Agritourism or Agriculture tourism is recently emerging in Indonesia. Many small farms have created a way to survive and create a new stream of income while integrating fun activities with farm life. Research by Aditya Kanal et al. titled Agritourism and off-farm work: Survival strategies for small farms found that diversification helps small farms generate more income. However, that research also emphasized that other factors such as the location plays a role for a farm to diversify their income. Like the place I visited yesterday, Bale Tani offers visitors a way to get to know the farm life whilst enjoying modern amenities.
Bale Tani is located in Serning Hamlet, about 35 minutes drive from the town's main avenue. The local farmers' association manages this place that starts to operate in July 2017. Before becoming an agricultural spot, this place was cattle breeding. Visitors can see some remains of the cattle structure. Nevertheless, it has been transformed into a convenient and instagrammable place.
In this 2 Hectare place, visitors can enjoy various activities including outbound, kids swimming pool, picnic spots, rice field, organic vegetable and fruits picking, and more. The entrance to this place is quite affordable, with only 10,000 IDR visitors can access this place and took pictures in some booth with village and farm living theme and accessories.
This place is divided into Bale Sawah, Bale Tirta, Bale Kebon, Bale Dhahar, Bale Benih, and Bale Nonton. Bale is a Javanese word that translated as "house" that is used as gathering. And each of those places named is also in Javanese. Tirta means water, Kebon means small farm, Dhahard means to eat, Benih means seeds, and Nonton means watching.
My mom, cousin, and I weren't planning to visit that place. But since we got back from the reclining buddha and the museum early, we decided to check the location. I found this spot two months ago, and I read from the reviews that it's a scenic and affordable place. However, it was rated somewhat low. The three of us didn't have any massive expectation of the site. We all love nature and romanticize farm life mainly because we've spent years living in the city and crave to experience something slower, laxer, and calmer. That's why Bale Tani seems like a deal.
We reached the place at around 3:00, just before the area is about to close. The place opens from around 9 AM to 4:00 AM, so we already saw the staff cleaning up the site by the time we arrived. Our driver decided to park the car in front of Indomaret, a national chain convenience store. So, we had to walk about 5 minutes before reaching the ticket counter. On the way to the ticket counter, we were greeted by 3D murals.
I saw some sugar cane sticks and processing too in one of the massive storage like room. But what captured my mom's attention was the murals. We also saw some visitors that mistaken the Bali temple mural as located in Japanese.
After buying the ticket, we were greeted by the staff who checked our temperature and asked us to wash our hands. There were flowers, plants, and trees on display to be sold in that same spot. However, I could not find any sunflower, and the plant that I want to have doesn't have any price tagged. So, I didn't buy any.
We followed the path until we spotted chairs and umbrellas as the roofing. We also spotted an ethnic Javanese themed cafe. But then we were greeted by some organic vegetable field. Sadly there weren't any vegetables that we can pick. My mom found oranges trees that already bear their fruit, and she wanted to pluck them. Unfortunately, there is a sign that said, no picking allowed.
The following path leads us to a mini arcade. Ray was tempted to buy coins to play the arcade game. But I told him that he's too big to play little kids arcade game. " I really want the doll", he insisted. " Nope, let's move on", I replied. After that arcade, there is a dedicated place for some vendors that sell drinks and snacks. We just walked and walked to the end of that path.
We saw some chairs and also an outbound place for children. Ray wanted to try it so badly, but I don't think the ropes would hold him securely.
After that, we walked through a bridge and a little hobbit house. " you wanted to get in, don't you?" asked ray to my mom. " How did you know?" she replied. I didn't care much about the house, but they were checking it out.
" Look at that, rat poo!"
" Is there a way to get in? " Ray was curious.
They checked all the tree houses, and then I said, " let's move again".
My mom was the first who spotted the poolside. " It must be nice sitting there" Ray proceeded to walk into the pool.
We were sitting by the poolside and enjoying the time there. I wanted to swim, but I didn't bring any swimwear. So, I just sat and took pictures of my beautiful mom. I was also admiring the interior and wished that I could have a place like that. So, we were casually talking about turning the garage into something like the poolside.
Our daydream was ruined when the staff told us that we need to purchase another ticket to enjoy the poolside. So, we left the place and then I saw a cafe with fishes in it!
" No, let's go home!"
" I want to dip my feet in the water. I am staying." I said
" Can we sit there and bring our food there?" we asked the staff.
" Sure, it's open and you can bring the food. There's also Karaoke available if you want".
So we ordered coffee and brought it to the "Fish cafe". In that pool, there are some tables and koi fishes. It was fun and refreshing. I was a bit alarmed because I am clumsy. So I was carefully moving in that pool since I brought two phones and some electronics with me. It would be funny if I were drenched in that water.
We stayed there and talked about how the place was worth it. It was affordable, and we all feel refreshed. My mom thought about bringing the grandma to that place. Since she'll love it and she can always rest at one of the tables.
On the way back, we were greeted by the staff. He asked us why we left soon since we haven't tried Karaoke. Ray said that it's a bit late for us and we wanted to go home.
Then, walking to the exit, we saw some more attractions but for children. There was a pool for them to do canoe. We also spotted a house that pictures traditional Indonesian life. There were some properties that you can use to take a picture. It was the kind of conventional farmer house in the hamlet/ villages in Indonesia.
On the way to the car, we talked about how worth it was the place and how we feel refreshed. We were happy, and we wanted to revisit the site soon in the future. Unfortunately, I did not take any video this time. So I hope you can also feel our excitement through these pictures above.
Anyhow, see you on our future adventure.
Reference
- Khanal, Aditya. (2014). Agritourism and off-farm work: Survival strategies for small farms. Agricultural Economics. 45. 10.1111/agec.12130.
