My Bali Holidays - May 2019 : Pura Tanah Lot - the sea temple

The moment we  passed through Kuta at night to reach our hotel, we realised that this place has got all the ingredients the normal tourists would wish to have. For example, Kuta beach, Shopping centres, multi-cuisine restaurants including a few Indian restaurant chains like Queens of India, Kailash Parbat were within the walking distance of our hotel in Kuta. Denpasar International Airport was within 2 kms of distance from our hotel. 

 

Kuta is also a centrally located town for excursions to popular tourist spots like Bali Safari and Marine Park, Tajung Benoa beach for water sport activities and visiting Turtle Island, Tajung harbour for sunset dinner cruise, Tanah Lot sea temple etc. For tourists who wish to stay awake in ungodly hours, there are many nightclubs in Kuta. For solo travellers, there are a number of two-wheeler rental agencies. But those tourists who prefer some quite, serene, and spiritual place, Kuta may not be the preferred place for them to stay. As I said earlier, for the first time visitors to Bali, Kuta is the convenient base for covering the popular tourist spots. 

 

During the 4-day stay in Kuta, we covered Bali Safari Park, Devdan Cultural Show at Nusa Dua, Benoa beach for water sports activities and visit to Turtle Island, Sunset Dinner Cruise from Tajung harbour, Pura Tanah Lot temple and visit to shopping centres around Kuta. 

Bali Safari Park had Tiger and Elephant shows besides viewing wild animals from Safari vehicle. Since we had seen such type of animal shows and safari during our visit to Safari World in Bangkok, there was not much of a  novelty for us in the shows and the safari.

As a part of the Tiger Show, this tiger walked over the man made ridge and was supposed to cross over the man-made waterfall by jumping to the other side  to  come down to the lawn. But instead, the tiger  sat down and started drinking water from the small pond created from the waterfall. The tiger followed the instructions from the trainer only after quenching the thirst.

 

A lion came out the den and crossed the road after our safari vehicle moved forward. Clicked from the back seat of the safari vehicle.

In the evening, we went for the famous Devdan Show at Nusa Dua Theatre located 15 kms south-east of Kuta. It is a 90-minute show (7.30-9.00 pm)depicting Indonesia's diverse cultural heritage in the form of dances with pleasing costumes. Other important features of this show are the mind blogging acrobatics, excellent light and sound effects and the real looking sets. It is a well presented show. Photography is strictly prohibited during the performance of the show. The organiser do not seem to object  taking pictures at the end of the show when all the artists present themselves to bid good-bye to the audience.

Balinese dancers in Devdan Show. Photo courtesy: Devdan's video of the preview of the show.

 

The next day, after breakfast, we drove to Benoa beach (18 kms south-east from Kuta). The beach appears to be one of the busiest centres for water sports activities. At the beach, we took a glass bottom boat to visit Turtle Island, about 20 minutes ride from the beach. The sea water is crystal clear even at the shore. We could briefly see through the glass bottom of the boat, some marine lives under the sea but it was not a spectacular under sea view. We saw mostly small fishes and seaweeds.

Tajung Benoa beach.



 

The visit to Turtle Island was a great disappointment for me due to high expectations. I was under the impression that the Turtle Island was a place for breeding giant green turtles. It would have been interesting to know the methods of conservation of turtles.  But it was not so. What the authorities seems to have done is that they have brought a dozen or so turtles from the breeding centre for tourists to watch and hold for photo shoots. I guess, by evening, these turtles would be completely exhausted by tourists handling them. We spent about 20 minutes and returned to Benoa beach. We did only Banana boat ride as others water sports activities like para sailing, snorkelling, fish fly, flyboard etc were not meant for senior citizens.

Holding turtles for photo shoot is one of the major activities for tourists in the Turtle Island.

 

View of Banoa beach with water sport activities from the restaurant.

 

In the evening, we had a booking for Bounty Sunset Dinner Cruise departing from Tajung Benoa harbour at 5.30 pm. It was the usual dinner cruise for tourists that are available in tourist places like Panaji in Goa and Bangkok - Orchestra with local dances, sunset view followed by the buffet dinner.  The cruise ended at 8.00 pm.

Vessels and boats at Tajung Benoa harbour clicked from Cruise ship. 

 

The next day's schedule was a relaxed one - visits to shopping areas in around Kuta after 10.00 am and visit to Pura Tanah Lot temple in the afternoon.

