Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Pura Tanah Lot


It is raining Guest posts in my blogspace.  Though i am yet to successfully persuade Jay and Rosy to come up with a post of their choice, I got lucky with Sudha, yet again.  Proximity helps - she sits in the same floor as mine at office, and we tag along.  I had to just hint it  to her and ta-da, she was done with the post.

And hey hold on there.  Just realized this is the 200th post on my blog. Taking a bow to imaginary sounds of trumpets and trombones :-) :-) :-)   Whattay a nice way to celebrate it through Sudha's post.
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Pura Tanah Lot
Pura Tanah Lot - cliff scenary. This temple is in the sea.
Tanah Lot (Land in the sea), is one of the most photographed temples of Bali. I knew about this place even before we did any internet research. I have seen it on travel shows and magazines, and the name is etched in my mind. It was kind of a personal bucket list tick off. Was so excited that we would finally be able to go there. Was kind of missing my better half, (just 3rd day of the trip!) as we both wanted to go there. Anyway, no more thoughts about him, it’s after all a girls trip. True to its expectation this place was splendid and even now, when I think of it, brings in images of the rock temple in the ocean. The sun kissed waves sparkle like diamonds and the sapphire blue, deep blue and varying colors of the ocean stretches till your eye can see. The sound of the crashing waves were soothing and the whole experience was mystic.  We went to this temple on our way from Ubud, the town of arts and culture, to Nusa Dua the beach area of high end luxury resorts.

Do you see the Ganesha Mural bang in the middle of a paddie?
The road to the temple was so scenic. Brought back memories of Kerala. Interestingly all babes are natives of ‘Gods own country’. Paddy fields, coconut trees and vistas of clean green rice terraces as they call it. Some of the houses even had wall murals.  Kevin explained that most traditional joint family dwellings, have their family deity as a part of small temple, inside their house compound.

There was a meandering walkway from the parking lot to the seashore, to enter the temple. On the way there were small shops and shacks selling knick-knacks and memorabilia. We were busy either posing or taking pictures, I took advantage of my DSLR lens to zoom in and see the temple that lie far ahead. While we walked we came across a group of visitors posing with a live snake. We have seen this in many touristy areas, and it brought back memories of our earlier trip where Rosy posed with a tiger cub, at Bangkok. Never in my wildest dreams I would have thought of touching and petting a snake. It was yellow in colour, ribbed and spattered with black and white patterns. As I clicked pictures of the snake the babes went out and reached for it. The snake vendor (for want of a better name), happily handed it over to us. I gave my phone to another visitor and Kevin took the camera and we had our videos and photos of carrying the snake. 
The babes with a live python.  Arent they all pretty pretty? ( we were actually terrified :-) )
Selfie with Snake



I was quite apprehensive. Vincy took the lead and was nearest the snake's head. I managed to dodge and carry it only for a brief moment.  We were cooing and hooting and I guess the poor snake must have become used to this from the various visitors who carry her. This was an unplanned, unexpected adventure if I can say. The video lays testimony to the fun we had for a brief moment with her. I even went ahead and clicked a selfie with her. Vincy by the end of it got over the fear and went ahead and laid down near her basket, and I caught it on camera :-).

Vincy posing with our new snakie babe friend
Moving on, we went inside a courtyard, part of the smaller temple, the main temple was even further away and its entry was forbidden to the non-Balinese visitors. It is believed that lots of sacred snakes in the ocean, guard this temple, which was built in the 15th century.  Pura Segara, translates to "Sea temples", a pura that is located by the sea to appease the sea Gods and deities. The Balinese believe that the shore temples protect the country from the vagaries of the ocean. This temple was overlooking the Indian Ocean. The temples in Bali are built mainly by the volcanic frothy lava rocks that solidified over the years. Mostly black and shades of grey, the temples are not painted and retained the original rustic look.
 
Lava Rocks that we brought back as Souvenirs
Overall, we had no doubts on why this was the most visited and photographed place in Bali. Its best to go during sunset or sunrise, to capture the varying hues of the sky, sun rays and the shadow play, amidst the temple and ocean.  This place is so beautiful and magical, and that’s why comes up as the top attraction when you Google Bali. We posed for the cameras, we had the temple, sky and the ocean in the background and made wonderful memories  to cherish. We collected some lava rocks to bring back as souvenirs. Quenched our thirst with tender coconut and continued our journey towards the beach resort.
 
