The Sekumpul Waterfalls in Bali

I happened to be in the northern part of the island, planning what I might see and what I would love to experience here. The local "agencies" immediately tried to lure me onto dolphin-watching cruises and other attractions I had no interest in joining. In the end I chose the trip to the Sekumpul waterfalls, which are not the most famous, but I was intrigued to learn that they are the largest waterfalls in Bali.

Most tourists head to the Nungnung waterfall, which is very photogenic and where you can swim in the pools below, making it a pleasant end to a sweaty walk through the surrounding jungle. But it lies essentially in the centre of the island, a long way from Lovina Beach where I was based. So Sekumpul was the obvious choice.

At the car park where the trail to the waterfalls begins, I had to pay an entrance fee. Of course I did. I get the feeling that in Bali I was practically paying just for breathing the fresh air. The ticket cost about 20,000 IDR, and after two steps a local rushed up to me, claiming to be a guide and asking me to pay him yet again so he could walk with me all the way to the waterfalls. And there it was again, the endless explaining that I did not want a guide, that I had already bought a ticket and would surely manage to reach the waterfalls on my own, along a marked and mostly concreted path with steps. I have to say these moments were always very exhausting for me in Bali.

After a while I managed to turn the "guide" down and set off down towards the waterfalls. I passed several houses, where barking dogs were less than welcoming, and pressed on towards the roar of the waterfall, which grew steadily louder. I had expected a marked trail, but perhaps to boost the guides' income the Balinese had put up hardly any signs, so most of the time I simply chose whichever path led further downhill or navigated by the map on my phone. After a few minutes (the whole walk to the waterfalls from the car park takes about 20 minutes) an amazing view opened up before me. It was not a single great stream tumbling into the valley; instead I saw three main waterfalls at once, plunging from a huge cliff in the jungle (the falls are about 80 metres high).

I reached a small platform with a beautiful view and photographed this natural beauty. Then I continued down the slippery steps all the way to the river, and along the way there were several more lovely views of the waterfalls and the jungle. According to the latest information I have seen online, the path below the viewpoint is currently blocked off by a gate, and you can only get down beneath the waterfalls with a guide (about 120,000 IDR) or by paying an extra 75,000 IDR.

Slowly I made my way back up to the car park, the roar of the waterfall behind me. The sheer power of that mass of water, plunging into the valley every second, occupied my mind for the rest of the day. I realised that my next day in Bali would also be all about water, though the salty kind this time. For the following day I had arranged to go snorkelling near Deer Island at the north-western tip of Bali.