Lord Of The Flies?
Kintamani, home of the beautiful Mount Batur. Also, a place surrounded by amazing coffee shops and restaurants with amazing views. This incredible location has so much going for it. As well with a few negative points to boot.
Nothing and no one is perfect. So what are the pros and cons of Kintamani? Well, let’s start with the good before we trash this beautiful place. Getting to Kintamani is easy enough. You can go through the Ubud area since you may as well stop for coffee and snacks along the way. The drive to Kintamani is the luck of the draw, much like any other location in Bali or Indonesia in general. One truck break down here, and a small accident there can back up traffic for miles.
Kintamani sneaks up on you. Once you pass by the fruit stands and citrus farms, the smell of onions may tickle your nose. The lettuce patches and tomato plants will also catch your attention until… BAM there you are, right after you pay your entrance fees to Kintamani. Yes, everyone needs to pay, not only Bule, people so don’t feel special.
Kintamani
The people in Kintamani are not as well-versed in hospitality as in other parts of Bali. Let’s face it. If you were born and raised in Kintamani and never left, your view of the world is a beautiful but sheltered one. So in some cases, the staff is a little less cultured.
However, the view and surrounding area make up for all of that in an instant. Every coffee shop and restaurant has a view. Every place has its unique view of Mount Batur and Lake Batur. People often forget that there is a lake even though it’s right beside the now-extinct volcano. One can also visit the place of the dead, but that is another blog. So the positives are all there, trekking, sunrise tours, nature tours, glamping, and camping. Good food, amazing coffee, and good people. However, the worst part is…
The Flies!
So this is a scary issue. We stayed in a glamping area and one of our rooms was filled with flies. Happened to be my brother’s room who is terrified of all sorts of little critters. We sprayed the room and dozens of flies fell to the floor. This was in the evening and the flies must have been dormant.
But in the morning it was war!
We headed out for the sunrise tour and when we got back we had breakfast. Let’s say we tried to have breakfast until we were swarmed by flies. There were hundreds of them all over the table, the food and covering us as well.
This was unexpected. We have had many meals during the day near the edge of the volcano but being down in and close the farm… Well, this was not pleasant at all. So if you venture into Kintamani, stay at a location with mosquito nets and take bug spray with you or else, you will be swarmed and kissed by many of the pesky little flies in the heart of the volcano!
