After the swell had completely died we decided it was time to go waterfall hunting. The further north you go in Bali, the bigger and more impressive the waterfalls become. My next few posts will be of waterfalls, starting in the south.
The south of Ubud has waterfalls of many sizes and ease of accessibility. The later you go and the easier the walk, the busier waterfalls get as a general rule of thumb.
Without google it would have been very difficult to find them. I greatly appreciate modern day technology in order to have such amazing adventures to go on!
We chose the waterfalls that looked less busy and tried our best to get on the scooter as early as possible.
Our first visit was to Air Terjung Kuning, which translates to Yellow Waterfall. It was easy to find and a 20 minute walk one way. We got there at around 8 in the morning. The walk down was extremely slippery due to moss growing on the hundreds of stairs below shaded canopies. Make sure you have shoes with good grip and walk slowly if you go early!
As we were the first to venture down there for that day, there were plenty of spider webs in the path so I used a big leaf, which I found on the floor, to clear the path.
The view from the top of the cliff was amazing, with green jungle in every direction.
On the way down we came across a water feature made with bamboo, which turned out to be a great place to shower on the way back up to cool off.
The stairway going down the side of the mountain was very steep and thankfully not as slippery as the concrete stairs at the start. There were lots of beautiful flowers and plants on the way to the waterfall, giving it a wonderful natural mystic.
The waterfall itself was amazing! It had rained a few days before so it was quite brown with lots of spray and water. To get some decent long exposure photos without any droplets or smudges on the lens was a challenge. Within a split second of uncovering the lens mist would settle on it.
While we were there, only two other people arrived. It was totally worth going early to experience the beauty of the place with hardly anyone around.
On the drive back home we came across a kingfisher and some ducks in the rice fields. They were entertaining to watch and a white one in particular had an afro. I also got lucky to get a shot of an exquisite butterfly.
On this hike I managed to collect the rubbish pictured below. The most common kind in most places around the world is the good old cigarette butt. Stop throwing them on the ground! ;)
Stay tuned for pictures of the next waterfall, which was very easy to access and great for getting a massage on your back whilest cooling down.
