The dark purple, spherical-shaped fruit, which looks like a big, dark cherry is well known in Bali as Kaliasem, and Gowok in Indonesian. There is no English equivalent for this fruit. It comes in stalk just like cherry and very sweet. You do not need to peel this fruit when you eat it but mind, you can not eat the seed, which is large and shaped like lima bean. This fruit has white flesh with reddish tinge and usually ripe in November.

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From dozens of tropical fruits that can be found in Bali, Salak or snake fruit is the oddest looking one. It is about the size and shape of a ripe fig usually round with a distinct tip, with an edible pulp; to peel, pinch the tip of the fruit and pull away. The fruit inside consists of three lobes, each lobe containing a large inedible seed. The lobes look and have the consistency of peeled garlic cloves, creamy yellow in color and have a sweet acid taste rather like a pineapple, but are crisp and crunchy. But the most distinctive feature of Salak is its reddish-brown scaly skin, and due to this feature salak is dubbed as snake fruit.

Salak plant needs high temperature and humidity throughout the year and also high and continuous water requirement. Due to this requirements, Salak plantations in Bali are concentrated in central and east Bali especially Karangasem Regency, especially in the southern slope of Mount Agung.

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One and half-hour drive from Denpasar to Sibetan village is not a waste time. The winding road to Sibetan through palm-leafed fenced terraced rice fields offers breathtaking sceneries. Rows of the rice fields perch on the slopes of the hills border here and there with bamboo and snake fruit plants create a stunning view to behold that makes one and half-hour drive seems to last only a few moments.

Situated on the foot of the majestic and still active Mt Agung, Sibetan is a quiet and traditional village, with cool temperature, and clean air. This village is well known among the Balinese as the “Home of Salak (snake fruit),” Thousands of salak trees from 14 species grow here due to the agreeable climate and extreme fertility of the soil. The Sibetan village owes this extreme soil fertility and abundance of salak plants to the Mount Agung that erupted in 1963, blanketing the village farmlands sending volcanic dust and rocks, making a return to normal agriculture impossible.

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Bali’s new Village Ecotourism Network provides an alternative to mass tourism.

Ibu Soma balances precariously on a small wooden stepladder. It wobbles a little, but she is practised at this. Rolling up her sleeves, she reaches into the tree and claims her tiny prizes one by one. They are sunset-coloured capsules, which she will sun-dry and husk, revealing the perfect coffee beans within. Her daughter picks some of the lower beans and slowly they begin to fill their basket. The work is methodical, and made even more meditative by the peacefulness of the forest-gardens around them.

The silence is interrupted only by birdsong. From far off, however, come the sounds of footsteps. Eventually a small group of visitors round a bend, pattering quietly in damp undergrowth and murmuring softly. They are headed by Gede, one of Bu Soma’s fellow coffee farmers, and a local eco-guide. They stop to admire Bu Soma’s harvest, and soon the little patch of garden is filled with chatter and laughter.

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The tropical climate, with its biannual change of seasons, makes volcanic Bali a very fertile land. Many different kinds of tropical plants Wow well in the cool highlands and hot, dry coastal areas. The average humidity of 60% during the dry season and 100% during the rainy season influences fertility of the many types of tropical flora, which Wow in Bali.

The daily life of the Hindu Balinese, which is strongly characterized with a diverse range of rituals, makes plentiful use of the fauna and flora available on the island. Leaves and coconuts of the palm tree, bananas, fruits, and a diverse range of flowers are some examples of the flora that is used frequently in daily life. Fruits, such as the salak and the jeruk (citrus), are popularly used as offerings, and are known throughout the archipelago as a specialty of the fruits cultivated in Bali.

Aside from the areas near the seashore surrounding the island, the regency of Jembrana in West Bali is the largest provider of coconuts with its palm tree plantations, whereas many kinds of fruits and flowers are grown in the mountain areas such as Bedugul, Bangli and northern Badung. Tree trunks, found in most areas of Bali, are used as building material. For example, the kwantitan (jackfruit tree) is generally used for the construction of buildings in Bali.

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Bali has an abundance of fruit with many varieties that are a lot more interesting than just your average apple or orange. Tropical fruits come in strange colours, shapes and textures, yet each is quite exotic in its own way.

Just about everyone seems to enjoy the mangosteen which has been referred to as the ‘Queen of Fruits’. Slightly smaller than a tennis ball with a deep purple skin, the inside reveals 4-8 pinky-white edible segments that are delicately sweet.

One of the oddest looking tropical fruit in Bali is the rambutan, also known as hairy fruit. This reflects the fruits most unusual skin of soft rubbery spines that are crimson in colour. Inside is a single piece of sweet translucent flesh that surrounds a woody seed. The whole segment is pooped into the mouth and the tangy flesh nibbled off leaving only the inedible seed.

Another unusual fruit is the salak, which is recognized by its teardrop shape and brown scaly snake-like peel. The fruit inside consists of a large segment and one or two smaller lobes that tastes pleasantly crisp with the consistency of a carrot. Salak is not a remarkable tasting fruit, yet it grows abundantly in Bali’s drier regions and is readily available at the local marketplace.

The seasonal fruit called durian is a great favourite within the Asian community and because it is such a delicacy it can be quite expensive. Known for its pungent odour that many Westerners find quite offensive, this controversial fruit is often banned from hotels and restaurants. Durian generally comes in the shape of a coconut, often larger, with a thick pale green outer rind that is covered with sharp thorns. Once cut open with a butcher’s cleaver, the inside reveals sections of creamy pulp that surrounds large seeds.

Banana, mango, papaya, pineapple and coconut are also some of the types of tropical fruits that are plentiful in Bali. A platter of seasonal fresh fruits or a delicious blended juice makes a refreshing holiday breakfast.

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