Bali Java 2010: Bali temples and scenery

On my 4th day in Bali, I finally feel like I'm in Bali. I came to Padangbai (which is bay or small port, so I think of it as Padang Bay) as a base to see some temples and in a town named Klungkung the remains of a palace nearly destroyed by the Dutch aside from two open pavilions covered on the inside with paintings. Padangbai is kind of a dumpy little place with no real beach as its a port,with the usual hawkers and predators of tourists, but with a strip of nice places to eat, featuring the fresh catch of the day. (and perhaps the slowest internet, its taking ages to upload each photo) On my last day in Yogyakarta I came down with a bad cold as I always seem to when I'm in India, and then had to fly the next day which I'm sure didn't help. When I got here I was feeling pretty lousy, but had a nice driver from the airport who I hired for today, giving myself a 2 day rest. I ended up seeing all in one day what I had planned for two, though things are so close together it was fine in a day, and cheaper than hiring a car and driver for two days.

Although I did find this very pleasant cafe with computers on an breezy open upper level porch covered with a thatch roof, I'm not great at "hanging out" and on my first day my hotel was very unpleasant (found on the internet where it looked swell) the "Zen hotel" run by a big Irishman named Liam, the cafe was charming, but my room had a huge rat and cockroach in the enclosed outdoor sitting room, and the hotel was not only not on the water, but behind the bus station. I found a much nicer place the next morning, very clean and pleasant, in traditional styled buildings raised up from the ground with thatch roofs, a balcony on the first and lower levels, if only they had the hot water they promised but did not produce, it would be perfect, I hate cold water showers in the morning, even in this hot sticky climate where you never feel dry.

The scenery and temples I saw today were wonderful, it was overcast which my driver felt bad about, but I was grateful for as it saved me from the intense sun. The first was a temple known as the "Bat Temple" because its a cave full of bats, fortunately I don't have a bat phobia it would have been interesting to visit at dusk to see them in action.

The next and one of the most magnificent temples in Bali is Pura Beksakih, in the mountains, a series of temples on a hill, only worshipers can go inside, but much could be seen from a nice walking path around the temple walls. The most striking thing about Balinese temples is the tower, the meru, for the mythological Hindu Mt. Meru, like the "axis-mundi" connecting the early and divine realms. Some are quite tall and made out of black coconut fiber. The numerous silhouettes of the towers is one of the most striking things about them. One annoying thing about this major tourist site were the aggressive "guides" set up at the entrance to the long walk up to the compound where one was told that a guide was required to see the temples, for a high fee, this is after paying a high entrance fee. Fortunately both of my guidebooks had warned about this so I knew, aside from renting a sarong which is required, that I could walk around myself. I'd rather have a contemplative experience and see sites as I wish, than having someone guiding my visit, particularly as I inform myself by reading before I go. Further along more "guides" approach, and even as you explain that you don't want a guide, one tries to come anyway, saying "he is not a guide" but would want to be paid. (this is too typical of many sites in India) It takes some persistence and patience to finally free yourself and to not hold onto the irritation but to get back into the mood to experience to what you are really there for.

From there I visited a few more temples in various small towns in the vicinity, one extremely old with stones covered with lichen, and an enormous banyan tree one of the most interesting features was what looked like a large pig face at the base of one of the shrines.

The scenery was spectacular, my driver often stopped to let me capture some views,not always possible with the very narrow roads. Tomorrow I leave for the mountains, Lake Batur, the location of an important temple on an island on the lake, the cooler air will be a welcome relief if only for 2 days.

I decided to skip the northern beach town of Lovina, and head directly to Ubud, particularly as my driver said it was a lot like Padangbai and there is only one significant temple there. I'm wanting more "culture" which I'll find in Ubud, concerts, dance, theatre and as its central, most places can be visited from it on a day trip.