Bali- island exploration

we waited until the 3rd day of our trip to head to the australian embassy in denpasar, at the suggestion of the australian government. they told us that we'd need 3 days from entry and then 5 days to process the visas. it was going to be just enough time for us to get it all done before flying back to australia, assuming all went well. we killed two birds with one stone and decided to hire a driver for the day, as we'd been told it's both reasonably priced and the best way to see the island in a short time. he could take us to the embassy and then escort us around with what little time of the day we'd have left.

we arrived at the embassy, passports in hand, finger crossed. we had to go through a few security measures, signing in, getting visitor passes, relinquishing cameras/phones, etc. we were then ushered into the embassy grounds. in what might be the greatest feat of government efficiency i have ever seen in my life (ever!), the process of "approving" our visas and printing/pasting them into our passports took all of 5 minutes. i was astounded! i looked at the woman and said "is that it?" she laughed and said "yup". back through security we went, realizing we'd spent more time in security then in the visa processing. amazing! 8 months, and a serious amount of money later, we officially became australian residents! we had way more time then we'd expected with our driver, as that entire process took less then 30 minutes. so off we went to explore bali!

our first stop was Tanah Lot, home of the temple "Pura Tanah Lot". the temple is one of the most highly photographed areas in bali and is a very popular tourist destination. the temple sits on a rock formation in the sea, which can be accessed by foot at low tide only. it's said that the temple was established by a priest in the 15th century, after praying so hard that the rock formation separated from the mainland. the sea snakes in the area are said to be protecting the temple from evil spirits. we strolled the grounds of Tanah Lot for a while, following the path along the coast and exploring a few other random shrines. we had lunch at the end of the trail, overlooking the crashing sea below.

we then stopped into yet another monkey forest. i won't go into much detail because well, it's much the same as before.
our next destination was the botanic gardens in candi kuning. they cover approximately 154 hectares and are home to over 1700 plant species. it took us about an hour to drive there, but the scenery was amazing, providing us with views of lush, green mountainside and rice paddies. the gardens themselves were quite nice, and we enjoyed our time walking around in the cooler mountain region.

from there we moved on to bedugul, 1400m above sea level, to view the Ulun Danun Batur temple, situated on lake bratan. the town of bedugul is a mountain-resort town, which caters to the weekend-retreaters and water-sport enthusiasts, as there are 3 major lakes in the area. it's also well-known for it's fruit production. the temple itself seems to rise out of the lake, especially in the late afternoon or on overcast days, when the mist sits lower on the lake.

our last stop for the day was back in ubud. we were interested in catching the traditional dance show at the king's temple before heading back to the hotel. the show was interesting but i won't say that i loved it. the music is mostly chimes, bells and gongs played with what i'm sure is a specific order but sounds like a garbled explosion of noise to me. the dancing itself was unique, but we decided it was more of a pantomime then dancing. the ladies moved their arms and hands more then anything, and their facial expressions ruled the show. their eyes were huge and the eye movements were crucial in the ladies dances. the dances have varying stories, from kings to jokers to nymphs to mythical creatures. the show was an hour and a half long, which was too much for me in the end. but the costumes were stunning and the crowd seemed to respond well to the performers.

after a full day, we were knackered. so it was time to head back to the hotel- we had another big day ahead of us.
xo