Beji

We arrive at the Monkey temple in Bali. It is home to the Monkey Forest grounds and houses about 600 wild but friendly macaques. It also houses three Hindu temples, all apparently constructed around 1350. Marc gets a friendly inspection by one particularly curious monkey in search of snacks. (See pic.)

Then we upgrade our view to another temple: the 16th century Tanah Lot temple -- in the sea. This is a holy place to worship the Balinese sea gods and located in a gorgeous rocky beach. We sip dragon fruit and avocado smoothies and watch the waves crash on the rocks. We then see another with an impressive eleven-tiered palm fiber roof in Lake Bratan, also to worship the Hindu sea gods. See pic.

Then we visit a jaw-dropping site that stretches as far as the eye can see: a site of rice paddies, called Jatilauwih. But not just any rice paddies. Six hundred hectares of hills and terraces of rice paddies, with greenery and water creating a surreal and artistic contrast on the landscape. Its historic usage, cultural value, and beauty all make it a world heritage site. See pic.

We then arrive at a coffee plantation resort in north central Bali, Indonesia called Munduk Moding Plantation, or MMP. We get greeted with a welcome fruit drink, a brightly colored flower arrangement we can wear around our neck and a chocolate strawberry honeymoon cake waiting the fridge. Our candle lit bungalow dinner overlooking the sunset already awaits us.

We then spend half a day watching coffee bean processing demos of both modern and traditional methods (roasting in a machine that takes only 15 minutes to perfectly roast the beans, and the hand mixing method on a clay pot on a fire, that takes about an hour). We even get to help grind the beans (see pic).

Then we learn about a very special coffee: coffee ("kopi" in Indonesian) luwak. This is the rarest coffee in the world. It is made from beans eaten and pooped out of a civet (a kind of wild fox)! The beans are collected from their poop, cleaned, and processed the same way as the others. But the civet digests the coffee bean's skin, creating a unique flavor. We drink coffee luwak every day during our stay here. Because why not?

At MMP, we find the infinity pool, something new to us but very sought-after in the world of luxury travel. This pool is built on the edge of a hill, designed to look like it goes on forever into the clouds. We swim in the clouds!

We go to the spa. We get covered in chocolate scrub one day and and a lulur treatment the the next. Lular is a scrub made of fragrant herbs (turmeric, jasmine, sandalwood, rice powder), yogurt, and oils that was traditionally used by royalty in Java since the 17th century.

We need to rinse off, so we go to our room where there's a flower petal bath and a bottle of wine waiting for us. Not once but three days in a row.

Over the top? Probably just a little. But hey, you have a honeymoon only once. And why not make it a "mimpi"? Mimpi is the name of the resort's restaurant. It means "dream" - a perfect metaphor for the second portion of our stay in Bali.

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Après Sarinbuana, on a terminé notre séjour à Bali à Munduk au nord de l'île, dans une luxueuse plantation de café. Ici, on s'est senti en lune de miel comme dans les films : bains de pétales de roses, soins enveloppants au cacao (maintenant je sais ce que ça fait que d'être une tartine de Nutella), et le top du top, nage dans la piscine à débordement, où on est soit parmi les nuages, soit dans l'horizon volcanique si le temps est clair, au soleil couchant... Ça change du nettoyage des bouses d'éléphants :-)

On a appris plein de choses sur la culture et fabrication du café et dégusté le délicieux kopi luwak. Le luwak est une sorte de chat sauvage qui mange des grains de café. Une fois récupéré dans ses crottes, les grains acquièrent un goût exceptionnel, qu'on a pu confirmer.

On en a profité un maximum en restant sur place, ayant déjà visité, pendant notre séjour à Sarinbuana, des temples en pierre volcanique (y compris un investi par les singes qui ont essayé de me chiper ma bouteille d'eau et mon appareil photo), des rizières en terrasse à perte de vue, un village de pêcheurs aux bateaux colorés sur le sable blanc au coucher du soleil, et traversé plein de villages.

Après avoir rechargé les batteries, on est revenus en Thaïlande où on s'apprête à partir sauver les tortues sur une île (presque) déserte.Read more