Fifth day in Bail - Jimbaran

Eugine and I started the day at 10am when we were picked up by our driver to tour the island. (We considered renting a car, but hiring a driver with Ed's negotiation skill turned out to be a very good deal. J ) Our first stop was Taman Ayun, a modest (all temples in Bali are modest) but very peaceful temple with a beautifully manicured garden. We weren't able to enter the temple itself but we were able to get a good view over the low walls.

Hotel pool

On our way to our next stop, we had a buffet lunch at a restaurant whose name I cannot remember (it was something like Pungu?). The restaurant was located on a hillside with a beautiful view of mountains, valleys, and rice fields.

In front of Tanah Lot

After lunch, we went to Pura Ulun Danu. According to our guide book, this temple is the most important temple in Bali. The temple is actually a Buddhist-Hindu temple located on a small island in a lake. People supposedly worship in this temple to pray for ample rain for a good harvest. The temple itself was surrounded by water and mountains which were half covered by clouds. The scenery was beautiful. The only problem we had with the temple were the jet skies and motorboats that were providing water sports to tourists. Its noise hampered the experience.

After a quick stop at a local market where we bought peanuts (Balinese peanuts are amazing), Mangostein, and Mangos, we arrived at Tanah Lot, a temple located on the west coast of Bali. The temple itself was also located on an island although the water had receded when we visited. The cliffs along the coastline were amazing as well. The temple on the island reminded us of Mont St. Michel while we also spotted a rock formation that resembled Etretat (both in France which we visted).

Indonesia's Etretat

Our last stop was Pura Uluwatu where we were able to enjoy the sunset. However, our experience was made more interesting (or horrifying for Eugine) as a monkey (there are many monkeys at this temple) came up to Eugine lightly punched her face and snatched Eugine's glasses away (I had to wear glasses because I had early signs of eye infection - although it turned out my eyes were fine). These incidents occur quite frequently, apparently. So there was an Indonesian man with a bag of bananas. He threw a few bananas at this vicious monkey who dropped Eugine's glasses to eat the bananas. The man then went up and grabbed Eugine's glasses and I paid him 5,000 rupiah (about $0.60) for the cost of the bananas. Fortunately, the glasses were not damaged and Eugine was safe.

Monkey enjoying the sunset

We had dinner at our hotel and went to sleep.

Pura Ulun Danu

Taman Ayun

Us at Pura Ulun Danu