Winter 2019 - 34. Royal Temple – Taman Ayun

34.  Royal Temple – Taman Ayun

Entrance to the Temple Grounds

Naturally, the deified ancient Royals needed their own temple. Well this ‘beautiful Garden’ (Taman Ayun) is the spot that the old Dynasty or Kingdom of Mengwi declared as their temple. It is a family temple, a special place ONLY for the Royals. No costs were spared to make this place special. There are lots of towers (five, seven, nine and eleven tiered Merus,) each one declaring the superiority over the other gods represented in this temple. 

Entrance to the Next Level (More Holy) Part of the Temple

The tallest Meru is the most sacred. Most of what is here was built in the 17^th century (1634 AD) with a restoration recorded in 1750 or so. This is ancient, old Bali. 

Entrance to the sanctum for the public is only possible on very high holy days, but the walk around the outside of this complex is memorable. The water features, fountains and canals add to the atmosphere and elegance. The park or garden is kept in prime condition, the grass is cut, the bushes trimmed, it is still very royal looking.  One cannot see the

 Merus Represent a Mythical Mountain For the Gods

actual temple from the road. There is no parking allowed nearby, Agung had to park our car far away and walk back, after he dropped us off, or course. 

Tallest Meru

Only Royals Can Use This Gate

We took this tour with Agung again; he seems to know Bali very well. His demeanor is perfect for a guide. I liked Agung a lot. 

Beautiful Stone Carvings Everywhere

I found a list of Royals and Dynasties on line which helped me to get a time line. Note the earliest recorded king is from AD 914. Before that, Bali was mostly farm lands without kings in the modern day sense, just tribal elders and some ‘kings’ who controlled the harbors and water-ways. Still Bali is ancient. The riches, the real rich and opulent way of living, displayed in buildings and art and ceremony, only came about when the Royals of Java moved to Bali in or around 900 AD.

This ‘holy’ temple with all the Merus is in the center of this park (garden). We had to walk a bit from the street towards the sanctum. 

Simulation of Cock Fighting

On the edge of the grounds, near the road is an open-sided building that was traditionally used for cock fighting. Cock fighting is part of Bali. See next blog (# 35.)

Harvest Festival Regalia

Intricate Work on the Regalia

The Whole Suit is Made From Grains and Corn

More Grains and Corn on the Side of the Costume

Beautiful Fountains on the Grounds

The Whole Temple Area Is Surrounded by a Moat

The Gardens are Beautiful and Inviting

Unusual Flowers

Winter 2019 - 33. Preparation Day for Our NZ Trip and Some Bali Adjustments.

33.  Preparation Day for Our NZ Trip and Some Bali Adjustments.

Ad For Glowworm Caves

We ‘only’ have about a week left in Bali so now we have started to think about our trip to New Zealand (NZ), which follows our time spent here. We now get constant emails with ideas on what to do next. We are not done with Bali yet, but other people, people who will travel with us in NZ (we will be on a motorcycle tour in NZ) are sending us some recommendations. So now on the days off from touring Bali, besides getting our body massages, reading the news, eating well and even dipping into the pool of the hotel sometimes, we plan for NZ. 

Carol wants to see the Glowworm Cave and it is highly recommended that we make reservations. God bless the internet, we can do that now. Here we are, thousands of miles away, and we make arrangements and bookings for car rentals, hotel reservations, excursions etc. while sitting in a tropical paradise. The odd thing that struck me as weird is that one of the reservations we are making is a helicopter ride over a glacier in NZ. The reservation comes with a caveat, if the weather is bad, there will be no helicopter ride… well, we will see how it goes. But just imagine the picture; here I sit at a tropical Island, at the pool’s edge and in a week or so, I am trying to fly over a glacier. Amazing how the world works today. Years ago it would have taken months to travel from the tropics to the snow or ice; today it can be done in a day. 

This Will Be Our Cottage With Private Veranda and Private Breakfast Area

Still all of it needs preparation. We also have to move from Uma Sari to another hotel. For the last 3 days on Bali we are not in Uma Sari; the cottages were booked out when I wanted to renew our room arrangements.  Well, after some walking about, looking at Balinese Hotels we found a place similar to Uma Sari, the new place is called AURA BISMA Guest House and it is just down the street from where we are now. The new place is not as convenient as Uma Sari, but it looks very similar. I prepaid the 1.8 Million Rupiah (US $125) for 3 nights so we are all set to just move in a few days. The new room at Aura Bisma is different but it has A/C and the place has a small pool, too. Yes, the price I paid for all 3 days includes breakfast. So our preparations are all lined up and we are prepared as much as we can be. 

We are still left with one more trip with Agung and we are still at Uma Sari Cottages.

We still have time for our massages, for our goof-off times, for doing nothing, too.