 

After lunch, we drove to Pura Tanah Lot temple (22 kms from Kuta). On the way, we stopped at a big shopping centre famous for mementos. After spending about an hour or so, we continued our journey to Pura Tanah Lot (Pura=Temple, Tanah=Land, Lot=Sea). It is a temple on a hill surrounded by sea just off the shore. It is a sea temple in the honour of Varuna, the Sea God for Balinese who is the guardian deity for the prosperity of oceans.

 

Legend says that it was a Hindu priest named Nirartha who is said to have founded the temple sometime in the fourteenth century. Only bona fide devotees are allowed to climb the rock-carved stairway located at the side of the holy cave.

 

We reached the outskirt of the temple around 4.00 p.m. There are ample parking space of vehicles of all types. There are many restaurants and shops off the road skirting the parking lot. After a few metres' walk on the footpath, a lane takes to the main entrance of the temple complex (not the temple). From the temple complex, the second gate leads to the sea shore. Fortunately for us, it was a low tide time and we could walk up to the base of the temple without our feet getting drenched in sea waves.

The gate to the temple complex of Pura Tanah Lot.

 

The second gate - the split gate to enter the temple complex.

 

A pavilion and a tower inside the temple complex. The Pura Tanah Lot is  about 100m from here.

 



We walked about 100m on a rocky patch to reach Pura Tanah Lot temple. Due to low tide, the sea water had receded quite a lot but we had to walk on rocky patch carefully as it was still damp and rocks were covered with mosses in some places which made the path slippery. We could not go inside the temple as the temple authorities have made it out of bound for tourists. And there is a valid reason for it. The space inside the temple is very small to accommodate a large number of tourists. Being one of the very popular destinations of Bali, the temple attract a large number of tourists especially in the evening to watch sunset and the silhouette of the temple against the setting sun. I found this place to be the most photogenic among the tourist spots I visited in Bali. 

Sea waves hitting the rock below Tanha Lot temple. In the foreground is moss laden rock beds.

 

Pura Tanah Lot temple during low tide. Note that tourists can walk to reach very close to the temple.

 

The sea waves hitting the rocks at the north-west side of Tanah Lot temple in the evening. Luckily, it was low tide time.

 

At the base of the temple is a holy water cave. Balinese Hindus visit the cave for collecting the holy water which is supposed to have some curative properties. However, the holy water cave can be visited only during low tide. We did not visit the holy water cave as it was crowded.

 

On the north-west side of the temple, the authorities have made a long pathway through the gardens which offers good views of Pura Tanah Lot and  another small temple atop a hollow rock extension from the mainland to the sea. This pathway gets crowded for the sunset view.

Tanah Lot temple on the right. During the high tide, place gets submerged with sea water up to the wall on the left. So devotees cannot visit the temple and holy water cave during the high tide. This was shot in the  late evening from the pathway for viewing sunset.

 

Another view of Pura Tanah Lot temple from sunset view pathway.

 

This rock formation lies north-west of Tanah Lot temple on which a rock temple is built.There is a hollow natural rock pass over the sea to the mainland.

 

We did not wait for watching sunset view. Instead we decided to have coconut water in the shopping area before driving back to our hotel in Kuta.

 

Bali has been known as the island of temples. There are hundreds of Balinese Hindu temples spread over the entire island. Besides, almost all of the independent residential places in Bali have private temples in their court yards. In fact, initially, I was mistaken some residential places in Bali for some small temple complexes.

.

 

All pictures by the author except the one specifically accredited.

 

 

My Bali Holidays - May 2019 : Visit to Pura Tirtha Empul Temple

The day began with visits to a boutique centre, a wood carving centre, U C Silver Gold (jewellery making place),  coffee plantations, Kintamani to view Mt. Batur (an active volcanic mountain) and Lake Batur from Sari Restaurant's terrace. Except for viewing Mt. Batur, rest of the places visited were more of the shopping destinations than the places of the art and the craft. Nonetheless,  many tourists loved shopping in these places.

  Boutique artists at work in one of the Boutique centres we visited near Ubud.

 

An unusual façade of U C Silver Gold Jewellery works near Ubud.

 

Wood carving work in progress, Ubud.

