Advertisement
Published: October 2nd 2022
The Lempuyang Temple. (East Bali on Mt. Lempuyang)
This place really is a marvel. It is one of six main temples in Bali and massive. Tourists are only allowed to be in the gathering areas, and the wait to have your picture in the infamous gateway was about 4 hours, and this was a slow day. I appreciated the beauty of this gateway, but not the tourism and social media atmosphere. We turned our attention to the stairs up to the inner prayer part of the temple, which we were not allowed to enter. It has 3 doors. 1 is for entering, the other for exit. The doors in the middle are only open during main/big ceremonies to let the spirits or Gods come in and out, but public do not use this access point.
From the top of the stairs you had a magnificent view of the area covered with rice fields and patches of rich vegetation.
It took about 2.5 hours to get here from Sanur, and I was worth it. Travelling through the different villages allowed for some great views of more traditional ways of living vs tourist areas. We passed by a ceremony of
cremation with many people in traditional dress and beautiful carriages that carry the bodies to where they are to be cremated. Apparently villages only do this once every 5 years and as a group of loved ones who have passed. When someone dies, they are temporarily buried. Then when it's time for the cremation ceremony, they are dug back up and cremated with all who have died since the last ceremony.
The trip to Ubud after the temple was a bit long after the full day we had and we got stuck in a tropical rain storm that is not usual for the area or the time of year. It took our driver Rio by surprise but he is an excellent driver and all was well. It did make me wonder how the climate changes will impact Bali with increased rain and storms.
Ubud was very busy. The traffic was back to back and i don’t remember this last time. Our Airbnb was beautiful but needed to settle into the fact that the only walls are for the bedrooms. Open concept (as in half the walls) for the kitchen and living areas. And I forgot about the many
tiny harmless ants. I don’t even notice them now and am fine to share space as they really only stay in the main areas not the bedrooms. It is a lovely space. And only $50 Canadian for each room per night!
We of course visited the monkey forest and partook in some amazing local foods and market over the past couple of days. It's been great as expected.
Off to Gili Air this week!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.101s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 7; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0592s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Fran Cathrine
non-member comment
Stunning photos!!