Bali Runaway (Day 3-1) - Mystical Tanah Lot Temple
Pak Made decided to change our itinerary on our second day with him. He insisted that we should head to Tanah Lot first instead of the original plan being the last stop for the day. We were puzzled at first but decided to trust him.
We drove through past Canggu with its hipster movement and ripening paddy fields. It's supposed to be monsoon season but the weather was lovely.
It takes around 30-40 minutes to reach Tanah Lot Temple from Seminyak. It didn't feel like 30 minutes with the interesting village life unfolding as we drove past. During the drive, Pak Made was in a chatty mood and stressed on the point that a person has never really been to Bali until they make a trip to Tanah Lot temple.
As with all temples in Bali, there is an entrance fee of sorts. I guess you can think of it as donations to the temple for the upkeep. After passing through he front gates, tourism takes over. There are shops lining the street before you reach the steps to the beach. Buy a cheap shawl here if you forgot to bring one. Sunblock is not enough. I had on SPF50 but still got burnt!
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| Entrance to Tanah Lot temple complex |
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| Waves pounding on Tanah Lot temple
Visitors who come to Tanah Lot would have a perception of Tanah Lot through photos they Googled. We realized that most Tanah Lot temple photos were taken from a vantage point somewhere. At beach level, the temple sits above a towering island of rock. It's hard for a person to take in the whole place at once. It's like nature haven't finished its's sculpture and is still chiseling away using powerful waves. to be an architect.
Some local male folk were conducting some ceremonies at the temple. They waded across the knee high sea water to the temple and made their way upstairs. Some stayed at water level and entered some sort of grotto. At first I curiously stood there wondering what could be there.
An elder male came up to me and gestured for me to follow. I was suspicious and was hesitant at first. You never quite know what to make of places where tourism is the main industry. I enquired in Bahasa Indonesia, to the going ons. He was surprised at my fluency for a few seconds before giving me a big smile. He said that the temple priest will do blessings for people in the grotto and if we choose to make a donation, it is welcome. Well, at least he was honest. After discussing with Ant, we decided to walk through the cold sea.
I was advised to keep my camera and phones in my bag before tracking across to the grotto. The pakcik has seen many tourist lose their belongings in the swift waves when they stumble. The pakcik held my hand as support while we waded through the waves. Ant came along too with another pakcik. A few China tourists were wondering what we were doing and tagged along behind.
Upon reaching the grotto, there was an underground fresh water spring. It's amazing because there we were, in the salty ocean but there was fresh water shooting out. We had to use the water to wash our face, then face the priest with our palms held in traditional Hindu greeting. The priest tucked a yellow flower behind my ear and dotted my third eye (forehead) with glutinous rice. Don't worry boys, you'll get a flower too. You leave your donation of any amount in the banana leaf container.
Some Chinese tourist exclaimed that they didn't know they had to pay for it, in Chinese. I'm sure you have some spare change people... 
The pakcik allowed us to go up the stairs to have a peek at the view. We managed to walk partially until it was barred. You can see part of the alter from the photo above.
We ran into a group of people conducting prayers at the ocean. Pak Made later explained that in Balinese religious beliefs, they had to obtain village blessings from the nearest body of water. If the village is inland, they will make the journey to Tanah Lot. 
After walking around the main Tanah Lot temple, we strolled to the smaller directional temple gates located at various locations along the cliffs.
One of the many directional gates at the temple complex.
By the time we got up to one of the lookout points near the cafes and restaurants, the tide had gone down considerably. The submerged path that I crossed earlier appeared to plain sight as the water receded. Although it would be easier to cross now but the experience of crossing the icy clear sea to receive blessings was a unique experience.
We spent a good 3 hours wondering around and left around lunch. I totally got sunburnt even though I had on a pretty decent sunblock. If you are coming to Tanah Lot, bring a shawl to cover up!
P.S: I started off this post to combine the places I visited on my third day on the Island of the Gods. If you stumbled across my travel posts, it may have been an accidental click and now you are scrolling thru. You would be probably wondering why did I use an entire post on Tanah Lot and where's the itinerary for the day?! Tanah Lot Temple is just full of awe. One of those places where you think, how in the world did they built that? So in dedication of my slack jawed look when I first got there, I decided to dedicate this post to the awe inspiring Tanah Lot Temple.
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