Going to Kintamani would feel like visiting a beautiful house with a sign saying “beware of the dog”. Yep, travel warnings published by agencies or even tourists sharing their experiences about how ‘horrible’ it is to visit the area, have resulted a very minimum share of the thousands of tourists in Bali visiting Kintamani. No, it’s not because of the Kintamani dogs; rather, it’s due to the many hawkers that are a bit way too aggressive that for many times you would feel like they are attacking you instead of trying to sell you something. I also had a so-so bad experience the last time I visited Kintamani around two years ago – the hawkers changed my initial plan to enjoy the area to get-my-butt-out-of-there-as-soon-as-possible instead. This time, I’ve made up my mind: no hawker could stop me from enjoying Kintamani. And so, me and my friend went to that place, the heaven of aggressive hawkers.
We went there via Ubud on a working day – expecting that the traffic wouldn’t be so busy. We were wrong. With the many road constructions currently undergoing on Bali’s major roads, even a little number of vehicles could cause long queues. Aside from that, with the high season only days away, more and more tourists have arrived in Bali; thus, traffic jams could always be expected. Anyway, it became apparent that the tourists start flocking the island when we got to the Sukawati II traditional market near Ubud (on the edge of a curvy road leading to the intersection to Denpasar (left) and Ubud (right)). Big tourist buses were occupying the whole parking area and road sides around the market. Of course, we didn’t want to miss the hype; we looked hard for a place to (finally!) park our car. Inside the market, both international and domestic tourists (mainly from Java) were busy shop-hopping buying souvenirs to bring back home. It was an interesting sight, though, to see many bargaining actions taking place.
Only after a while we got back to the road continuing our journey. Again, we got caught in traffic at the well-known Sukawati (the initial) traditional market. Just like at Sukawati II, Sukawati was also very busy at the moment. Passing Sukawati, our journey became smooth provided that the well-asphalted road we were taking was not really that crowded. The sidewalks were pretty jammed, though, with many tourists and the locals alike walking from one place to another.
A few hundreds of meters north after the intersection with big Arjuna statue in Ubud, we encountered Petulu – an area inhabited by thousands of white herons. The village of Petulu would seem like a normal rural community with rice fields, houses of typical Balinese architecture, the friendly faces of the residents and, of course, the village temples. Yet, when the clock strikes four in the afternoon, this what-seemed-to-be-normal place would turn special because thousands of flying white and yellow feathers flock to their homes on the trees on two sides of the road in the village. Several view points in the middle of rice fields are built by villagers for the visitors to enjoy interesting scenery when the herons return home to the trees. From these points you can enjoy the hot Balinese coffee or tea while preparing your camera, binoculars or even the angle where you could get the picture-perfect view from. A couple of books are also provided for visitors to read on spot.
Further north, not very far from Petulu, are the rice terraces of Tegallalang. The view of the rice terraces in Tegallalang is breathtaking and the air is very fresh. Thus, even a quick stop could certainly recharge your energy. The area is bit packed with hawkers, though; but don’t worry, they are not aggressive. Anyway, if you feel like spending a longer time, you can always go down to the rice terraces. There is one famous restaurant in Tegallang, from where you can enjoy the sceneries of the rice terraces. When we were there, the paddies were turning golden and ready to be harvested.
Less than 30 minutes after, we finally arrived in Kintamani. My mind flew back to all the travel warnings I read on the internet about this area. I couldn’t blame those people who have written and spread all the negative news about Kintamani, for it is a fact that the hawkers could really cause you hard times. However, it is also a fact that Kintamani bears some of the most magnificent views on the island. Lake Batur, the biggest lake in Bali and is the main source of irrigation on the island, is located here. Both sides of the road in Kintamani are packed with restaurants – each has the access to the beautiful view of Batur from a higher ground. The thick pine hilly forests decorating one side of the road were so inviting that we decided to go down the curvy steep road leading to the lake.
Down from the lake side, the view of Mount Agung, the most sacred mountain in Bali, is stunning. As an active volcano, Agung is recorded to have erupted 24 times since the year of 1800. The road we were using is built in the middle of a vast lava field with so many volcanic rocks that spectacularly decorate the roadsides. The road also led us to Toya Bungkah, an area popularly known for its natural hot springs. In this area you can dip your body into the hot pools. We also made a stop at the port for boat service to Trunyan, an area on one side of Lake Batur where human corps are left unburied on the ground. At the port, Andri and I felt like we were Sean Penn and Jamie Fox that once we stepped out of our car, we had all the paparazzis surrounding us. In this case, of course, the hawkers! Then again, we knew the trick: you can’t fight aggressiveness with aggressiveness. Well, at least, not with these hawkers; unless you want to make them go even more aggressive on you.
Overall, Kintamani is a place worth a visit during your holiday in Bali. The hawkers themselves were not as aggressive as the ones I remember two years ago – still a little bit annoying, though. However, the local authority still needs to act to overcome all the problems arise from the hawkers’ aggressiveness so that Kintamani could finally get the number of visit it deserves.
