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Nature's own massage at Les village waterfall
HUSH: The 30-meter-high waterfall near Les village, Buleleng, has a unique slope which water cascades down before landing in a pool at its base
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HUSH: The 30-meter-high waterfall near Les village, Buleleng, has a unique slope which water cascades down before landing in a pool at its base. (JP/Indah Setiawati)
After a refreshing shower under a waterfall, we ate corn porridge and sipped hot tea while chatting at a Balinese friend's small house, surrounded by fruit trees in Les village, Buleleng.
What a life.
The village is indeed an alternative weekend escape, after long weeks of hectic work in the city.
Located some 90 kilometers north of Denpasar, Les is blessed with a majestic waterfall and rich underwater scenery at its beach.
The best way to reach Les is by rented or private car or motorcycle, so visitors can stop where they want to take photos.
The shortest route from Denpasar to Les is through Gianyar and Kintamani, where visitors can stop to enjoy the wonderful Lake Batur and mountain views while sipping hot Balinese coffee outside Pura Puncak Panulisan, a temple.
While passing through the Kintamani forest reserve, visitors should drive slowly and carefully as the winding road often becomes foggy.
The waterfall is about 1 kilometer from the village's main road. Visitors can park at the entrance gate, where a few shops sell snacks and souvenirs, before walking along a path to an open area next to a wide river, with a small stream of water and huge rocks.
After crossing the river, a similar footpath leads to the waterfall.
The 30-meter-high waterfall has a perfect slope so the water from the river jumps from one rock to another before eventually hitting the bottom of the land more gently.
Visitors can stand under the waterfall and enjoy the sensation of a natural massage of the water pounding on their head, neck and back while trying to become one with the surroundings and listening to the great voice of the waterfall.
The moment to visit it, though, should be well considered -- do you want to experience the waterfall by yourself or with a crowd?
The villagers usually flock to the waterfall when they celebrate the Hindu religious festival Galungan, while visits by domestic and foreign tourists usually reach their peak during holiday seasons in August and around the New Year.
This weekend, for example, is not highly recommended because it is likely to be raining caterpillars from the nearby trees, onto the stones in the river.
"It rarely happens, but the recent hard rains may throw them from the trees," Made Giriyasih, a local resident, said.
Although the village has potential tourist attractions, including adequate hotels, it has not been developed to its best. Local residents are not yet able to rely on the sector.
Take Giriyasih as an example. She built a shop from wood on the way to the waterfall but was forced to close it because tourists only occasionally come there.
Gede Sutan Arya, an indigenous villager who lives in Denpasar, attributed the inability to attract more tourists to the lack of tourism campaigns.
"The village does not get enough promotion. Most of them are farmers and fishermen," he said.
Besides the waterfall, Les is well known for its well-preserved reefs and about 420 kinds of decorative fish of export quality, including Centropyge Bicolor, Balistodes Conspicillum and Pomacanthus Imperator, locally known as Angle Batman.
The place is a haven for snorkeling and scubadiving enthusiasts because local fishermen have long promised to use environmentally friendly ways to catch fish. They avoid using poisonous chemicals such as potassium and cyanide in an effort to help preserve the reefs.
The rest of time can be used to see the Pura Desa at the center village, which features temples that belong to local families, one near the beach and another near the village cemetery.
Visitors are not permitted to enter the family temples, but they are allowed to enter the Pura Desa if they wear traditional clothes.
The cemetery in the village is unique because of the great size of the tombs. Sutan Arya said a cemented tomb usually contained the bodies of six family members.
"Around 100 families bury their relatives in the cemetery," he said. "Usually after a religious ritual, the dead body is simply laid inside the cement tomb."
