Ubud - Day Tour of temples - Kuta, Bali - Indonesia...
In Ubud we contracted with a taxi driver to take us on a 7-hour custom tour and then drop us off at Kuta, which is about an hours drive from Ubud. The price was about $30 USD.
Heading out through Ubud we drove past 3-miles of shops producing the most amazing collections of artwork, carvings of animals, Indian Gods and goddesses, handmade furnture, bowls of ceramic tiles with inlaid mirror squares, paintings of all types and elaborate sculptures. If only it didn't cost a fortune to ship to the USA, they made some really beautiful things!
We visited the Tegallalang terraced rice fields. I think these particular fields are keep in pristine condition as a tourist attraction. They are right off the road and classic in looks, at as far as terraced rice fields go. At this same area we were accosted by vendors selling carvings, bowls and such and had to literally push them away from the taxi door so we could close them.
Our next stop was at the 11th Century stone carvings that had been carved into walls of rock at Obyek Wisata Gunung Kawi in Tampaksiring. Here we were beseiged by people selling sarongs. You have to have one to enter the carving/temple area, but they are loaned to you when you pay the entry fee, so you don't have to buy one to enter.
The carvings are quite impressive and the amount of stone excavated amazing. We didn't have a tour guide for this area, so I think we missed a bit about the temple.
Next was the Elephant Caves, again created in the 11th Century at Obyek Wisata Goa Gajah in Bedulu. On entering the main area a man approached us and advised us that we needed to wash our face before we entered the elephant caves and led us down to the fountain area. He then proceeded to use our cameras to take pictures of us and then guided us into the caves. There isn't really much in there. He showed us another area where a statue of Buddha has fallen over and then led us to a small cave where animals supposedly slept in the evening.
On returning he asked for a guide fee, which I totally expected, and he said maybe US dollars would be convenient for us, say $20. I laughed and offered him a dollar, still quite generous, at which point he said he would rather have rupees. I gave him the equiavlent, 10,000 rupees which comes out to a little over a dollar. He seemed appreciative.
We visited the Taman Ayun Royal Family Temple built in the 17th Century in Mengwi which is bordered by two rivers that at one time formed a moat around the palace. It had interesting traditional temple structures build in the temple area in pleasing geometric rows. It appears that locals came here and used it as a park, a place to fish and relax.
Our last vist of the day was to Taman Wasata Tanah Lot. This is a very famous temple build into a rock that is surrounded by the ocean at high tide. There is a large and frenzied market place that is the gauntlet before you get to the temple, complete with draw of exotic pets. We found a vendor with a pet fruit bat, that for a small donation, you could feed bits of fruit. There was also a guy that had a large boa (or python?) that was quite beautifully marked. For a fee, he would allow you to drape it around yourself for a photo. No thanks, please!
Many people walked around the rock where the temple is built and looked confused as to what to do. It doesn't appear that you're allowed to walk the "carved into stone" steps up to the temple itself. From where you are it is not particularly photogenic. A type of Hindu priest was blessing some people. Kids were playing in the water pools. Cameras everywhere and a guy was selling a multisailed ship kite.
This is supposed to be a beautiful site to see the sunset. As we waited for sunset we went to a restaurant up above the temple and had some dinner. Kids were harrassing us, trying to sell us a 20-post card set of the temple area, for about the 100dreth time.
When sunset came, we moved back down to below the temple and found again, it was not a good area to take pictures from. We finally discovered an area near the upper temple area where there were great views of the sunset.
After sunset we departed the and frenzy of the area took the taxi to our final destination, Kuta. It was a long day and perhaps a few too many temples.
In Ubud we contracted with a taxi driver to take us on a 7-hour custom tour and then drop us off at Kuta, which is about an hours drive from Ubud. The price was about $30 USD.
Heading out through Ubud we drove past 3-miles of shops producing the most amazing collections of artwork, carvings of animals, Indian Gods and goddesses, handmade furnture, bowls of ceramic tiles with inlaid mirror squares, paintings of all types and elaborate sculptures. If only it didn't cost a fortune to ship to the USA, they made some really beautiful things!
We visited the Tegallalang terraced rice fields. I think these particular fields are keep in pristine condition as a tourist attraction. They are right off the road and classic in looks, at as far as terraced rice fields go. At this same area we were accosted by vendors selling carvings, bowls and such and had to literally push them away from the taxi door so we could close them.
Our next stop was at the 11th Century stone carvings that had been carved into walls of rock at Obyek Wisata Gunung Kawi in Tampaksiring. Here we were beseiged by people selling sarongs. You have to have one to enter the carving/temple area, but they are loaned to you when you pay the entry fee, so you don't have to buy one to enter.
The carvings are quite impressive and the amount of stone excavated amazing. We didn't have a tour guide for this area, so I think we missed a bit about the temple.
Next was the Elephant Caves, again created in the 11th Century at Obyek Wisata Goa Gajah in Bedulu. On entering the main area a man approached us and advised us that we needed to wash our face before we entered the elephant caves and led us down to the fountain area. He then proceeded to use our cameras to take pictures of us and then guided us into the caves. There isn't really much in there. He showed us another area where a statue of Buddha has fallen over and then led us to a small cave where animals supposedly slept in the evening.
On returning he asked for a guide fee, which I totally expected, and he said maybe US dollars would be convenient for us, say $20. I laughed and offered him a dollar, still quite generous, at which point he said he would rather have rupees. I gave him the equiavlent, 10,000 rupees which comes out to a little over a dollar. He seemed appreciative.
We visited the Taman Ayun Royal Family Temple built in the 17th Century in Mengwi which is bordered by two rivers that at one time formed a moat around the palace. It had interesting traditional temple structures build in the temple area in pleasing geometric rows. It appears that locals came here and used it as a park, a place to fish and relax.
Our last vist of the day was to Taman Wasata Tanah Lot. This is a very famous temple build into a rock that is surrounded by the ocean at high tide. There is a large and frenzied market place that is the gauntlet before you get to the temple, complete with draw of exotic pets. We found a vendor with a pet fruit bat, that for a small donation, you could feed bits of fruit. There was also a guy that had a large boa (or python?) that was quite beautifully marked. For a fee, he would allow you to drape it around yourself for a photo. No thanks, please!
Many people walked around the rock where the temple is built and looked confused as to what to do. It doesn't appear that you're allowed to walk the "carved into stone" steps up to the temple itself. From where you are it is not particularly photogenic. A type of Hindu priest was blessing some people. Kids were playing in the water pools. Cameras everywhere and a guy was selling a multisailed ship kite.
This is supposed to be a beautiful site to see the sunset. As we waited for sunset we went to a restaurant up above the temple and had some dinner. Kids were harrassing us, trying to sell us a 20-post card set of the temple area, for about the 100dreth time.
When sunset came, we moved back down to below the temple and found again, it was not a good area to take pictures from. We finally discovered an area near the upper temple area where there were great views of the sunset.
After sunset we departed the and frenzy of the area took the taxi to our final destination, Kuta. It was a long day and perhaps a few too many temples.
posted by Chris at 10:00 PM
1 Comments:
Well, at least you have two friends in Alaska rooting for you and your travels.....Chris and Nit
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