A dream of mine has always been to cycle through the rice paddy fields of Bali. I used to be able to close my eyes and imagine the feeling of the wind rushing across my body and the warm sun shining on my face and now I have memories of that exact experience in Bali! One word – Priceless.

For the traveler who likes to get amongst it and get ‘off the beaten path’ look no further. The Eco & Educational Bicycle Tour centered around Ubud is a truly unique and refreshing experience. Who wouldn’t want to hop on a bike and cycle down hill through rural Balinese villages and surrounded by lush green rice paddies? It was a no brainer for us and I felt like a kid in a candy store the morning that we were picked up at Villa Wastra near Kintamani. 

In addition to the tour we were lucky enough to experience the Balinese holiday Galungan during our stay. Galungan is celebrated every 6 months by the entire island of Bali. It lasts for 10 days and represents the triumph of good over evil or dharma over a dharma. Beautiful decorations are created to welcome the arrival of Hindu Gods and ancestral spirits as they descend to earth over this time period. These decorations are called penjors and each Balinese household places one at the entrance of their home. The penjors are made of a large curved bamboo pole that have coconut leaves and offerings at its base and is placed in the ground as a reminder and devotion to God. It is incredible to witness this holiday and see all of the beautiful penjors line the streets of Bali. Every single household has a penjor and as you walk or cycle down the road it is a constant reminder of all things good and pure Balinese devotion. We were able to take it up a notch by taking the cycling tour during Galungan – imagine cycling down rural Balinese villages and passing by hundreds of penjors that lined the streets. It was absolutely incredible! 

The Cycling Tour lasts all day and begins with an early morning pick up at your accommodation and scoops up all 8-12 passengers to head to Mt. Batur in Kintamani for breakfast overlooking the active volcano. We stood in awe of the volcano and almost booked to go on the early edition of the tour which is to climb Mt. Batur starting at 3AM to arrive at the top for sunrise and then make your way down to enjoy a yummy Balinese brekky with the rest of the cyclist group. Next trip it is a definite on my list! 

After enjoying breakfast overlooking the volcano its time to hit up the first stop, a coffee and fruit plantation visit. Walk through local crops of coffee, tea, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, turmeric, snake fruit, jack fruit, mango, and other tropical fruits. The highlight for many is sampling the most expensive coffee  in the world, Coffee Luwak. I wasn’t aware of this apparent treat – but for anyone who would like to sample this delight it is coffee beans that have been eaten by a Luwak and then pass through the digestive tract and once passed through (the poo!) are washed and dried in the sun. This creates a coffee bean that is aromatic and less acidic. I couldn’t bring myself to sample the most expensive coffee in the world… I instead enjoyed my other 6 beautiful samples of coffee and tea (my favorite was the ginger coffee!). 

Time to get to my dream bike ride… We then started our 1/2 day bike cycle trip that descends downhill through back streets of rural villages and through stunning panoramic landscapes of lush green rice paddies. The tour guides are genuine, warm, and always smiling whilst sharing their vast knowledge of the Balinese culture and daily life. I felt as if we being taken on an intimate trip with friends as we cycled through a village and stopped off to randomly visit a Balinese community. We were welcomed with open arms to visit the community and it felt wonderful to know that a part of the money that we paid for the tour went to the village that we visited. Next hop on the bike and more delicious down hill riding – I will never forget the look of my husband’s happy face as I turned around to make sure he was tailing me! Such simple pleasures in life are sometimes the most enriching. We then stopped off amidst fields of rice paddies – here we go – my dream about to become reality! 

We were able to step in with locals and help with rice harvesting. Eeeck! Exciting! I was so excited to get off the bike and push down the kickstand to take a single step into the lushness of the paddies. Simple pleasure. Lifetime memory. I gave a couple of the locals a good laugh as I stepped right in to get into the action. So sweet and accepting are the Balinese that it always felt very warm on every interaction to help in their harvest. As my husband and I are big fans of rice for health it was so much fun to be surrounded by lush fields and be able to literally walk through and run our hands through the simple and nutritious food. 

The tour continues with cycling and view after stunning view completely engulfs you as you become immersed in the rice paddies. Children often run by and wave their hands with a big ‘Hi!’ and always a smile. The day wraps up with a Balinese lunch and it was super easy for them to prepare a vegan meal to enjoy over the paddies. I highly recommend this experience to anyone visiting Bali and the tour group is exceptional with delivering a day filled with cultural information and enriched experiences.