Arriving in Bali- Luwak Coffee

Arriving in Bali the weather was very humid. To get to my hostel in Ubud I had to catch a taxi. The taxi prices are pretty standard rates among the different companies. The lowest rate was 320,000 IDR but I was able to get the rate down to 300,000 ($31) with hard work. Getting to Ubud was a lot further than I initially thought; it was about an hour or more. My driver was super nice and he talked a lot about his family. On the way to my hostel he kept asking if I wanted to stop or see anything on the way and I kept saying no. He asked several times and I was exhausted, I finally said fine. He ended up taking me to Kopi Luwak.

Kopi Luwak is coffee that includes part-digested coffee cherries eaten and defecated by the Asian Palm Civet (seen in the welcome sign). It sounds disgusting but it's actually quite interesting. It makes you wonder who figured this out and why they thought to try it. I am not a huge coffee lover, I usually only have coffee when it's weak and sugar and creamed up but it's something you can only do in Bali which is why I did it. When I arrived at the plantation I was greeted by a Balinese man who took me on a tour of the grounds.

Considering how hot the weather was, there was a lot of shade because of the trees. ​

There was no fee to visit this place but it's one of those places that expect you to buy because it is free. I was seated under a grass hut that had tables and chairs. I waited a few minutes and was given a menu to look at. The menu was all the drinks I would be tasting. I actually thought this was a waste because 1. it was hot as hell outside and the drinks were all hot and 2. I couldn't finish all of these drinks alone. There was about 4 drinks that I actually liked, which were teas.
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*To try Luwak coffee you have to pay 50 IDR which is like nothing in Canadian dollars, $0.01 to be exact*.

The Luwak coffee was the most disgusting coffee I have ever had but then again there was nothing in it like I usually have. So I ended up buying Rosella tea to bring home (with hesitation). However, I ended up finishing it very fast.

After tasting all that coffee & tea I was really hungry. Actually the only place I wanted to stop was at a restaurant to eat. My driver took me to a place called Rapuan Cili. Apparently this place is a tourist drop off, lots of drivers drop people off here to eat. I learned right away if the driver suggests something be prepared to spend a lot of money or  be specific about what you want. There was no a/c here but the view was amazing. I really wanted to just jump in the pool. ​

Views from Restoran Rapuan Cili

The menu was extensive, but I settled on Coconut Curry with Rice. The food was really good, like Cambodian food it reminded me of Thai. I definitely enjoyed my meal but felt I over payed for this meal. I ended up spending something like 70.000 IDR ($7), even though it isn't much in North America it is a lot there.

Coconut curry meal at Rapuan Cili restaurant