Harvest time comes between July and October in west Buleleng, a region encompassing fertile plantations in Banyuatis, Asah Duren and Dapdap Putih villages. In East Buleleng, the villagers embrace this merry period from August to December. This region comprises plantations in Tajun and Kubutambahan.
The arrival of harvest time is the sign for migrant workers, from Buleleng and as far away as Java, to flock to the clove-growing regions and offer their seasonal services to the owners of large plantations. Some have the required skills to be buruh alap, the workers who are not afraid of heights. Armed with only a tall ladder made of a single bamboo pole, they will scale to the top of the clove trees, pluck the flowers and place them inside the gunnysacks.
Others will serve as pengunduh, collecting flowers that are scattered on the ground, while the others work as pengepik, who separate the flower buds from the leaves and branches. The bamboo ladder is around 20 meters tall, while the clove trees could grow up to a height of 25 meters. In each climb, a buruh alap carries down up to 50 kilograms of clove flowers in his gunnysack. It is an exhausting and risky job, powerful winds and venomous snakes were the two most dangerous obstacles.
