Sunset Temples of Bali

Tanah Lot

 Some of the temples of Bali are best seen at sunset--and make for a huge sunset business, with endless parking lots for countless tour buses. We visited Tanah Lot on the east coast, but we parked beneath a restaurant on a sea cliff. Tanah Lot is one of the sea temples founded by the famous Majahapit priest Nirartha in the 16th c., and is venerated beyond its commercialization.

A bride below Tanah Lot

We walked above the high cliffs over sea-sculptured volcanic rock. Below, a bride spread her white skirts over them. At the next cove surfers rode the waves.

 Temple after temple over the beating ocean was closed, but formed beautiful black profiles against what we had hoped would be the setting sun, but was murky gray. Tourists swarmed over the temples.

Tanah Lot

Below was a cave entrance. In the near darkness I gave the equivalent of one cent for my blessing. I drank holy water and a priest tucked a frangipani blossom behind one ear, as another smeared a circle of cooked rice on the forehead and the neck. In another cave a donation was required to see a captive snake but Jacques took its picture anyway. We climbed up along the final cliff which led to souvenir

Blessing at Tanah Lot

stands and bright eyed lewaks who sniffed us, crawled up our arms, tried to nip my nose. They are a kind of mongoose that eats coffee beans, very selectively, so their poop contains only the very best coffee beans, and is used to make an expensive coffee. We played with another of the beautiful fruit bats. We walked back over the darkened crashing sea while hoards of tourists sat down to dine.

Tame fruit bat

An Uluwatu monkey

Jacques visited the other very famous sunset temple in the south, at Uluwatu, also credited to Nirartha, but it was originally founded in the 11th c. by the Javanese priest Empu Kuturan. Uluwatu is also famous for its monkeys. We had enjoyed the lovely soft monkeys of the Monkey Forest in the mountains, but at Uluwatu the monkeys are infamous! Jacques had carefully strapped his glasses to his head, but no sooner had he started the walk above the sea-beaten cliffs than a monkey leaped on his head and broke off the glasses!

Setting of Uluwatu

But Jacques was lucky. One of the many women who carry peanuts and bananas to bribe the monkeys got Jacques' monkey to throw down the glasses---on the other side of a deep ravine! Another lady got the glasses before another monkey did. Other tourists watched their glasses being broken into bits, girls lost their
flip-flops to monkeys even as they were walking, and other tourists endured being jumped upon for the possibility of a monkey's good fun!