Bali - Day Three :: Part 2

As we continued our ride with the wind blowing in our faces we came upon my favorite part of the trip. Down a small lane we crossed over into a rice paddy field. We rode along this narrow path next to a small stream that watered the rice. Along the way we came upon a man taking a bath in the stream. It brought a smile and a small giggle to our faces. As we took in the view of the fields I felt a sense of gratitude. The view was so lush and serene that I wished I could have sat there all day to take it in.

Further along we came upon some villagers harvesting the rice. They were gracious enough to let us try our hand at thrashing the stalks of rice. These people were such hard workers. Young and old were working the fields to ensure their staple of rice was available. It takes about 3 months from planting to harvesting for each rice crop. After harvesting they lay the rice on huge mats in the streets for about a week for the sun to dry them. From there the rice is put through a machine to remove the outer husk. In the bottom right picture of Rob is a sack of rice that the villagers will carry out on their heads. Each sack weighs approximately 50lbs.

As we carried along our route the boys would look for anywhere where they could jump their bikes.

Continuing down the way, our guides suddenly came to a stop. They grabbed a long branch and started to get this huge spider out of the tree. As for me, I was happy that it stayed in the tree, but the boys were eager to see it. The spider was not poisonous. I was shocked that Evan wanted to hold it. I was even more shocked as the spider wandered up to his face that he didn't bat it off. I wasn't so brave and kept my distance to take the photos!

After riding about 30km which was mostly coasting downhill, we were almost at the end. There was an option if you wanted to ride all the way to the restaurant (which was mostly uphill) or jump in the air-conditioned van and drive to restaurant. I'm sure you know which one I chose. The boys however, still had some energy to burn. They were such troopers. It was a hot day and they biked up the hills and rode on the busy rodes alongside the traffic. I enjoyed watching them from my cool location with my cold towel on my face. Finally when they looked like they had no more steam we pulled into the restaurant. We had an amazing Balinese feast including smoked duck and chicken satays. Such a perfect day and one I will remember forever!