Rices Terraces

These rice terraces are cut in to the hill slopes and looks like green steps on a stairs. Rice terraces are found in many locations, but this photo is taken from Pacung (near Lake Beratan), from Pacung Mountain Resort.

The receding man-made terraces, like flights of gigantic stairs, cover the hills and spread over the slopes and plains. When they are first filled with still water they are like mosaics of mirrors that reflect the clouds. Later they are sprinkleed with the dainty blades of the newly planted rice in an all-over I pattern of chartreuse on a ground of brown ooze. This thickens eventually into a tender yellow-green carpet which turns to a rich gold ochre as the grain ripens, finally leaving only dry, cracked mud after the harvest.
The rugged, mountainous nature of the island, closely furrowed by deep ravines, makes irrigation extremely difficult. The Balinese irrigation system, call the Subak, allows water to be led from the mountains to the various levels of cultivated land by an elaborate system of canals, dams, bamboo pipes, and even long tunnels cix-it t4ough solid rock, to the dikes that permit the sawa to be flooded or drained at will.