INDONESIA - BALI PART 1: ULUWATU TEMPLE

 July 10, 2023

We drove the last 20 minutes to Uluwatu Temple, which was (surprise!) quite crowded. 

On entering the temple, everyone is asked to put on a purple skirt/wrap or a gold sash. I remember in Thailand the women often had to cover up with similar wraps, but not the men. I'm not sure if this wrap was for modesty or was a gimmick. Either way, Bob wasn't thrilled about it. Welcome to a woman's world, Bob.

By the way, the sign behind us does not have any English, which tells you what percentage of the tourists speak English.  We did see signs in other parts of the complex in English, however--mostly warning signs, which may tell you more about the tourists who speak English.  

Pura Luhur means "Divine Temple." Uluwatu is regarded as one of the six holiest places of worship on Bali. The six places are spread about the island as a way of providing spiritual balance to Bali. This temple complex is dedicated to Sang Hyang Widhi, the Supreme God of Indonesian Hinduism.

There are several small temples (or shrines?) like this spread around the property.

A sign at the entrance to one of the temples noted that women who are menstruating are not allowed inside. I didn't know Hindus had this dogma of "unclean" women. Women have it rough everywhere.

Um, speaking of unclean, we witnessed some pretty intense monkey mating. That was interesting.

Uluwatu Temple is known for its resident troop of long-tailed macaques, which are very acclimated to their human invaders. People move away from them more than vice versa.

There is something very human about these monkeys. Check out this exhausted mother with her crazy-haired nursing baby.

They seem to appreciate the beautiful view.

I can understand why this monkey likes his perch. Uluwatu is built on the top of a 230-foot-tall cliff. It has a stunning view.

Here is an example of a sign in English.

Someone handed this monkey a water bottle. He definitely knew what to do with it.

The water bottle trick was cute, but the monkeys are known for stealing glasses, hats, pens, and whatever they can get their hands on. Special employees (identifiable by their uniforms) are called to get the pilfered item back from the thief if the guest can't. The park employees throw the monkey a banana or another treat, and the monkey drops the stolen item. The monkeys have learned to barter, and they pass their skills down through the generations. They will hang on to a stolen item and wait for the guy with the treat to show up.

We saw one monkey with someone's cell phone. He had actually gotten the case off the phone. The owner tried to get it back, but he didn't have the right bartering material.

Luckily, the park employee was able to get the phone back before damage was done.

I saw a monkey steal sunglasses from a girl right in front of me. She had them tucked in her sash, but the monkey was on them so fast that she didn't have time to react. Crazy! 

We watched another monkey poke the lenses out of a pair of sunglasses before anyone could stop him.

Bob himself was a near victim. He had his phone in his shirt pocket and was leaning on a wall and gazing at the ocean. Another guest warned him there was a monkey just over his shoulder and getting ready to pounce.

There was a "Monkey Care Center" that had a couple of monkeys in a cage, including an albino monkey. There was a sign in English there, and judging by the translation, it may be that they just don't have anyone to translate for them.

I felt sorry for this poor little fella.

We took a lot of photos of the monkeys, but there were also some really interesting statues, stonework, and buildings.  

This is Kumbharkarna, a mythical Hindu creature said to have immense strength and a massive appetite. 

Still recovering from his three days of fever, Bob wore out pretty fast, so Ayu and I left him resting under a covered pavilion and went for a walk on a path on the edge of a cliff. 

The sun was sinking slowly towards the horizon, and the light was both serene and eerie. It wasn't this dark, but looking towards the west made the sun dominant and everything else shadowed in my photos.

There were monkeys all over that area.

Note the baby peeking out on the right:

At the end of the path a huge statue of a Hindu Brahmin, or priest, holds up his hand in an apparent blessing on his simian congregation, which sat respectfully (mostly) at his feet.

We made our way back to Bob, who said that while he was waiting for us, he saw two of the guards go after the naughty monkeys with slingshots!

When it was almost dark, we got in line for a "cultural performance" in a large arena, something we were kind of dreading, having seen many boring dance presentations in other foreign countries. However, this hour-long performance was one of the best we've seen.

This performance, called a kecak, is a dance and music drama developed in Indonesia in the 1930s. It is based on the Sanskrit epic tale Ramayana and is performed in Balinese temples and villages. A "choir" of about 50 men clad only in black, white, and red loin cloths (or maybe shorts?) provides oral percussion that serves as the background "music"--a repetitive, rhythmic chanting of "chak-a-chak-a-chak."  The chanters constantly wave their arms and shake their hands. The speed and intensity of their chanting creates the mood of the story.

It way hypnotic, to say the least.

Seven or eight spectacularly costumed actors told a story we didn't follow very well. It would have been helpful to have a brief synopsis to read. Basically it is the story of a battle in which monkey-like people help Prince Rama (the Supreme Being in some Hindu cultures), fight the evil king Ravana, who has abducted Prince Rama's wife Sita.

The actors interacted with the audience, and it was especially fun when a devious, mischievous white monkey (Rama? His companion Hanuman? Not sure.) pulled people out of the audience to dance, to play parts in the play, and more. 

There was a scene at the end with five or six piles of burning sticks that the monkey kicked around the stage area. It was impressive. Unfortunately, we were about two-thirds of the way up on a side, and I couldn't get very good pictures.

By the way, you can see how crowded it is. People were actually sitting on the stairs. This arena would never pass US fire codes. It would be a disaster if some of that fire were to get out of control. 

When it was over, people poured out of the arena and to the parking lot. Somehow, our guide found us as we came out, but it took us about 20 minutes to find our driver and car.

It was 9:30 by the time we got to our Novotel Hotel--a really beautiful place that we didn't have time to enjoy. We paid about $15-18 each for a box breakfast for the morning, and then crashed in our room.