Bali Day 4

Woke up at 4:00am again. It started raining hard second day in a row. Headed out to see 4 waterfalls and Elephant Cave, which is inside a temple. First stop, Tukad Cepung Waterfall. Climbed down a lot of steps to get to a stream. Actually turned out to be two waterfalls. One to the left and one to the right. Walked through the stream to the left first. Beautiful, tall waterfall with a large tidal pool beneath it. Took a lot of pictures and then headed back down the stream. Stopped on the way to take pictures on top of some huge boulders. There was a convenient ladder built into the side of the boulder to climb up the side. Kept heading down stream and came upon the other water falls. They were nice but not as spectacular as the first falls. At least hiking to these falls was not like hiking to Hawaiian falls. Just a lot of cement steps and walkways to get down to them. I think it was 50,000 rupiah to go to them which is about $3.50. Next stop Tibumana Waterfall. Arrived and paid the entry fee. Same as always, 50,000 rupiah. Walked down a paved path, down cement stairs and across a suspended walking bridge to the falls. Large, heavy flowing falls, with a big tidal pool. A smaller falls pretty close to it. Very beautiful. Komang found out from a friend that Kanto Lampo Waterfall was not accessible due to a rockslide on the road so we had to skip going there. So we headed to the “Elephant Cave”. When we arrived at the parking lot, people were trying to sell stuff everywhere. A lady tried to sell me a sarong. I kept telling her no thank you but she wouldn’t go away. Just ended up walking and ignoring her. Same thing happened when we were leaving. This old guy was trying to sell me some statues. Started at 20,000 rupiah and I said no. Kept changing the price and kept hounding me. Got in the car with the window closed and he kept tapping on the window. Jeez. Did not want to accept no for an answer haha. So, its not really a “cave” to speak of. It’s a religious structure inside a temple. The inside was filled with religious offerings and smoke from a bunch of incense burning. Komang said it was a very religious place for people to pray inside it. Had to wear a sarong because we were inside the temple. Walked around the temple and then walked up some stairs to a Buddhist temple. Honestly speaking, nothing really special at this stop. People are super religious here so I guess it means a lot to them. A lot of work definitely goes into all these temples. Stopped at a pretty descent restaurant for a late lunch. Tried an Indonesian Chicken and rice. Pretty good actually. Komangs meal and my meal which included a banana shake, coke and salad came to $30 dollars. I think this place was a little pricier then yesterday but I think this meal would have been at least $60 dollars in California. I tipped the server 150,000 rupiah which is about $10 dollars. She was ecstatic. They are so grateful for a tip because like I said earlier, most only make about $8 or $10 dollars a day wages. Last stop of the day is “Tegenungan Waterfall”. A lot of cement stairs walking down to this one also. Very nice viewpoints along the way. Not that long of a walk, just steep stairs. These falls were probably the most powerful falls I have ever seen, except of course, Niagara Falls. Big, high and wide waterfall. Komang said some people were killed when they swam underneath the falls. The weight of the water falling on you and pushing you under would definitely be a battle for even the strongest of swimmers. Took some fun pictures holding a sign they had there. You could pick from a bunch of different sayings. I chose “I Love Bali”. Headed back to the hotel.Got back around 5pm and cleaned up.Walked across the street from the hotel to a bar called “Why Not”. Had a couple beers and wrote in my journal.Live music starts at 8pm but I decided not to stay tonight.