Visiting Tanah Lot and Surfing on Kuta Beach Bali

Since Andrea is town for a short while and will be heading to Lombok soon I wanted to show her a couple of things locally that are fun.

Wednesday afternoon we rode out to Tanah Lot, the temple that sticks out into the ocean. From my house in Seminyak it takes about 35 minutes and the route passes some lovely rice paddies. On the way there we passed groups of satay vendors all making clouds of smoke by the roadside. For the next hour all I could think about was satay.

I have been to Tanah Lot many times before and know the drill, you pull up to the toll booth, pay 3,500rp per person, park, then walk towards the banjar guys at the booth and hand over the tickets.

This time there seemed to be more people than usual, or maybe it was that I noticed them more this time. Andrea has been all over the world and knows the things she likes. Touristy places isn’t one of them. I told her to ignore all the vendors on the walk to the temple and just appreciated the site itself.

Tanah lot sits on a rocky outcrop and was built in the 16th century by Niratha, a Hindu priest who meditated so hard he pushed the land out into the sea and dedicated it to the God of the sea.

The tide was out and we were able to walk up to the temple, only priests are allowed to enter the temple, although visitors can sample the ‘air suci’ or holy water that comes out of a spring at the base of the temple. Priests will perform a blessing for you for a donation.

Riding home after maybe 45 minutes I had to stop for some pork satay. This guy gave me 10 sticks for 5,000rp together with some salt and light sambal ( chili sauce)�enak!

Thursday Andrea and I decided to go to Kuta Beach and visit a business owned by a friend of mine. Those of you who have recently walked along Kuta Beach close to Poppies II may have seen a stack of bright yellow surfboards. These are made and rented by an Aussie guy named Palu from Byron Bay. The boards are very strong and perfect for beginners like me. I took the ‘daddy’ and Andrea grabbed a board slightly smaller. There were a ton of people in the water today as the swell is up. I have to say conditions were too strong for me, I was getting knocked around like a rag doll and was very glad not to get whacked with my own board a few times.

The vendors soon learned Andrea’s name and tried to tempt her with pineapples, massages and sarongs. Others adopted a more ‘wait and see’ strategy. I sat in the shade after my attempt at surfing and sipped a water while watching the locals and tourists do their best with the conditions. Friday promises to be big too especially at beaches such as Nusa Dua and Serangan.

I think that the tips I learned from my surfing lessons helped me out, if just to know what I should be doing. I saw one Japanese girl gingerly entering the water with a rented board and it was obvious she had never tried it before. When conditions are a bit tamer I am going to get down to the beach again and have another crack.