Monday morning we packed up our belongings and left Bar Harbor early to try and avoid some of the holiday traffic home.
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This long weekend was perfect! On Thursday we spent the day making too much food for the 6 people at the table. We had everything from tomato tatin to turkey to 4 kinds of pies. We enjoyed our meal later in the day so that my sister who had to work could join in. Obviously we needed to work off all the food we ate so we planned two adventures. On Friday Greg and I bundled up packed our day-pack and ventured to Crane Beach. The Trustees of Reservations was offering free entry to Crane Beach today which was great even though we are members. We parked our car and switched from sneakers to hiking boots. I wish my gators came before today but I would just have to live with sand in my boots. We hiked through the forest, the sand dunes, and finally the beach. There is so much beauty to see here. Overall we were there about 1.5 hours and hiked about 4 miles. Saturday morning we decided Fred needed an adventure too. We packed up our day-pack for the three of us and headed to Halibut Point State Park and Reservation. We parked the car and made our way over to the trail. Fred was thrilled and so were we. Halibut Point State Park is beautiful. We walked along the quarry path and then proceeded to head down the other trails. There were so many picturesque spots to stop and enjoy! We spent about an hour here walked a total of 3 miles.
We decided to be adventurous for our 14th wedding anniversary so today we booked the Sunrise Trek of Mt Batur through our butler for $50 usd per person. 1 am wake up call after only 4 hours of sleep. At 2 am we meet our driver and hop into an SUV. We drive into Ubud where we have to make two other stops for four other passengers. The drive to Kintamani is about 45 minutes so we settle in for a quite ride.
We arrive at Pineh Colada Organic Farm for a quick breakfast. You are given a coffee and tea sampler (their own products) and banana pancakes. When I explained that I couldn't eat the pancakes because of my dairy allergy they surprised me with a special non-dairy batch. Very thoughtful. The owner came and talked about his farm and how the tours are booked through their farm and then showed us a selection of products for purchase. Unfortunately, we thought we were stopping their on the way back to our hotel (but didn't) so we didn't buy any. Next we drove to Mt Batur and met our guides (three per group). To the summit of Mt Batur it is roughly 5500 feet. The hike up to the summit takes around an hour to two hours. The path starts is a simple dirt path rather large at first, then through some rows of tomato and pepper plants, finally you are on a very narrow loose rock path with boulders you need to climb over. Sadly it took Greg and I two hours (we were one of the last to the top. Halfway up the mountain I had an asthma attack and didn't have my inhaler. I would continue on and just keep making several stops. Between my asthma, the warmth (remember in the middle of the night in Bali its still 80 degrees), the humidity (Boston in August), and the altitude (I live almost at sea level) this was an incredibly hard trek for me. At one point I was going to stay at the half way point and another guide offered to have one of his men walk me back down. Our guide to great offense to this and started a fight with the nice gentleman. At this point I got rather pissed off and said screw it, come on adrenaline and carried on! Our guide didn't really understand that it wasn't the trek itself. While everyone else was complaining of aches and pains, or exhaustion I was completely fine. My lungs just didn't want to cooperate. Finally we made it to the top! At this point you could see everyone in jackets or sweatshirts. Greg and I zipped up however it wasn't even cold! There was a slight breeze and it felt like spring in Boston. We met up with our group and waited for the sunrise. Did we see the amazing sunrise we were hoping for.....nope! Completely fogged in. Every now and then the fog would move and we could photograph the crater, or the lake, or the lava fields. During these times you are filled with happiness, peace, and in awe of your surroundings. Our guide made us breakfast. We were provided hard boiled eggs, and white bread with cooked banana inside. The others weren't too thrilled with a banana sandwich. Personally I would have loved it (I'm weird and like to mash up a banana and put it on a rice cake) but I wasn't sure if the bread contained dairy or not so I abstained. Before heading back down the mountain we walked around the crater, steam vents, and took as many photos as the fog allowed. Heading back down took us about an hour and a half. Again the guide thought I couldn't handle the trek so he took my hand, just about pulled my arm out of the socket and pulled me down the rocks. The views were beautiful and truly inspiring. We met up with our driver again and started back into Ubud. The roads can be a bit high and have cliffs right next to your car so this was always interesting when scooters, trucks, and our suv tried to pass one another. We were fortunate enough to make a final stop before heading into Ubud. Photo op time at the Rice Terraces of Tegalalang. The terraces are beautiful and across the way are lovely little shops and restaurants. Back at our hotel we were still high from our trek so we decided to order up some lunch. For the review of our hotel visit here. After resting and cleaning up we had one of the most amazing dinners of our life at Mozaic in ubud. For the complete review with pictures visit here. |
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