Hiding Out in the Rainy Mountains

I've decided to hide out in the cooler mountains until the fiery hot pain of my sunburn dulls down, and here is where the "rainy season" finally caught up with me. I had only an hour or two to explore before the mist rolled in and the skies opened up, but that was alright with me. I was due for a quiet day of bumming around and reading, and now I had the perfect excuse. This homestay is not as nice as the last one, it more closely resembles the clammy room I had back in Bromo, but it's got the best views on the mountain when the skies are clear, and the family that runs it is very friendly and extremely musically inclined. The father taught me how to play the gamelan as I was the only guest there, and then when more people checked in he made sure to sing every song he knew in English for them. With the sound of the rain in the background, it wasn't a bad way to spend the day.

I learned that in Bali, every home must have at least three temples. One to protect the outside, one to protect the inside, and one for the ancestors. Most homes have around five temples though, plus the village temple that everyone shares. They also make offerings to each of the temples several times a day, so everyone is kept very busy.

Wet kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr.

Just a random fruit bat hangin' around...because why not?

 The panoramic view from the porch of my homestay.

The next day I headed out to find a "nearby waterfall", but after trekking up and down and up and down winding paths for 3 hours, which led to cabbage fields, hydrangea fields, coffee fields, corn fields, and pretty much every field you can imagine, but not finding the actual falls, I gave up. I got as close as the river that fed the waterfall, but no matter which trail I took from there I just couldn't find it, so sweaty and tired I headed back "home", making it just in time to avoid yet another downpour. 

Unripe coffee fruit. As soon as the berries turn red, they'll be fed to the luwak and turned into poop coffee.