Driving through small villages, children running after you, passing by lush green rice fields and waving palm trees, hair dancing in the wind. There are so many temples to visit in Bali… and what better way to do this than on a day trip from Ubud on a motorbike?
We visited three temples: the Elephant Cave temple (Goa Gajah), Gunung Kawi and the Holy Water temple (Tirta Empul). All three of them can be found on the road from Ubud to Tampaksiring, a village about an hour’s drive from Ubud.
They are not that hard to find, but with the help of Waze (a navigation app and one of my favourite apps ever) it’s easy peasy!
Tirta Empul
Tirta Empul or the Holy Water temple is a beautiful temple compound built around a freshwater spring. Hindus come here to pray, bathe and purify. The big pond in the front yard must contain thousands of massive kois! The Holy Water spring is caught in a large basin that feeds into the baths further downstream. As a tourist, you can bathe here too, but you have to get into the water with your sarong, and you can’t visit the rest of the temple when your clothes are wet. So plan your visit wisely…
Gunung Kawi
Gunung Kawi is one of the oldest temples in Bali. Hewn out of the rocks, its size is so impressive. You need to go down quite a few steps to get to the valley where the temple is – yes, very pleasant when you have post-volcano-climb trembling legs, so be warned. (If you missed this post, you can find it here). But the views of the temple…
Goa Gajah or the Elephant Cave Temple
There is a Hindu part and a Buddhist part of the temple, but the Buddhist part is a bit of a walk up the mountain through the forest. Which wouldn’t be such a problem but for the fact that the sun was already setting, and the woods are dark and full with bats… Next time ;-)
Also, running through the grounds to see everything before nightfall doesn’t really do anything for good pictures… But I tried!