 

 Kintamani was somewhat interesting place we visited during the pre-lunch period where we had the best view of Mt. Batur and the adjoining Lake Batur from the terrace of Sari Restaurant. Some tourists plan early morning trek to Mt. Batur to view the sunrise. The trek from the nearest road head takes about 2 hours to reach the top. We had not planned to undertake this trek. In the hindsight, I could have skipped the shopping visits  and instead opted for the trek. At the end of the trek, I could have joined our folks at Kintamani.

Mt. Batur viewpoint area is largely dominated by the swarm of the tourists. Naturally, there would be many local persons who will be relentlessly trying to sell local mementos to the tourists. Some would even accept Indian rupees. We were already forewarned not to buy anything from the roadside sellers as most of the items would not only be overcharged but also be of low quality.

View of Mt. Batur and the adjoining Batur Lake from the terrace of Sari Restaurant, Kintamani.

 

For me, the most eagerly waited trip of the day was a visit to Pura Tirtha Empul, the holy spring water temple (In Balinese language, Pura=Temple, Tirtha=Holy Water, Empul=Spring). This is one of the most visited water temples of Bali. There is a connection between water temples of Bali with its irrigation system for the cultivation of rice on the terraced fields. Each of the water temples coordinate the irrigation for the group of subaks (rice farmers' group) within the  controlling area of the water temples. So Balinese irrigation system is the combination of the rationale management of water with spiritual dimension.

 

Pura Tirtha Empul temple is located 16 kms from Ubud. The temple was constructed 960 AD.

A stone notice board just before the bathing poo displays 'dos and donts' inside the temple.

In line with most of the Balinese Hindu temples, Pura Tirtha Empul temple complex has three main sections -  the front courtyard, the outer or secondary courtyard and the inner courtyard. Before entering the front section, tourists and devotees - both ladies and gents -  have to put around the waist a sarong (a printed lungi like cloth) which is available at the entrance. However, there is no need to remove the footwear in the front and outer courtyrds of the temple. Only devotees who wish to perform pujas can enter the inner courtyard with proper dress code and without footwear. The priest will perform the pujas on behalf of the devotees. Unlike temples in India, Bali Hindu temples are open air space of worship. Any one can see the performance of pujas by priest from the outer/secondary courtyard.

The Candi Banter (The split gateway)  to enter Pura Tirtha Empul temple. The split gateway is the entry into the front courtyard of the temple. Candi Banter is the most common sight in Bali as gates to the residential colonies as well.

 

A garden with stone statues in the front courtyard (Nista Mandala) of Pura Tirtha Empul temple. In the background is former President Sukarno's palace which has now been converted into VIP guest house.

 

Tourists with sarong on their waist are in the 'Madya Mandala' (outer courtyard) of the temple. The open roofed structures are known as pavilions for the supporting activities of the temple. The railing on the right is the boundary between outer courtyard and the inner courtyard.

 

In the inner courtyard, a priest is performing puja on behalf of devotees sitting on the ground.

 

The temple has a rectangular pond with spring water flow which is located in the inner courtyard. The water from the pond passed through many water spouts in the bathing pool. I have counted at least 12 water sprouts but it may be more. Devotees start dipping their heads from the first sprout on the left and continue bathing under each sprout sequentially until they have taken bath under all the sprouts. Balinese Hindu believe that taking bath under each of the water spout purify their soul and the water in the pool has some curative properties. 

The rectangular-shaped holy pond in the outer courtyard of the temple. The pond is fed by the underground springs. Holy water from this pond is channelled to bathing pool through spouts.

 



Devotees taking bath under the sprouts in the  holy spring water pool. Mostly the Balinese Hindu would take the holy bath as they believe that holy bath would purify their souls.

 

The myth behind the curative and purifying spring water is the Balinese ruler, Mayadanawa who had defied the influence of Hinduism and denied his subjects right to religious prayers and practices. This angered the gods, and in a campaign, god Indra invaded Mayadanawa and made him and his troops run for cover. It was here that through his magical powers Mayadanawa created a poisoned spring from which Indra’s exhausted troops drank and succumbed. Indra noticed the fall of his troops, and soon thrust his staff into the ground where a holy purifying spring spurted out, to cure the troops and to even bring some of them back to life. This legend became the background to the holy spring of Tirtha Empul.

Intricately painted mini towers inside the inner courtyard.

 

Stone carved statues adorn  one of the pavilions in the outer courtyard.

 

One of the well decorated pavilions in the outer courtyard.

