the great bali escape: may ’09: day four: mengwi, bratan lake, buyan lake, tanah lot

One of the things I wanted to see in Bali is a temple. I didn’t really care which temple because to me, most temples look alike. Seen one, seen them all. Perhaps not the most culturally-sensitive things to say especially in a place renowned for its beautiful temples. Well, there are lots of temples where I grew up. So I guess I should stop apologising for not wanting to visit more than one temple. I’m sure they are beautiful, just not really my thing.

It was down to either Uluwatu or Tanah Lot, then I decided on the latter. FA was not an integral part of the decision-making process because she didn’t really care either, heh. I’d read that there are aggressive monkeys at Uluwatu and I didn’t feel like having to protect my belongings at all times. Besides there’d be a dance: my feelings towards cultural dances (especially Asian because I was born, bred and am living in SEA) are pretty much what I feel about temples.

I relayed this to Yande, whom I’d contacted to take us sightseeing in Bali. He was very responsive (with his super canggih Blackberry), his rate was reasonable and he understood our straightforward itinerary. On Sunday, he picked us up at 9.30 a.m. My only destination for the day was to go to Tanah Lot and left everything else to him. So he took us to Mengwi to visit Pura Taman Ayu.

Pura Taman Ayun, Mengwi in Bali - Suanie and Fireangel at the drum tower Pura Taman Ayun, Mengwi in Bali - kulkul aka wooden drums
Us at the drum tower, and the hanging wooden drums

Pura Taman Ayu was built in the 17th century by the founder of the Mengwi Kingdom. It is still used by members of the royal family (who no longer have political influence or power) for worshipping — you can see, but cannot enter the inner courtyard. The temple is surrounded by a moat — I saw a few people fishing. By the way, entrance fee is Rp3,000 (RM1.xx) per person.

Pura Taman Ayun, Mengwi in Bali - meru aka shrines Pura Taman Ayun, Mengwi in Bali - Suanie at royal temple 01
The shrines are called ‘meru’

Pura Taman Ayun, Mengwi in Bali - royal geese Pura Taman Ayun, Mengwi in Bali - royal blooming lotus flower
Royal geese and a blossoming lotus flower

While waiting for FA to get to the car, I sang one line of Search’s Isabella for the car park attendant. Actually that was part of our bargaining lines the day before, i.e. if we sing Glenn Fredly/ Ungu/ Peter Pan can you lower the price??

Off to Bedugul. All this travelling (i.e. FA and I sitting in the car doing nothing much but chat with Yande about Bali and Balinese customs while he drives around a lot) was making us hungry so we stopped at a restaurant. Buffet lunch for something like Rp70,000 (RM24) per person. Then a short distance to Bratan Lake. Very misty, weather was cool and nice, lots of people. Entrance fee Rp10,000 (RM3.50) per person.

Lake Bratan, Bali -  Pura Ulun Danu
Pura Ulun Danu, shrine for the Lake Goddess

More driving, this time to Buyan Lake which is next to Tamblingan Lake. Yande drove us to a high spot to see the lake, which was unfortunately covered in clouds. Then it rained and the clouds went away, yay! Short video of 4.10 mins below.

Next, Tanah Lot. Quite a distance away. Lots of buses, cars, people. Entrance fee is Rp10,000 (RM3.50) per person. Lots of stalls selling clothes and souvenirs. If you’ve been reading this far on this blog post, congrats and here’s a great tip: all the stuff is cheaper in Tanah Lot. You’re better off buying your T-shirts (me), shorts (FA) and assorted other stuff here than in say, Kuta or Legian. Since I’m not Balinese and not bound to any code (which I do understand actually), I can tell you this: do your shopping in Tanah Lot kthxbai. That is if you were planning to go there in the first place.

