Tegallalang Rice Terraces

The Most Photographed Rice Terraces In Bali A Narrow Subak Irrigated Valley Twenty Minutes From Ubud, And Not One Of The Sites On The UNESCO Cultural Landscape Listing · Tegallalang, Bali

Tegallalang is the rice terrace in the photographs - a steep narrow valley twenty minutes north of Ubud, stepped in tight curves and lit beautifully in the early morning, and it is genuinely lovely at six in the morning. IT IS ALSO A NARROW STRIP, not a landscape. The terraces run along one valley side within sight of the road, and the whole thing can be walked in an hour, WHICH IS WHY IT FEELS SO CROWDED - several thousand people a day on a site the size of a few football pitches. TWO THINGS ARE WORTH KNOWING BEFORE YOU GO. IT IS NOT PART OF THE UNESCO SUBAK LISTING - that covers Jatiluwih and the Pakerisan watershed, not this valley. AND THERE ARE DONATION BOXES AT EVERY PATH ENTRANCE, often several on one short walk, each staffed by someone who will ask. All of that is true, and so is the light at six in the morning with nobody else on the paths - which is the only version of Tegallalang worth having.

Tegallalang, Gianyar Regency, Bali, Tegallalang, Bali, Indonesia

OPEN FROM EARLY MORNING with a small entry fee at the main viewing area and a separate parking charge. THE VALLEY ITSELF IS CRISSCROSSED BY PATHS ON WORKING FARMLAND, and DONATION POSTS ARE SET UP AT PATH ENTRANCES AND TERRACE CROSSINGS - you may be asked three or four times on a single circuit, and the amounts are small but the cumulative effect surprises people. THE SWING OPERATORS along the valley rim keep their own hours and prices and safety standards vary considerably between them. IT IS BUSIEST FROM ABOUT NINE UNTIL FOUR and is nearly empty before eight. THE TERRACES CHANGE COMPLETELY THROUGH THE GROWING CYCLE - brown mud, brilliant green, gold - so no photograph is a promise. Coffee plantations on the road sell luwak coffee.

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