We had several “field trips” on our trip to Indonesia. Here's a recap of two of them:
The Gunung Agung volcano in Bali hasn’t erupted since the 1960s, but is still a major tourist draw – including us! According to locals, it occasionally emits smoke and ash, but all was calm when we visited. The volcano is the tallest point on the island. Other than the scorched land around it, it appeared to be just another mountain. Still, it was exciting for Lydia to see a real volcano.
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The Dutch began cultivating coffee trees on Java Island for export in the 17th century. While the Dutch no longer rule Java, the coffee export business continues to thrive. Bali is separated from Java by the Bali Straight and has coffee plantations across the island. We love coffee, so we thought it would be fun to see where it's grown. We walked through the trees, but didn’t get a good picture of coffee beans. 
Roasting the coffee (guessing it doesn't look quite like this at the Folger's plant!):
Crushing the beans into grounds:
The Dutch began cultivating coffee trees on Java Island for export in the 17th century. While the Dutch no longer rule Java, the coffee export business continues to thrive. Bali is separated from Java by the Bali Straight and has coffee plantations across the island. We love coffee, so we thought it would be fun to see where it's grown. We walked through the trees, but didn’t get a good picture of coffee beans.
However, more interesting than coffee beans, was a small cage of animals called luwak.
These small critters have a role in the making of coffee (kopi luwak) that is some of the most expensive in the world. Here’s the explanation from the coffee plantation’s literature:
“These little mammals live in trees and one of their favorite foods is the ripe coffee cherry. They eat the cherries, bean and all. While the bean is in this little guy’s stomach, it undergoes chemical treatment and fermentation. The bean finishes its journey through the digestive system and exits. The still intact beans are collected from the forest floor, and are cleaned, and are then roasted and ground just like any other coffee. The resulting coffee is said to be like no other. It has a rich, heavy flavor with hints of caramel or chocolate. Other terms to describe it are earthy…and exotic.”
As you might imagine, drinking something earthy and exotic was not on my itinerary!
We did enjoy watching the coffee being “processed.” Here are samples of the raw beans:
These small critters have a role in the making of coffee (kopi luwak) that is some of the most expensive in the world. Here’s the explanation from the coffee plantation’s literature:
“These little mammals live in trees and one of their favorite foods is the ripe coffee cherry. They eat the cherries, bean and all. While the bean is in this little guy’s stomach, it undergoes chemical treatment and fermentation. The bean finishes its journey through the digestive system and exits. The still intact beans are collected from the forest floor, and are cleaned, and are then roasted and ground just like any other coffee. The resulting coffee is said to be like no other. It has a rich, heavy flavor with hints of caramel or chocolate. Other terms to describe it are earthy…and exotic.”
As you might imagine, drinking something earthy and exotic was not on my itinerary!
We did enjoy watching the coffee being “processed.” Here are samples of the raw beans:
Roasting the coffee (guessing it doesn't look quite like this at the Folger's plant!): Crushing the beans into grounds:
After our tour, we got to sample several coffees (the kopi luwak variety wasn’t an option, thank goodness), teas, and cocoa (also grown on the plantation).
Our surprise favorites were lemon tea and ginseng coffee. And, we enjoyed the company of two women who worked at the plantation. 
Like all the other Balinese people we met, they were warm, welcoming, and patient with all of our questions.
Like all the other Balinese people we met, they were warm, welcoming, and patient with all of our questions. It was another beautiful and memorable day in Bali! Just one more post and I’ll wrap up the Indonesia experience!
so fun! i have to admit, my favorite pic was the one where Lydia was helping to crush the coffee beans and was still managing to hold her adorable purse like a true champ! that photo warmed my heart!
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