Tahah Lot (2-14)

After leaving Lovina, the road winds up and down and around mountains all the way to Tanah Lot, a drive that took three hours—not counting the stops. During the first hour, we stopped a few times to see and photograph the terrace rice fields. 

Then we arrived at Munduk Waterfall. The German who had taken me to the hot springs highly recommended another waterfall that he thinks is the most beautiful one in the area, but when I suggest stopping there, the travel agent said it would be too slippery because of the rain. So he suggested Munduk Waterfall, saying that it is more beautiful. I’ll never know. The path down to it was dirt part way and the rest was paved for the motorcycles riding up and down from the village below. 

The waterfall is nice. It hits the bottom with a lot of force; so it’s very misty there.

The rest of the trip took almost two hours. We stopped to see the Twin Lakes, which were hazy. On display were two lizards that looked really prehistoric.

We arrived at the guesthouse at 2:30 and I relaxed for a while before venturing out. The guesthouse is special in that it is between rice fields and each unit has its own rooftop terrace. The rooms used open up to the rice fields, but now there is a wall right outside the rooms. I read comments that this was put up by the neighbors who are going to build a new hotel. So this guesthouse will lose its main feature—the view. I sat on the terrace to enjoy the view and watched the storm move in. It rained for only half an hour, but that was enough to flood the paddies that were dry.

After the rain, I started to walk to Tanah Lot, the famous temple on a small island that is one of the most important temples in Bali. The man at the guesthouse had agreed that it would take about half an hour when I asked about walking there. First I checked out the beach that is a few minutes’ walk from the guesthouse. Then I started my longer walk, noticing that many people—mostly male—were coming to the beach. As always, I enjoyed the rice fields. Some have bamboo altars. 

When I didn’t reach the first turn in fifteen minutes, I decided that I didn’t need to go there that evening and returned to the beach to watch the sunset. Some of the boys and young men were surfing; some were playing football on the beach. The area I went to was quiet with only a few other people. I had a relaxing hour watching and listening to the waves while the sun disappeared into the heavy clouds on the horizon. No special sunset that night but the light was good. I hadn’t been on a beach with heavy waves for a long time; so I enjoyed standing and letting the waves move my feet deeper into the sand.

When I woke up Saturday morning, the sky was very cloudy and it looked like it was going to rain. So I relaxed in the room for a while and then had breakfast delivered so I could eat on the terrace while enjoying the view of the rice fields. While I was eating, it rained—not heavily like on Friday and not for long. At 11:00, I decided that it was safe to go out and rented a bicycle to ride to Tanah Lot. The ride took twenty-five minutes, which confirmed the wisdom of returning on Friday evening.

Tanah Lot is a 16^th century temple on a rock island in the sea. The rock has been partially reconstructed because it had deteriorated. When the tide is high, the rock is completely surrounded by water. When it is low, people can walk to the temple, but only Indonesians are allowed to enter. The temple itself is on side of the rock facing the sea. From photos online, it looks like you can walk to that side early in the morning when the tide is out. When I was there at noon, that side was not accessible. 

The water on the shore side was below my knees. 

There is a holy spring in a cave where people go to be blessed. Like other people, I washed my face with the water 

and then the holy men blessed me by putting rice on my forehead, attached with a liquid they apply with a brush, and a pink plumeria behind my ear. On the shore, there is a cave in which a man sits with a holy snake that was curled up in a hole in the rock. He said there is only one in that cave but that there are many on the temple rock. As did other people, I touched the snake, since it was curled up and only a few coils were visible. 

After enjoying a quiet part of the beach area and watching the waves, I went to the top and bought a drink so I could sit at a table overlooking the sea and temple. 

Farther down the coast there’s a golf course. 

In the other direction, there’s another temple—Batu Bolong, which is on a rock jutting out into the ocean. 

Walking that direction, there are good views of the rocky coast. When I left the area at 3:00, it was more crowded than when I arrived.

On the way back, I stopped for my afternoon/evening meal—sweet and sour fish. When I was riding up the road after eating, several coaches full of tourists were arriving. Tanah Lot is famous for sunsets and is a popular destination at that time of day. I had planned to be there for sunset, as it something people do in Bali, but I decided that I could enjoy the same sunset on the beach near the guesthouse without the hundreds of people. 

While I was riding, I could see that there was good potential for a nice sunset. When I arrived at the guesthouse, I went to the beach to enjoy the beach and wait for the sunset. Local people were also arriving. 

Some were sitting on the wall; some were playing on the beach; 

some were surfing; some were playing in the water in a rivulet between the sea and the land. All this was happening on one side of the beach. Very few people ventured the other direction, which was where I’d been on Friday evening. I headed back there and stood where the waves could make my feet sink into the sand. I like that feeling. 

The first color appeared at 6:10 and it became deeper and better until 7:00. I felt truly lucky and blessed to be there and to have a beautiful sunset on the quiet, peaceful beach on my last night in Bali and Indonesia.

Since when I left in the morning it looked like it might rain again, I was prepared for rain. I had my jacket and put everything in a big, plastic bag in the backpack. However, I neglected to use sunscreen and take my hat. The result was a red face when I returned. Some of it was from being hot from riding, but my face was definitely darker. I haven’t had that happen for a long time.

I had hired a car to take me to the airport Sunday morning. As we went through some of the towns, I recognized their names from when I was looking at guesthouses in which to stay. I was glad I’d chosen the one near the quiet beach and away from the towns. It was a much more relaxing and enjoyable way to finish my holiday in Indonesia.