Several crews left Bali Marina today to go on a guided World ARC day tour to the Kintimani Volcano. The varied route towards the volcano took the participants through the interesting heart of the island of Bali, making several stops on the way. Benoa harbour is not the most attractive part of Bali so it was a welcome change of scenery, having escaped the morning rush hour, to firstly visit the culturally interesting towns of Celuk and Mas. Detailed architecture and hand-crafted stone gives these settlements their signature, with intricately carved solid wood doors and window frames adorning the properties. Outside, well kept gardens house family shrines cut from local stone.
The World ARC tour made a stop at the religiously significant Goa Gajah (or Elephant) public temple. This temple site is set in a deep bowl of rock, and has many levels of smaller stone platform areas and water features. Covering the surrounding rock cliffs are cascading green vine branches which make a striking backdrop to the stone caved shrines. 
The group climbed to the centre of the island to make a very enjoyable lunch stop overlooking the Kintimani Volcano. This volcano last erupted in 2000 although the biggest eruption, which significantly altered the surrounding landscape, was in August 1924.
Following lunch, the group descended down the slopes of the volcano by bus and made a stop at the Plantation Gardens. Here one can review a collection of different plants, native and introduced to Bali, and taste some locally produced products such ginseng and lemon grass tea, Bali tobacco and Bali’s famous Luwak coffee. This coffee has an additional stage in the production system in that it is passed through the digestive system of the Luwak mammal before being cleaned and roasted.
Following afternoon tea and coffee, the group visited one of Bali’s most famous temples, the Holy Springs or Gunung Kawi Temple and also stopped to take pictures at the rice terraces of Tegalalang. Both provided picture postcard views but also showed what the real Bali is about. The whole day tour, which included animated commentary from local tour guide Arsa, made its last stop in the Monkey Forest in Ubud. This is an ancient wooded site on which many troops of native monkeys have made their home.
The tour was an enjoyable confirmation of what Bali has to offer and has started several days of further exploration for several crews.