I have been here already twice, but now I am again enchanted by the nature and little temples of Bali.
For the first time I arrived to Bali by cruise ship, the only port on the island receiving big ships is Benoa – rather isolated on the little peninsula, so it is hard to plan the walk out of the port. Just near the clean terminal you will find a hundred or so souvenirs stalls with interesting handicrafts, batiks, cotton sarongs, woodcarving. Bargaining is obligatory – initial price could be double…
I wanted to refresh the memories of cultural village of Ubud. The taxi drivers ask for 100 USD per car for the tour, but the displeyed tariff to Ubud is 50 so I bargained for round-trip Ubud tour for 50 per cab. The main target was Batuan Temple (entry fee 50000 rupees pp including rental of obligatory sarong)
There are many small temples in the complex. Its brick/stone architecture is unique. Carvings are great. You go temple to temple enjoying serenity of the place, smell if incenses and flowers around.
On the way to Ubud we passed many such a style “family” temples but no so ornate and wide as Batuan. Of course the driver will offer you also batik and cafe factories to visit, but these are tourist traps.
I decided not to go to the beach because it was cloudy day and the driver asked for more money. Just let you know, that on the sunny day flag beach of Bali – Nusa Dua looks like on this picture:
In the evening we are departing to Australia. We should reach Darwin in 3 days. So please wait patiently for the next messages
Warm greetings from the South Seas! 🙂