Sour Honey from Mini Bees

July 14

We decided to hire a guide for a trek through rice fields and to Tenangung.  Sowat, our guide, was very helpful in explaining Bali farming practices.  Farmers not only grow rice but also grow peanuts and potatoes in the same stepped fashion.  The crops are rotated but not so much by season, as all of these things grow year round.  

Beautiful steppe fields. 

Stuck in the middle of the fields, hopefully our GPS will work. 

Another pano view.  

A bit of haze but still picturesque.  

A picturesque walk along the border of the jungle and the fields.  

Walking the fields with grass for the cows.

In the jungle we saw several men climbing the palms to gather Palm syrup to make palm wine.  The men use a bark of a different tree wrapped in coconut fibers to increase the alcohol content.  Because we were in the middle of the jungle, these men collecting the syrup reminded us of Southern bootleggers.  

A sacred tree on the way to Tenanting.

 We stopped by a honey maker on our way to Tenanung village.  The honey maker uses small black bees inside a hive of bamboo to make the honey.  The honey is somewhat sweet but definitely has a sour taste as well.  The honey maker says that the honey has definite medicinal properties.  Drinking honey tea is good for you but rubbing the honey on cuts and scrapes also is good for you.  The father of the honey maker offered us a taste of palm wine...a young version of the national drink, Arak.  Fermented to about 4% alcohol, the wine is fermented eventually to about 45% to make it Arak.  

Tenanung is a traditional Balinese village somewhat untouched by modern conveniences.  This village is known for a type of weaving called double ikat which just means the weft and warp of the weave are both dyed to make the colorful designs.  Very beautiful weaving.  

Chickens, chickens and more chickens, most farms and many homes keep chickens.  

Walking through the jungle next to some serious bamboo. 

A bamboo hive filled with black bee and sweet/sour honey.  

After our long trek we took a driver to a chocolate factory.  The factory part was closed for the day, but we did get to taste the chocolate.  We tasted some nibs, gojiberries, a chocolate bar mixed with toasted rice and gojiberries, and a Nutella like paste.  We also had cold chocolate made with fresh almond milk.  The oddest thing about this place were the swings tied to Palm trees and the structures, very Hobbit like for no apparent reason.  Perhaps the oddest addition was the ship like structure that one could climb on and/or go below deck.  Very random.  

A hobbit home at the chocolate factory.  

Another hobbit home, Indonesian style.  

An odd ship structure...Why?  Who can say.  

Exploring the ship with the ankle breaking slats for a floor.  

Inside the hull.  

The view from the ship.  

After the chocolate, it was time for Rusty and Yosiell to try Lowak coffee.  The verdict?  Delicious!  

The civet, a living coffee bean factory. 

Coffee beans roasted in the open air over an open fire.  

Rusty trying his hand at roasting the beans.  

Pounding the beans into powder.  

Trying the Lowak coffee and many other warm Indonesian drinks.  

Rich and smooth Lowak Coffee.

Tonight we are having dinner delivered in from a local Warung (a Warung is anything from a restaurant to a local stand selling sate from a gas powered grill).  The dinner was excellent, a Dutch: Risjtaffel.  Not completely Indonesian, more a holdover from previous Dutch Colonization.  We gorged ourselves and still have leftovers for tomorrow lunchtime.

Ummmm...delicious, delivered and for only $40.