Sidemen: Rhapsody in Green

May 7, 2018

One of the places we went diving was a site just out from the Padang Bai beach, so we got back in much earlier than other days. We decided it was the perfect opportunity to explore a little farther from town, our destination was Sidemen (see-da-min)

We found a taxi driver on the street outside the hotel, and he turned out to be a wonderful guide.

Made suggested we stop first at a farm along the way. What could have been a hustle was actually a neat little tour with a bunch of different teas and coffees to try.

The full panoply of tea and coffee options

We saw fresh lemongrass, vanilla plants, dragonfruit, and ginger plants.

Vanilla plant

Dragonfruit

Ginger. Who knew?

There was also a giant swing

And a bat that liked eating papaya.

He completely stuffed his cheeks

After making a couple tea purchases, we continued on our way to Sidemen.

Made stopped several times along the way for us to hop out and get some pictures, since the views were amazing.

Rice terrace selfie

Once we arrived in Sidemen, he parked the car and we walked along the road enjoying the views.

I love these pine tree type trees, they have the coolest silhouette 

Not only rice terraces, we walked past corn too

And chili peppers 

There was a pretty water lilly pond just hanging out in the middle of a field 

Everything is incredibly green.

With this road what could we do but yoga

Downward dog for the win

We headed home before it got dark, and caught the sunset over the rice terraces. Again, Made was wonderfully accommodating, but my camera doesn't capture the colors very well.

And to put a cherry on top of the day, we stopped at Pura Goa Lawah on the way back, a bat temple.

We arrived just in time to watch thousands of bats pour out of the mouth of the cave.

Maybe you can see them all hanging on the bottom of the cave roof. Maybe not.

Nighttime photos of flying things don't usually work well, but all the blurs in the sky are bats

It was a fantastic end to a great day.