Bali Temples and Padi Fields

It is impossible to be in Bali, the island of a thousand temples, and not see a single Bali temple. Temples, or what Balinese call Pura, were everywhere, even in people’s homes. On our Bedugul full-day tour in Bali, I did not realise initially that we were going to visit three temples – the Mengwi Royal Temple, the Ulun Danu Temple and the Tanah Lot Temple. It might seem like one too many, but each temple had a different landscape – one on a river, another on a lake on top of a volcano and the third on the coast of the Indian Ocean.

Mengwi Royal Temple (Pura Taman Ayun)

The Royal Mengwi temple is one of the most important temples in Bali dating back to the 1600s. This huge complex sits on top of an island on a river! Do you know that Bali has nine directional temples to ward off evil spirits from different directions? The Royal Mengwi temple is one of them.

Ulun Danu Temple (Pura Ulun Danu)

My favourite place of interest in Bali is Pura Ulun Danu pictured above.

Notice the low-hanging clouds. At about 700m (or more) above sea level, the temperature was sunny yet cool. The temple sits on top of a caldera lake called Lake Bratan. What’s a caldera? It is land that collapsed after a volcanic eruption. Yes! We were on top of a volcano!

Pura Ulun Danu is another directional temple built around 1600s. This water temple is important to the Balinese since Lake Bratan serves as the main source of irrigation in Bali.

Hey, I got my first money shot! Pura Ulun Danu is one of the most photographed places of interest in Bali and is featured in many Bali marketing materials and postcards.

Apart from the lake and the temple, my family enjoyed walking in the garden as it had a number of interesting flora, like the extremely tall and skinny trees above.

Another interesting one is this tree blooming with flowers hanging upside-down. There were more interesting flora around the garden. These flora could probably only grow in the cool climate.