Sunday fun day

Sunday was our last day off from training and it was my favorite so far! Five of us rented a driver for the day and went all over the island.

Our first stop was at a temple that Josh (our chanting teacher) recommended and it was amazing! It was about a 1/4 mile walk off the main road down a bunch of steps. Along the way, there were a lot of locals trying to sell the usual stuff (jewelry, paintings, masks, etc.) but the funniest thing was that they kept trying to sell us sarongs even though we were already wearing them. We knew ahead of time that we had to wear a sarong in order to enter the temple so we were all set, but that didn't stop the vendors from trying to sell us more. Each time I said "no thanks, I already have one" and they said "it's okay, you buy one more." I would have had ended up with 50 of them, lol! The temple grounds were incredible - there were huge (40 foot?) carvings into the stone on the hillside, and there was a stream running through the middle of the area. It's the best temple I've been to on the trip so far.





Next we went to a spice garden called Satria Agrowisata. Well actually they grow more than just spices- they also have fruit, herbs, coffee, tea, and cacao (chocolate plant). We got to watch them make a special kind of coffee called Luwak Coffee. The Luwak is a small animal that loves eating coffee cherries and the beans ferment in their stomachs. The locals then gather the coffee beans that have passed through the Luwak, and roast them into a coffee blend that apparently has "a rich, heavy flavor with hints of carmel or chocolate." I'll take their word for it...none for me thanks...although I enjoyed watching them roast it on the open fire. I opted for the three tea tasting: ginger, lemongrass, and rosella - yum!





After that we drove to see a Volcano - we didn't have time to hike it so we just took pictures from the road. The best way to hike the volcano is to drive there around 3 a.m. and then hire a guide to walk you up so that you get to the top for sunrise. Sounds amazing, but it didn't work with our schedule. It was still beautiful from a distance :)





Our last stop was at the hot-springs which were at the base of the volcano along the lake. Perfect end to a fantastic day!