Today was out first real road trip experience outside of our village near Denpassar.
In all the reading and researching we’d done, a few key places kept popping out as must see places. For the typical tourist to Bali, here for a week or two, there are simply too many of these sights. But with two months here, it would have been a shame to miss the big ttractions. Invariably, they involve temples, and although not far away, as the crow flies, they are slow to get to. 50 kilometers can easily take two hours.
We constantly had to keep that in mind when setting an itinerary; our drivers would often give us the raised eyebrow, as if to say “you want to do all that today?”
So today, Pura Tamun Ayun, a monkey forest preserve, for… you know, and Pura Tanah Lot.
Balinese style is easy to recognize. Gates or entrance ways that look like bookends is one giveaway, as are the multi leveled pagodas, with grass thatch roofs. Things look old here, but we’re learning that they aren’t as old as they seem. The sites are ancient, but in this tropical, monsoon influenced land, things constantly rebuilt and replaced.
Tamun Ayun, for example (above) was renovated in the 1700s, so existed well before then. Tanah Lot (top photo) was built in the 17th century. But both have been extensively reworked and kept up, with some brand new brickwork visible here and there.
In Bali, it is the site that is sacred. The buildings, we learned, are much less important; they’re ephemeral.
We have so far travelled…
- 14 094 km Air
- 147 km driving (45 km today)
- 48.5 km walking (10.4 km today)
This is a 163 part Blog series, chronicling my family’s Le Grand Voyage II – a six month, round the world trip through Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong, Jordan, Cyprus, and Greece. It’s a 163 part reflection on the trip, highlighting some touristy and distinctly no-touristy photography (just a sampling of the 20 000 photos I snapped on three cameras) and the stories behind them.