 

We spent about one hour in the temple complex. I still felt that I had missed some part of the temple complex. Since it was getting dark and we had to reach Kuta (52 kms from the temple), we bid good bye to Pura Tirtha Empul temple.  A drive of about 90 minutes from the temple took us to Kuta which would be our base for the next 4 days to explore the nearby tourist spots.

 

All pictures by the author. 

 





 

My Bali Holidays - May 2019 : White Water Rafting in Aayung River

My wife and me along with my sister and brother-in-law (all senior citizens) went for a week-long holiday in Bali Island (Indonesia). Thai International Airways flight took us from Mumbai at midnight and reached us to Denpasar International Airport in the afternoon via Bangkok. The timing suited us as most of the hotels and resorts in Bali have afternoon check-in time. We had two-night halt at Ubud, about 40 kms from Denpasar. Thereafter, we stayed 4 nights in Kuta which was a short distance from Denpasar airport.

Denpasar International Airport,, Bali, Indonesia seen from the aircraft.

 

During our 7 days in Bali, we visited all the popular tourist spots of southern, eastern and northern Bali which included temples, beaches, water sports, Mt. Batur, sunset and dinner cruise, handicrafts, cultural shows and of course shopping. In this blog, I will cover my first experience in white water rafting in Aayung River.

 

 

In Bali, white water rafting is done mainly on Telga Waja River and Aayung River. Both these rivers flow from North-Eastern mountain region and meet Bali Sea on south-eastern coast. While white water rafting in Aayung River cater to the Class I ( for the beginners with small cascades in rapids and easy drops) and Class II ( the next level with moderate cascades in rapids and somewhat deeper drops than in the Class I requiring some manoeuvring in paddling). Generally, the depth of the river during the non-rainy season is round 4-5 feet.  

 

White water rafting in Telga Waja River caters  to Class I, II and III levels. Of course, in rainy season (January-March) the difficulties in white water rafting in both the rivers may touch to Class IV level.

 

Since we had gone on a package tour, white water rafting in Aayung River was included in our package and was scheduled for the next day after reaching Ubud. The going rate as I understand from the agency ranged between US$ 20 to 30 per person for about 2 hours of white water rafting  depending upon the package one select (like pick-up and drop at hotel, lunch after the end of rafting etc. will cost more).

 

We started from out Hotel in Ubud around 9.00 am and reached the rafting agency's centre around 9.30 am. Here we deposited our sacks with extra cloths which the representative of the agency would bring them to the finishing point by vehicle. We were earlier instructed to come in beach wear and leave cameras, mobiles and purse in the sacks. I, however, took my mobile with me, secured in a small zip lock plastic bag.

 

At the agency's centre, we were given helmets and life jackets to wear and carry paddles. All these formalities took another 30 minutes or so. By 10.00 am, we were ready to start walking to reach the starting point of the river rafting which itself was as adventurous as the white water river rafting.

     The group is ready to walk down about 400 steps to reach the base of the River Aayung for the rafting. I am second from the left holing red raft peddle.

 

My wife and my sister did not venture into rafting as descending about 400 steps to reach the base of the Aayung River would have put strain on their already weak knees. Also, at the finishing point of rafting, one had to climb about 200 steps to reach the road head.

 

Myself and my brother-in-law started descending about 400 steps which passed through the dense rain forest. In fact, this is a part of what is popularly known as Monkey Forest. In about 20 minutes, we reached the base of the River Aayung which is the starting point of the white water river rafting.

On the descend of about 400 steps in the dense forest, from the road side to reach the base of the river.

 



There were about 20-30 persons already waiting for the allotment of guide and the rafting boat. Each available rafting boat had the capacity of accommodate six persons. The allotment took another 15 minutes. Before occupying our seats, we were asked to remove our foot wears and deposit with the guide. The front two seats of the rafting boat were generally allotted to children or persons with lesser weights. The middle and the last two seats each were given to persons with normal weight /overweight. The guide sat on the edge of the boat after the last seat.

 



 

 My brother-in-law and me waiting for the allotment of rafting boat and the guide at   the starting point of white water rafting at the shore of Aayung River, Ubud.

 

After we  six sat down  in the rafting boat with paddles in our hand, our guide started giving basic instructions for rafting. First,  he demonstrated as to how to hold the paddles while paddling. Second, how to paddle to take the raft forward, backward, turn to left and right sides. We were also instructed to remove the paddles from the water and hold them vertically inside the raft while encountering the rapids. Just before the drops, we were instructed to hold the rope attached to the tube of the raft to prevent falling in the river.  In case, any one of us falls in the river due to heavy jerks while passing through cascades and drops, we were told to keep our head above water and bend slightly backward.

