Tanah Lot

I spent the afternoon today visiting three Hindu temples in Bali. The first temple I visited was 'Taman Ayun', a spacious temple with wide, grassy courtyards that was built in 1634. The interpretation of Hindu temples is much different in Bali than I’m used to elsewhere. Most times a 'temple' here isn’t a single structure, but instead it’s a collection of small buildings enclosed in a giant courtyard. That was the case with Taman Ayun. The entrance to the temple led to a giant courtyard filled with grass, then a second courtyard contained a moat surrounding fifteen or twenty small buildings. The architecture of Taman Ayun gave the place a distinct Balinese feel - several multi-storied pagodas with thick grassy roofs were lined in a row and towered above the moat below. Something about the arrangement of the pagodas and the moat just made the place feel wildly exotic.

The second temple was 'Alas Kedaton', also known as a Monkey Forest. The buildings at Alas Kedaton weren't terribly impressive and the Monkey Forest there wasn't nearly as good as the one I visited yesterday, but I still enjoyed the place. At Alas Kedaton the monkeys eat peanuts instead of bananas. For 1000 rupiah I bought a tiny bag of peanuts and my obligatory guide showed me how to feed the monkeys as we walked through the temple. I feel a little immature getting excited about feeding monkeys, but it really was fun. I'd lean over to one of the monkeys with a peanut in the palm of my hand and the monkey would come up and politely take the peanut with both hands, then run off with it. One time I gave a peanut to a fat monkey that was clearly one of the leaders of the bunch. After handing him the peanut and walking away I felt a tug at my shorts. I looked down and the fat monkey was pulling on my shorts with both hands and looking up at me, as if to say that he obviously deserved more than just one peanut. My guide explained to me matter-of-factly that the big monkeys get two peanuts.

My final temple visit of the day was to 'Tanah Lot', a temple built on a tiny island and one of the most famous temples in Bali. Tanah Lot was crowded with hoards of tourists when I got there, but it still was fun to visit. I happened to arrive at low tide, when it is easy to walk about 100 yards across a pathway of rock that leads to the temple island. At the base of the island was a group of Hindu priests anointing visitors to the temple. After waiting in line for about ten minutes, the priests instructed me to wash my face with holy water, then one of them used a stick to flick holy water all over my hair and a different one pressed dried rice to my forehead and put a flower behind my ear. I felt a little ridiculous walking around with the rice on my forehead and the flower, but it helped that most other people had it too. Unfortunately it turned out that only Balinese are allowed to enter the temple itself and I was merely allowed walk a few steps leading to the entrance, but the views were still enjoyable and the experience was worthwhile. I figure that if Tanah Lot is one of the most famous sights in Bali then I have to see it, regardless of whether it’s packed with tourists or even if I can actually enter the temple or not.

I decided I was tired of Indonesian food tonight and walked a couple blocks down the street from Kuta Puri Hotel to have a true American meal at the Hard Rock Café. The place was ridiculously expensive, especially by Indonesian standards, but after being away for nearly three weeks it felt good to feast on a hamburger and fries for a change. There are plenty of Indonesian restaurants around that serve 'American' food, but their interpretation of it tastes too Indonesian. Then, of course, there is McDonalds, but that tastes like McDonalds. As much as I love ethnic food, nothing is quite like enjoying a high-quality American meal while traveling halfway around the world.