Bali 2018 – Day 4 – Jatiluwih Rice Terrace

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Of all the spots we were revisiting this 2018 trip, the one I was most looking forward to was the Jatiluwih Rice Terrace, a UNESCO World Heritage site. I was keeping my fingers crossed as it rained for most of Day 3 – but as is typical of places that sit near the equator, weather can toggle between wet and sunny without notice. The name Jatiluwih apparently comprises two parts according to this site: with ‘Jati’ meaning ‘really’, and ‘Luwih’ meaning good and beautiful.

Comments!

The ride from our villa to the terrace took just over 90 minutes, and nearing the terrace, the road got slightly rough with lots of potholes. Hopefully your vehicle has better suspension gears than ours did! As is typical for so many of the Bali tourist sites these days, there is an admission charge into the area: about 110,000IDR for our family group.

We arrived in the area at 9:10AM and there were just a small handful of other visitors besides us. We observed more local drivers bring small groups of visitors – mostly westerners – to the area starting from around 10AM. Our driver, Dewa Marco, quipped that around after lunch time is when the bus loads of tourist hordes will start descending to the area.

The area sits about 700m above sea level, which makes any hot weather somewhat more tolerable. There’s a well-marked out walking trail through parts of the terrace, though if you’re interested in the best views, I reckon you’d want to just drive around and stop at the several look-out points for those magnificent uninterrupted panoramic views.

The walking trek is easy to manage with some gentle slopes uphill and downwards. We got lucky too: not only did we get sunny weather making for some wonderful pictures, there were also numerous workers in various parts of the terrace working at planting or harvesting the ready crops.

We already done landscape shots during the last visit, and produced some really memorable pictures of the area. So, this trip I was more interested in capturing images of the workers.

There are a few restaurants, sadly commanding prices that even higher-than the already relatively pricey food in Ubud. Still, these restaurants offer great panoramic views of the terrace: so you get to both dine and also enjoy scenery at the same time.

The Jatiluwih Rice Terrace.
Workers in the field.
The 105mm end of the Sony FE 24-105mm f4.0 wasn’t actually long enough for the worker subjects to fill the frame, so there’s quite a bit of cropping here in post-processing.
These bales of glutinous rice grains remind me of a hair style from a certain American President LOL.
A close-up of the harvest.
Many levels of the terrace.
Follow the signs.
The workers didn’t seem to mind me snapping away. Or maybe they’re just used to tourists!
The near-wide angle reach of Sony FE 24-105mm was just perfect for this area.
Hannah’s hand on the rice plants.
The Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 lens would had been perfect for this occasion: except that I forgot to bring the Sigma MC-11 adapter for it. Arrrgh!
I was specifically trying to nail shots that showed the workers’ hands – but it was really not easy with the harsh late morning sunlight on the Sony A73’s EVF.
There was a jolly scout troop who were singing rousing songs while they marched up the track.
Lunch @ Billy’s Terrace Cafe.
Very scenic!

An easy recommendation for a must-visit if you’re in Bali. Spend at least two hours in the area, and definitely do the trek through the terrace!