 

Another requirement was that at least 4 persons should paddle while the raft is in the calm water. The manoeuvring during the time when raft was moving in rapids and drops was mainly done by the guide.

 

 White water river rafting is a team work requiring each individual  to paddle in synchronisation with other individuals in the raft. In our case, apart from two children who were paddling in their own rhythm, the remaining four of us were doing the white water rafting for the first time. It took about 2 kms of sail to achieve some semblance of synchronised paddling by which time we had passed through about a dozen rapids and some easy drops. 

 

As we moved further, there was some tricky rapids with a few gentle drops. It was mainly our guide who successfully manoeuvred our raft during such instances. After all, it has been his daily occupation for years. 

 

When we were covered around half distance of about 4-5 kms of rafting, we passed through a stretch of tricky rapids followed by  a gentle drop to an artificial whirlpool created by some rocks in the river. After spinning to 360 degrees twice, the raft got stuck in between two rocks. Our guide got down in the river to manually manoeuvre out of the rocks. While he was doing his job, unfortunately, another raft which was at a distance behind our raft, hit our raft with a high speed since it also passed through rapids.  The impact of the hit was such that one lady from raft that hit us was thrown out of her raft in the river. Being in rapids, she was swept away in no time out of our sight. However, later she was safely brought out of the river to her raft without any injury. 

 

But the force of the hit on our raft made it to lean on its left side to almost 90 degrees. Our guide instructed four of us to quickly sit on raised side of the raft so that it does not take a summersault in the river because of our weight. After about 10 minutes, we were transferred to  another raft and taken to a drink break point. Our struck raft could be retrieved only after it was depressurised. It was brought to the drink break point and again filled with air to continue our ride in the same raft.

 

It was interesting to observe that when our raft was stuck in the rocks and it was dangerously leaning on one side, none of us panicked. Even two children sitting in the front side were cool.

  This is the drink-break point at the shore of the river almost half-way from the finishing point. There are sacks that serves beer, soft drinks and even coconut water.

 

In the Aayung river for photo shoot,  taking the two waterfalls as background. 

 

After the drink break, we encountered many rapids and drops but they were easy to handle. At the same time, each of the rapids and drops gave us thrilling experiences like jumps, spinning, ups and downs of raft, complete drenching in water etc.

 

We were so engrossed in our rafting that we forgot to fully enjoy the scenic beauty of this 9-km ride.  On both side of the river were cliffs covered with dense rain forest. We were told to use sun cream due to strong sun in this tropical island. But due to dense vegetation, we hardly felt the strong sun. In fact, the weather was pleasant with temperature around 27 Celsius. I was told that some of the rocks on the cliff side of the river had carvings depicting the story from Mahabharata. However, I missed those carvings.

 

We came across a couple of waterfalls on the rafting route, one of which was a huge one. However, despite taking with me my mobile, I could not click the pictures. It was impossible to take the pictures while we were rafting. Some riders even got out of their rafts to swim in the river at places where there were smooth flows.

 

Luckily, our rafting agency had deployed professional photographer at a couple of vintage points of the rafting route. One of them took a picture of our rafting while we were passing through the rapids.

 



 This is one of the several rapids and drops we  passed through during river rafting of 9-km distance. As we were rafting, one of the professional photographers of our rafting agency stationed at the cliff took his picture. Our guide is at the back and I am sitting just before him.urs

 

It took almost 2 hours to complete our 9-km of rafting. But the adventure was not over. We had to climb about 200 steps to reach the road head where the agency's rest room, bathrooms and changing rooms were located.  By this time, my wife and sister were brought here in the agency's car along with our sacks of cloths deposited earlier. While most of the riders took bath and dressed up in dry cloths, we decided to take first lunch  in the restaurant which was adjunct to the changing rooms and  take bath after returning to our hotel room in Ubud. 

 

White water river rafting was one of my cherished wish whenever I used to see young ones doing it in River Ganga near Rishikesh and in Zanskar river in Ladakh. But my wish remained unfulfilled. Perhaps, I was destined to do my maiden white water rafting  in Aayung River in Bali at the age of 74.