Very old rice teracces
When you are visiting Bali and want to have a cultural experience and a bit of history, hire a driver and a car and go and visit Jatiluwih rice terraces.
The Jatiluwih rice terraces are located in the middle of Bali near Ganung Batukaru. The area is very rural with nothing but a few farming communities and a few high end mountain resorts. Rural Bali at its best.
There used to be no tours here, though as tourism has grown, more and more people have been visiting, usually as part of a package tour that visits multiple sights in the area in one day. Even with the tours, still a far cry from busy. When we visited there was just a few chineese girls there.
Top things to experience in Bali
Some of the rice terraces are thought to be created as long as 500 years ago, and indeed showcase one of the oldest and most complex systems of agriculture.
The Jatiluwih rice terraces comprise over 600 hectares of rice fields following the flowing hillside topography of the Batukaru mountain range. These are well maintained by traditional water management cooperatives dating back to the 9th century.
These rice terraces give a new meaning to the word green if you are visiting at the right time of the year. We were there at the end of April and it was green all over.
Jatiluwih is derived from two words. Jati means “real” and Luwih means “good” or “beautiful”. So even the name in the local language lets you know this place is beautiful. This area is the only place in the world that has three annual rice harvests, which is quite impressive.
