Tanah Lots and lots
(View over to sub temple at Tanah Lot: Bali, Indonesia)
The small blue (and white) object you might be able to spot clutching an umbrella and standing on the walkway here is me. Yesterday we visited Tanah Lot Temple, built on an ocean promontory on the West coast of Bali island. We hadn’t banked on torrential rain greeting us that morning - I nipped out in the middle of the night, woken by the gale force winds and ferocious drumming of the rain on the roof. I realised we had left our swimming gear and towels hanging to dry outside, though when I rescued them at around 4am, they were splashed with rainwater and still soaking wet.
We woke to rain, thwarting our original plans to rent a motorcycle and speed around the peninsula. We waited in the room after breakfast in the hope that it would clear, but opted for a taxi to a nearby temple instead. Well, we thought Tanah Lot was nearby, but as it turns out, it was not only on the complete other side of Bali, it took well over an hour to reach it by car. Our Bluebird taksi driver (the only metered ones to be trusted) was very obliging and waited for us in order to return us to the hotel afterwwards. We surmised that the long journey and subsequent payment had allowed him to have a nap and little concern for more takings that day. Both parties were happy with the arrangement.
Tanah Lot is a surprisingly beautiful place, though massively overcrowded by the time we reached it at around midday. The rains has all subsided, leaving the glistening sea and luscious vegetation glowing with light. This is a smaller and much less crowded temple, possibly an addition to the main temple complex. It stands on the shore to protect the land from the sea demons – the further out from the centre of Bali, the more demons are feared and the ground becomes less sacred nearer the sea. We spotted signs for ‘Holy Spring’ and ‘Holy Snake’ – the poisonous sea snakes around here are apparently the protectors of the temple. Call me cynical, but the fact that an extra fee on top of the entrance price was required to be blessed in the ‘Holy Spring’ and to lay eyes on the ‘Holy Snake’ seemed offputting. We contented ourselves with sticky walks under the huge umbrella pilfered from the hotel room – a smart idea in the midday heat. It is so strange to realise I am in Bali just now – by the time I reach Singpore, it will seem like a distant dream. Looking over my photographs last night, it is difficult to conceive that I took them and I was really there, witnessing the otherworldly lost jungle atmosphere of Bali. Everywhere I look feels like a scene from one of Rudyard Kiplings ‘Just So’ stories or a Rousseau painting – it is magical, truly. Just as magical as the Bali Moon cocktails we enjoyed loast night in the shade of a thatched hut.
Mosquito bite tally: 7. A disappointing night last night leaves me with many more leg bites and one on my rump, despite taking a double dose of vitamin B12 everyday (honest, mum). We killed the hotel room mosquito but I fear there is more than one after the seet nectar that is my lifeblood.
– Today Rosie and Ying return to Singapore after a final short day in Bali –
Is that a hammock?
You know, I have no idea! I kind of hope not, but I’m intrigued as to what it is either way…