Tanah Lot, Bali - Yande and Suanie Tanah Lot, Bali - man meditating
Yande and I. Some dude meditating

Tanah Lot, Bali - Suanie and Fireangel
Me and FA

Need to pay money to see holy water, skip. Need to pay money to see holy snake, skip. Cloudy, sunset wasn’t that awesome but it’s okay. Too many people around. Awesome waves. Hello you camwhored already then move la, other people want to camwhore at that spot also! One photograph peddler had a small instant printer in his bag… nice one!

After a while we went back to Kuta. Said goodbye and thank you to Yande. Showered. Went to Poppies Lane II for dinner and foot massage in a different parlour. Cost Rp55,000 (RM18.90) per person for an hour — very slightly more than the first one we had but the experience was a heck lot better! Went back to hotel, walked past a group of half-naked Aussies (they sound like Aussies) and fully-clothed guitar-strumming locals sitting outside a 24-hour convenience store karaoke-ing to Jason Mraz’s I’m Yours. Looked damn fun. We totally failed as bloggers because we were too lazy to take photos.

Got back to hotel. Packed. Watched bits of ‘Far and Away’ on cable. Slept. Woke up early next morning to go to airport. Flight at 7.50 am, was on time. Got home. Here I am and missing Bali.

Tanah Lot, Bali - Sunset
Cloudy sunset at Tanah Lot

*Complete Flickr set of Bali, May 2009 here, including photos not published on blog.

comments

Comments

  1. sigh… now you make me wanna go holiday…..

    I WANT TO GO BALI!!!!!!

  2. i miss bali too.. can u imagine, we were there for 10 days, and didnt visit a single temple! anyway, heard the temples are cursed with breaking up couples. since we were on our hunnymoon, didnt want to take the chance.

  3. Suanie… ur Bali trip seems marvelous.. exciting.. thrilled…
    I did contact Yande and he reply damn fast.. however, i felt that he charge me quite exp..

    May i kwno how much he charge you for one day trip?

  4. Hi Suanie,

    Enjoyed your funny writing on Bali which my family and I visited in April. We did not go to as many places nor explored as wide or as high as you did but your blog helped fill the gaps we missed. Thanks. I will come back often to read of your other postings. I used a personal guide as well, very reasonable. For info of Sim above, if you want an alternative quote try Kadek ast http://www.typicalbali.com. Nice and knowledgeable guy. And very reasonable rates too.

  5. Great write-up on your Bali trip…will be my reference if I ever go there 🙂

  6. i’m going to Bali this August! do you mind providing Yande’s contact number to me?

  7. Tanah Lot appears to be one of those must-go places in Bali, hor?? So Ms. Don-Like-To-Sing would sing for her cabfare hahaha!

  8. Love the photos.
    Great for yoga poses… temple, lake, lotus etc… for some awesome portraits.
    I want to go Bali too 🙁

  9. lolololol@fa eating rojak

  10. mike yip: do it! fly SIA haheaehahea

    LT: funny, someone else told me that also. btw you’ve been married a few years now, how is it still your honeymoon?

    sim: we engaged yande for Rp300,000 a day. that comes up to about RM103 for 10 hours. split it between the two of us lor. i felt it was quite worth it cos we ended up traveling quite a bit. was a couple hours driving here and there. if it’s just you alone, maybe will be expensive lah. not sure if yande’s rates will increase during peak season, but makes sense. another guide quoted us USD50 a day

    peter: thank you for the kind words! would you go back to bali or next time visit elsewhere? I want to go back!

    deriku: thanks ! 😀

    yuetmui: you can e-mail yande at: yantheybali [at] yahoo [dot] com . his numbers are: (62) 081999100064 and (62) 08123920514 . website:

    suertes: more famous mah. the parking attendant was friendly and just kacau-ing us a bit. so layan lor

    tehpau: thanks heh. DO IT it’s not expensive to go

    pinky: yeah. i think you’d do better.

  11. it is a very nice picture of the sunset.

  12. darkcherrymocha says

    hi suanie, did you go into the temple at tanah lot?

  13. darkcherrymocha: we didn’t go into the temple itself. just walked around the gardens

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