Gitgit Waterfall

One of the stops we made on the way from Ubud to Lovina was Gitgit Waterfall. We had been told ahead of time this would be a good place to do a little shopping. I would have to say they were right.

In 1917 an earthquake associated with a volcanic eruption split a lake in half. If you look closely at the waterfall, you’ll notice a twist. Maybe that has something to do with the local’s belief that couples who swim there togetehr will break up.

The Dutch put in trails and steps. It was opened to the public in 1973.

They had both flags and penjor at the entrance. The first stall was right there at the trail head. I’m not sure if the were selling the Civets, or just coffee.

We were also warned that there would be a lot of shallow steps. I guess shallow is in comparison to the ridiculously large steps to be found in the temples of Java. It was a long, but comfortable walk down.

Shops lined the entire length of the trail. Most of the shop keepers were friendly, but not pushy as we made our way down. It was another matter on the way back up.

They sold everything from lacy tablecloths to sets of all the kinds of spice to be found in Bali. There were some costumes the Sudi Dance School would have found handy as well as simple wraps. It was a lot of fun to peruse who carried what.

There was no way I was going to buy anything while headed down, because then I would just have to carry it back out again. In reality, it only took a couple of hours to make the whole circuit.

Finally we reached the waterfall. It’s a 35 meter drop from lip to pool. I was surprised to note that the way the rock rises gives the waterfall a twist.

Off to the left is, of course, a shrine. This one was open to the public. The usual assortment of flowers, incense, and food lay on the altar along with an umbrella. I’m still not sure why so many of such places included an umbrella. Why does a statue need shade?

Then we had to go back up.  But no detours.

This was when the salesmanship really kicked in. There was a woman back at the falls (not the one in the picture) who sold the tree bark I’d been shopping for. I tried to walk away from her, but she dogged my every step. When I finally got away from her, she latched on to my mother. Though I dickered for all I was worth and knew I was getting ripped off, I ended up buying two bags of the stuff.

It seemed every step we took brought us up to another deal. I ended up loaning my mother money because she ran out. I suckered in to buying a bracelet because the little girl selling it was just too cute to ignore.

About the time we were played out, we ran across a runaway puppy. Several people from the group chased it down for this owner. By then I think we were all out of money, or we might have bought something from her, too.

At least the climb back up hill didn’t seem so onerous as we ran from or suckered in to the vendors.