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Published: October 15th 2015
I thought it would be a good idea to break from the diving routine once a week and go for a landscape photographic adventure and choose a different location each time.
Bali has a lot of temples, some facing the mountains, some facing the sunset, some facing the sunrise, some facing the water. All sorts of people from all over the world to visit them for different reasons: to admire the Arquitecture or the gardens, tradition, spirituality...I find them energizing and peaceful, with a lot of healing powers from crossing vibes from generations and generations of visitors.
We chose to go visit the water temple in Beratan Lake: Pura Ulun Danu in Danau Beratan, Tabanan Bali as its one of the most dramatic visually because of its location up in the mountains besides a lake.
Beratan Lake is a shallow lake with the high caldera about 1231m (About 3600 ft) above sea level and it is located in a general area called
Bedugul. This lake is 3,8 km2 wide and also its 22 meters deep. There are various water recreation activities like riding powerboats, parasailing, canoeing, banana boating, water skiing, and others. Fishing is also available. There different
options of accommodations available in this area where is the perfect place for overnight stay, resting and enjoy the beautiful panoramic of lake with the magnificent Ulun Danu Temple and its gardens.
Google maps gave us a 2hr and 13 minute route and we planned around it. Left the hotel after breakfast and as soon as we got on the road we got in a lot of truck traffic. I saw a short cut on the map and talked to Steve into it. The short cut ended up being hillier and steeper than the original road. The short cut was also longer by about 2 hrs. The road was paved but one car road used by two-way traffic with a lot of curves. It got very scary at points. And the length of it was making both of us very uncomfortable. We left our bungalow at Puri Madha Dive Resort in Tulamben around 9 am and we finally arrived at the Lake Beratan at 12:30. The good news is that we arrived and didn’t get lost. We stopped to have a bite to eat in one of the look-outs and saw wild monkeys for first time. I saw a
baby on the mother’s lap but she was very protective and I couldn’t get a good portrait. From the look-out area I saw a nice restaurant on the side of the lake and looking towards the temple. The name is “Bedugul Hotel and Restaurant” We decided to go treat ourselves to a nice lunch with a view. The food was actually pretty good, the chairs very comfortable and the ambience very nice. We almost didn’t want to leave. I did a short flight with the drone over it before going to the temple.
Entrance to the temple was 30000 RP per person and it was quite busy. It is dry season and therefore the water level of the lake was low and the temple was not surrounded by water. It was still a pretty stunning sight. More than anything it is a sacred place and we could feel it was very energizing. I could hear the wind singing through the trees. We thought of trying to go back at sunrise to get great colors if we plan ahead of time and spending the night in a hotel close by. Anyway by 5 o’clock clouds started to move in and
most of the visitors left. Finally we got the temple to ourselves. I did a last flight with the drone to try to catch a panoramic view before returning home. The battery lasts about 20 minutes, which gave me about 6 minutes on the first flight at the restaurant and about 13 minutes at the temple. I brought the drone down with flashing red lights.
We wanted to leave before dark and take the main road not the short cut. On the way down the hill the breaks overheated and stopped working. We got lucky once again because not only the rental company was willing to come and rescue us on a Saturday night in the middle of the mountains but we pulled up by a candy shop on the side of the road and the kids of the family that own the place managed to understand that we needed a mechanic to bleed the breaks. A couple of hrs later and after just a 100000 RP mechanic fee and 150000 Tip to the kids we were on the way home with better breaks than ever. We arrived late but safely! Thanks my angel for always looking after me.
We were very happy with some of the shots we got and I will upload them as they are ready for show. For now just a few photos of us just for memories.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Bali
Glad you are enjoying both above and below the water.