Bali Day 3 - Crazy Day

Tuesday morning , I woke up with whole body pain . Thanks to the most dedicated person for pursuing the highest quality and craftsmanship in brewing - Heineken Pilsener. My Tuesday morning was welcomed with an argument between Yusri and Roland. Yusri want to go to Tanah Lot while Roland want to stay in the city to make sure that we can catch the Bali night scene. I on the other hand struggling at my best to keep both eyes open.

(Some of the souvenirs that can be found outside Tanah Lot Temple)

Tanah Lot. That was the place we had our lunch that day. Tanah Lot, one of the most popular places of interest in Bali, is located on the coast of West Bali, at the village of Beraban in the Tabanan Regency. It is also called Tanah Let which means ancient land and also Tanah Lod, which means the land to the south. The temple Pura Tanah Lot, simple in its construction, is dramatic in its ocean-front location and is one of the main temples in the worship of Balinese gods.

(Pura Tanah Lot on low tide)

The temple itself is built on a small promontory which is only accessible at low tide.
During high water the rock takes on the appearance of a large boat at sea, such is its shape. Poisonous snakes live in the nearby caves to 'guard' the temple and contribute to the temple's dangerous reputation. I do not know about this until we left Tanah Lot for some local food nearby. If I do, I swore that I wont be sitting at the caves entrance taking some pictures while Roland asking for blessing from the priest.

Looking at the Pura Tanah Lot Temple, I know sunset is the best time to visit Tanah lot, when the golden red skies frame the temple and waves crash into the rocks. But too bad, my stomach start playing Shakespeare's and we quickly get into the car to get filled.

(Locals in Mengwi telling us the deriction to Lake Bratan)

From Tanah Lot, we were heading west to Mengwi. From Mengwi, we drive nothern up hill to Lake Bratan. The jurney was amazing as we passed hectres of paddy field, drive up hill on dead snake's like road.

(A guy fishing from the small boat at the side of Lake Bratan)

We stopped at Lake Bratan the big lake that fills an ancient volcanic crater and its water is said to be holy. You will notice that the air is cooler here than in the south of Bali and the sky is mostly clouded and the light is very gentle and soft. After taking few pictures and releaze our self, we quickly jump into the car heading further up north to Gigit water fall.

(Lake Bratan covered on haze)

We reach Gigit at almost 7 pm. Most shop here were closed by the time we parked our car. Since we are already here, and it took us extra precaution drive up the hill, we wont waste our time to walk down the path heading to the water fall. While walking down the hill, we were greated by 2 little girls selling bangles and necklace beads for 1000 rupiah. They just wont stop begging you until you poke rupiah for them. We reached the water fall at almost dark, the water is damn cold and we decided to headed down to northen town of Singaraja.

(Gigit water Fall)

Singaraja can be said the only muslim most populous town in Bali. It can be seen as everywhere in the city, it is not difficult to find a muslim restaurant and cart selling food. After fill up our stomach with bakso, we decided to head back to denpasar by taking another road. The road staright to Kintamani, the highest populated town in Bali.

It is really dark , and the jurney to top of Kintamani is almost like a trip to no where. With small road infront of us, nothing came on our sight except trees and bushes. Yusri on the front seat already slept while I keep forcing my self to be alert of surrounding.

Our car were greated by few strays dogs lying on the road of Kintamani. Yes, Kintamani was death when when we reached. Time is almost mid night. All shops were closed. Looking at the map, I quickly realized we are not even 1 third of our jurney back to Nusa Dua. We park our car infront of Kintamani army camp. Kintamani is one of 5 live volcanoes in Bali other than mount Agung and Mount Batur. Literally a volcano within a volcano, visitors can drive along the rim of a 8km wide caldera while looking across the still active Mt. Batur still spouting lava and slowly building new height. But too bad, we can't wait too long in Kintamani, we headed down to Gianyar before heading straight to the highway back to Denpasar.

We reached Denpasar at almost 4 am. Reach hotel, I headed to my room to end my chotic day.