Babes posing in front of Tanah Lot
When Vincy coaxed me to write about this place, I got reminded of mentioning that there should be a blog about Tanah Lot, in the guest Nyepi blog. Little did I know that, I would get to write it and virtually relive the day. This again is a picture heavy post.

18 comments:

  1. Elated that you ended up writing my 200th post. A remarkable milestone for me. And on the note on lava rocks I have put it to good use in my kitchen. I use that to sharpen my kitchen tools especially my knives. And I don't miss telling people who are around that it is volcanic rock from Bali. πŸ˜€πŸ˜€πŸ˜€

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    1. Vincy, Congratulations!! On the double ton. Privileged to be part of this.
      Thanks for this opportunity yet again.

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  2. Nice post. Sudha - please become a regular guest blogger on this blog; the blog owner is lazy and disappears for long stretches of time !!

    Another place I knew nothing about, despite it being the top destination in Bali. More education - thank you. There is so much more to Bali than beer, sea and sand. That's what the hordes of Aussies seem to come to !

    No; its not a picture heavy post, especially from the owner of a DSLR. Nice photos. Lovely shots of the temple.

    Did you really being back a volcanic rock as a souvenir ??? Really ? You must be extremely strong ladies to lug that sort of stuff around :):):)

    Please write more posts.

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    1. Ramesh, Do you notice one of my most adored blog readers is switching loyalties? Now I have to work hard to be consistent in this space.

      The lava rocks were actually smuggled out of Bali - they are small pieces of rock that could be folded amongst our clothes - Kevin did indicate that we may be caught in the Immigration, though it did not happen. Even Rosy go through to Melbourne without being quaratined.

      And knowing you, if we could educate you about Tanah Lot, its a huge honor for the writer and owner of the blog.

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    2. Thank you so much Sir. It's truly a motivation 😁.
      I stacked the small slab of rocks as part of many other pebbles collected through years...the first one being from Havelock 15 years back, during our honeymoon...which has survived 3 address changes. 😁

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  3. Hey congratulations Vincy on the 200th post !! I am so proud of you..

    Please do tell Sudha from my side that it's indeed a beautiful post and the photographs are so scenic. she is right, some places it seems as if we are in the middle of an idyllic kerala village.

    Wishing many more happy trips to you girls !!!
    take care

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  4. Sudha !! I love your posts and I'm really glad that it's picture heavy cuz they make you connect to the blog so much more... Wonderful to see this new place through your eyes. You always make it sound so fascinating. The names are so surreal noe... Pura Tana Lot... Nyepi... Not to mention the selfie with the snake !! As much as you've made it exciting, I wouldn't dream of petting it or coming that up close and personal !!! *Yikes* bringing back lava rocks ?!! πŸ˜„ So many uses it can have!! πŸ˜‰πŸ˜‰πŸ˜†
    keep traveling and keep writing girl !! πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘Œ

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    1. Thanks a lot Farah. This is so encouraging.

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  5. Anonymous9:17 PM

    Nice post and lovely pics Sudha! Cheers, Viji

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  6. Reading this gives a fresh experience and also intimately pushes us to know about such naturally beautiful heavenly places around the world. And definetly a very rare time we get to spend with our lovable friends. Very happy to view this blog. Hearty wishes to continue such trips and share it.

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  7. Sudha akka thanks for creating this blog.. Such a lovely description regarding the place..will make a visit there for sure. Pls kindly upload ur future trips too and create a blog like this so that it will help us to plan a trip..The photos and its description was superb especially the scary snake😲😊..hope you guys had great fun..now i am also planning for a trip with my friends (girl's trip)..ur photos tells us it was very refreshing and a stress burster..Thank you once again Sudha akka for writing this blog..

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    1. Thanks Thangachi. 😁
      Yes, please go on the ladies trip and come back with loads of memories.

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  8. Anonymous11:04 AM

    Semma pics and super narrative. Puraadhana lot.... pazhaya area nu per vachirunthaalum photola paaka pudusa thaan iruku. This space is becoming a tourist guide for interesting locales -- gils

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    1. I liked the play on words you came up with. Brilliant Gilsu. Puraadhana Lot - why didnt i think of it?

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    2. Thanks. Your with and wordplay amazes me. 😊

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