Bush cruise in indonesia

We woke up early this morning to have some breakfast before our adventure. The weather was beautiful and we were all well rested and ready to go. We decided that it was basically a bush cruise because we stopped to look at things and the road was very rough (although paved)
Our drive took us up a very curvy steep road. Numerous times we stopped on the side of the road for pictures and/or to look at different plants. We saw (in no order) bananas, jack fruit, coffee, cocoa, papaya, Duran, pineapple, rice, cashew, teak trees, candle nuts, fern trees, and a bunch more. The bush was a jungle of all these plants.
Our first real stop was to see a waterfall. We thought that we would be able to get out of the car and perhaps walk 5 minutes to get to it, but that was not the case at all. When we arrived our guide handed us off to another guide ( who did not speak English) and informed us that the trek to the waterfall was 2 hours ( return trip). This came as a bit of a shock but we decided to give it a shot.
So off we go in our sanuks, lead by our guide and followed by 5 or 6 of the local children who showed up for the journey. The trail lead us down a slippery steep hill which we were all dreading walking back up. When we got to the bottom of the hill (30 min) we found ourselves in a rice patty. One of the little girls who came along for the journey, Helen, helped aunty down the mountain. So when she took off her flip flops so did the rest of us. We maneuvered bare foot through the rice patties, slipping once or twice into the warm muddy water where the rice was growing. We passed cows
grazing, waved to locals working in the fields, and finally arrived to the waterfall.
It was well worth the walk. Taryn, Jordan, and I flopped into the cool fresh water and swam under the falls. Aunty kept the children company and took lots of pictures. The kids all implied that it was too cold to swim!! We spent about half an hour there enjoying the scenery and cool water.
The hike back up was grueling. We all went bare foot and one step at a time made it to the top. We were sweaty ad exhausted. What a hike!
Back in the car we drove to a town close by, and rejuvenated ourselves with lunch. We were completely exhausted after the hike. Our driver took us to some more rice fields and then home. It poured rain all the way. All in all the trip was wonderful. Amazing views of the island and how the people here live. We also learned a lot about their crops.
Off to the Gilli islands tomorrow. Not sure when we will have Internet but we will do our best to find some. Cross your fingers for us that we can find a place to stay wen we get there as we have heard that it is booking up fast! Love to you all, attached are some photos of today and a Komodo!

**taryns joke that she made up today -

We were talking about names today like sensitive Sally and negative nancy, chatty Cathy, greedy Gloria. Etc and Taryn came up with pessimistic Pete. Then she said that They have anti-depressants for pessimistic peters.... Think about Peter heaters I you don't get it. Maybe not the best joke in the world but Taryn's still laughing at it.