Bali Trip Day 6

Day 6 approached too fast, before we realized it was the second last day of our trip! We made a round-table discussion to decide which attraction to go. And hey! We've been to almost all places of interest~ except the Kuta beach, since there is an old man in our gang who doesn't like the beach. I'm for sure, absolutely double triple quadruply NOT ever ever EVER to include this old man in our trips anymore. He's a spoilage to the gang.

Finally we agreed on a last destination to whack~ The Mother Temple Besakih located in the village of Besakih on the slopes of Mount Agung in eastern Bali. Wilson would be the one driving the jeep and I am the one navigating the map!

- Wilson on Katana -

We reached Mother's Temple at 11am in the morning. The temple can be a bit of a tourist trap, especially during the day. In the evening it quietens down and may be a better time to visit. Besakih does have a system of temple guides, which can be annoying for some people. Besakih is not just one temple, but a large complex of temples extending up the mountain. Entrance is 10,000rp, parking 1,000rp. In respect to the culture wear a sarong and sash, have to rent shall you forgot to provide.

First, we got ourselves the compulsory tour-guide. At the entrance, we were told that ways up to the temple would take a long walk and were asked if we want to be fetched on motorbikes for a 20,000 rp. We gave in and to our amaze, the temple is just less than 3mins motorbike ride from the entrance. Curse the locals for the scam.

We then marched towards the first temple, and there we were taught of Balinese way of worshiping the god. There are 5 steps, couldn't recall the names of the steps already. But it was first pray, throw out the flowers, put the flowers on the head and then receive holy-water from the temple guy and drink it.

Then we continued the journey up the numerous levels temple hill. Because we weren't generous enough in our tips to the temple warden, we didn't get very nice treatment on the way. Our tour guide didn't really tell us stories, well, I don't think he even talks much. He merely brought us round the temple hills without opening his golden mouth. Oh, he did tell us that the temples are many hundreds years old. :)

Abide from the money craving tour guides, we did enjoy the view here. I love the beauty of nature and the hilly scenery were superb. It felt a little Japan resemblance here and there.

As we marched on to the last level of the temples, we were amazed by how lovely the gate was. This is the only place we saw the gates not in the uniform design, this is a curved design!

Felt a little heavenly here, suits the Bali feels much. Suppose there is another level of temples from here, but it was 2km away and I suppose this is the limit our legs can bring us. And were afraid they charge us another 20k rupee for motorbike ride.

I really really enjoy the trip to the mother temple of Besakih, the hilly scene, the multi storey temples, the heavenly feelings and the hot hot sun (not-so). Forget bout the vampire like tour guides, we really love the visit much. For me it was the best visit through the whole Bali trip, as we are free from that old man. How blissful.

After the trip we drove back to Ubud and had a last minute shopping at Sukawati. I bought paintings, t-shirts, necklaces, bracelets, decorative, key-chains etc as souvenirs. Enjoyed the shopping so much because we were dealing in millions rupee! Millionaires in action!!

After shopping, initially the plan was to visit hotels again. But since Wilson knows me well, I did not want to visit hotel at all! So he made excuses that needed more shopping and we hopped down the ugly jeep at Ubud. So nice, finally we had chances to walk on the romantic Bali streets on our own.

We ended the day with a drink at Tut-Mak again, Wilson and I love the Rum & Raisin ice-cream much. I just loveee Bali... :D