Temple on the Sea in Bali! Tanah Lot!

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I have not had the opportunity yet to add to my blog since my arrival. The journey to Bali was LONG. The experienced traveler that I am this was the longest trip of my life 27 hours in total. I arrived about 230 am and after paying $25 for the entry visa and getting my first million in cash here, (the local currency the Indonesian Rupiah, trades at 9300 to $1) was pleasantly surprised to find that my hotels free pick up services followed through... Had the shower I hoped for, was pleased with my room, 2nd level with a nice balcony and pool view and good AC!

The next Morning I walked down and found my friends who flew over from Australia. It was a pure coincidence that they would be here the same week.

The first couple of days were spent unwinding, getting sun and getting over the 14 hour time difference.

By Tuesday though I felt that I needed to do at least one of the things on my list. I wanted to go to a temple that sits on the ocean. So I decided to hop in a cab and just do it (my friends are here just to shop and enjoy the sun so for day trips I am on my own). Cabs here are cheap... Very cheap a ride into town is less than $1, many times even less. I found a driver and told him that I wanted to go to Tanalot, (Temple by the sea), He seemed like he wanted to negociate a price but I was like screw it lets go, just use the meter. I did freak myself out when I saw that the temple was more than 50km away and I had $40 in my pocket. The ride to the temple was pretty incredible, we were out of the hustle and bustle of the main tourist town Kuta and on the back roads of Bali.

There were temples and rice terraces as far as the eye could see. The taxi driver did tell me though that many locals were selling land to foreigners and that the Villas were ruining a bit of the natural beauty, the ride in total was about an hour there, and lucky me the cab was about $12.

I told the cab driver to wait since there didn't seem to be many alternatives for the return trip. I paid my entry fee and worked my way through the mazes of people selling everything from bintang (local beer) T-Shirts to fake purses and fresh coconuts. I saw my first glimpse of the ocean, and was taken away. I could see Tanalot to the left of me so I headed up into a park to get the best photos. As I looked to the right there was a smaller temple but much cooler in my opinion. It was built on this cove of land that extends into the ocean, the beach at the bottom has black sand and there were about 10 locals that were surfing at the time. I walked up to the temple itself left a donation in the donation box and my breath was completely taken away at the vista from the temple. The water was so blue and the coast line so green.

There was an indonesian family taking photos so I offered to take one of them in return for them taking photos of me and the landscape behind.

I next headed down to Tanalot and took photos around the temple, but the only problem was since the tide was so high that I did not want to have to swim in order to see the temple (plus I saw it about 10 years ago at low tide).

I headed back and grabbed the cab back to Kuta.. I asked the driver how late he had to work, he told yesterday 14 hours but today only 9. I asked why so many hours, he said I must make RP 380,000 ($40) or I don't make any profit, but since today I had such a good day I will finish early and see my family. I must say that did make me feel good, but I envy the guy and don't get as annoyed anymore when people ask me if I need 'transport' or the constant beeping of Taxis as I walk down the street

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