The Overseas Adventures of Annie and Steven Berger August 29th through December 18th, 2015: 9/27: Rice Farmers, Temples, Terraces & Pounding Waves in Bali

Another wonderful day planned of touring Bali with Wi as our guide; today we'd visit part of the NW section of Bali before ending the day in the south with sunset overlooking the ocean at our last Hindu temple in Bali.

Unfortunately, an all too common sight in Bali.

A different use for trees!

There were probably 20 motorcyclists lined up to watch the tractor - obviously a novelty.

Wi's offering to his god(s?) for a safe journey today.

Statue of Sukarno, Indonesia's first president in Tambanan,
the largest city we've seen in Bali. it even had car dealerships.

Food cart

Photos from Pura Batu Karu:

These ticket takers loved having their photo taken.

These doctors loved riding their Harley Davidson motorcycles around Bali, one of them said.

The Balinese sure have a different meaning of the word 'Donation' than we do; for instance they call it a 'donation' when you must pay to enter a village that has tourist sites or for entering almost every temple too.

A Balinese/Indonesian caution sign!

The UNESCO listed rice terraces at Jatiwuilih:

We were very disappointed in these rice terraces after seeing all the lovely photos of them online and reading the hype about them by so many other tourists. They were not nearly as stunning and magnificent in our minds as those we saw a couple of days ago. Part of the reason may have been the overcast skies that were the norm for us much of the time.

Another ticket taker - he validated the tickets we'd bought earlier.

I think the small sheets of paper and the blue pen are
permanently attached to my left hand as the camera is to my right hand!

An offering in the rice fields to the gods.

Path through the rice fields.

Political signs near Bedegul

Onto Pura Ulun Danu Batu:

Balinese farmers grow huge amounts of corn.
A common sight in markets is corn roasting over small fires.

The largest concentration of strawberries in Indonesia is grown in NW Bali near Bedegul.

Photos from Pura Ulun Danu:

The temple was huge as you can see from this map.

At high tide the temple looks like it's floating in the water.

He was putting together, repairing or doing something with his drone!
Glad we left before he got it up and running.

The 3 major religions of Indonesia were represented at this temple: the Hindu temple,the mosque above and the Buddhist temple below. Wi said the followers of each religion existed in harmony here - lovely to hear.

In front of the Buddhist temple.

Huge cigarette billboards are everywhere in Indonesia, we've noticed. I remember reading a while back that since fewer young Americans are taking up smoking, US cigarette companies are heavily promoting cigarette use in less developed countries.

Photos from Candi Kunning Market near the temple:

Bought some yummy berries at this stall.

We'd been following these same group of German tourists all day long.
One of the cars had Tennessee plates!

These tourist buses all carried Indonesian tourists, Wi said.

!!!

Wi explained that most Balinese homes have bird cages as they believe that if.when evil spirits attempt to enter homes, they will automatically leave if a bird is present.

Farm scenes:

Photos from 17th C. Pura Taman Ayun near Mengwi:

The cock fighting pavilion above and below

Wi explained that the temple had originally been built to honor a god and later for the king's relaxation. When he died, so many people continued to throng here that the temple was enlarged.

Saw this woman laying offerings at one shrine after another at the temple - it was almost like a story unfolding in front of our eyes.

The gardens and green spaces cover an extensive area at the temple. Wi said that many local people come to enjoy not just the beauty of the temple but the peace and serenity of the gardens. As the temple is so far from the beach, locals come here to relax in the fresh air.

Hard not to be awestruck by the stunning flowers we've seen over the last few days in and around Bali.

I asked Wi why the roof of the temple in the background is different from the others. He said that its grass roof means the shrine is of lesser importance than the others which have fiber roofs.

Back in the car for our final stop of the day: Sunset at Pura Tanah Lot. The temple is located SW of Ubud right on the coast.

Wall's is a famous English ice cream maker. I remember my mother, who was English, loving their ice cream sandwiches made from a brick or square of wrapped ice cream and then put between 2 very thin wafers. You see signs for Wall's ALL over Indonesia - what incredible marketing the company has done as they have an absolute monopoly.

You enter the temple complex through a large shopping and eating area.

Lemurs - remember my sharing the process of making Bali's famous Lewak coffee?!

How much fun we had watching the waves crest up over the rocks and come to within inches of where we were standing.

We loved being at Pura Tanah Lot for the sunset but felt the temple was overly commercialized and, as a result, we failed to achieve the same sense of peace and serenity as we enjoyed at other temples.