Bintang Tour and etc. The difference among them is the raft starting point, finishing point and facility. All different start and end points provide different rafting experience. Also these bigger companies like Bali Adventure has better office, restaurants and cleaner showers whereas other smaller operators probably just provide simple and basic facilities. 

Reception office at Payung Rafting is just a simple desk with water and tea provided. Their shower facility is basic, cloth curtain and shower head. Food is normal too, vegetable soup, steam rice, fried noodle, fried chicken and fish satay. 

Eka, our driver, recommended us Payung Rafting, a local Balinese owned rafting company in Ubud. Because of our driver, we paid only Rp350,000 per person instead of USD65 as stated on Payung Rafting website. 

We reached Payung Rafting office at 10am and only started rafting at 11am as we had to wait for others to form a group of 4. We were handed helmets, life vest, paddles and climbed down 350 steps to the river. The steps are steep and slippery however whoever is healthy should have no problem with it. We made it down and the got into a yellow raft. We were given a water proof bag to keep our iPhone and camera etc. Don't bring you DSLR as the ride is bumpy. Bring a small camera or use your iPhone if you want to take photo. We were also asked to take off our sandals and our raft guide secured our sandals with a rope. 

Our guide gave us a few minutes briefing on how to paddle and basic commands to follow such as move forward, backward, stop, down. We were informed that it would be a 10km raft and would last about 2 hours. We made a stop along the way after 45 mins. At the stop there were locals trying to sell drinks. They also asked us to buy drinks for our guide. We did and our guide choose a can of beer which cost Rp40,000. 

Our Rp350,000 was well worth. We get to enjoy beautiful scenery and some strong river flow. The raft was relatively easy so it is good for everyone. Anyone who is looking for more exciting rafting experience, you probably should try other rivers. Our driver told us that Rp50,000 tips to rafting guide is expected. 

Someone from Payung Rafting took our rafting photos at somewhere. We could purchase our photos in CDROM (10 photos) at Rp100,000 or just print out at Rp50,000 at the end of the session. 

Batur Volcano

After having simple lunch at Payung Rafting office, we continued our journey to Mount Batur. Mount Batur itself is actually a small volcano. It is still active today. 

It's about 2 hours plus ride from Kuta to Kintamani. Entrance fee of Rp20,000 per person. 



It was a rainy afternoon but we were lucky that it stopped raining when we reached there but still very cloudy. Because of the rain, we saw a little rainbow! 



Our driver brought us to a cafe where you can overlook mountain and lake. 



Nice place to enjoy a cup of coffee in the afternoon. 

Tirta Empul temple

It's a Hindu temple famous for its holy water where Hindus go for purification (soul and mind). They believe that the holy water has the healing power. 

This temple is about an hour drive from Ubud. We paid entrance fee of Rp15,000 per pax. 



The purifying pool


I noticed that these people started from the first mini fountain to the last one so to complete the whole process.

Ubud

We wanted to visit Ubud market but we were hungry and it was quite late in the evening, we decided to have our dinner at one of the famous restaurant in Ubud, Bebek Tepi Sawah. Bebek Tepi Sawah means duck beside rice field. 

This restaurant has a very nice table setting surrounding rice field and beautiful view. It was a relaxing dining experience there.




We ordered 2 sets of their popular crispy duck, 1 sate lilit and 1 water. All these cost us Rp 292,900. Crispy duck rice set comes with 3 different chillis. Many may compare this with the China style pekin duck. I would say both are good. This is a deep fried duck dish which some people may find the duck malnutrition. Sate lilit (fish satay) taste very nice and was served beautifully!

It's an outdoor restaurant so ants and mosquitoes can be annoying.

Try to go there earlier so you can grab a better seat (near the main building) to watch traditional Balinese dance performance in the evening.