Visiting Besakih temple Bali

My friend Yumi asked a couple of days if I was interested in visiting the Besakih temple in east Bali with some of her friends. Road trips can be fun and the chance to meet some new people and see another part of Bali sounded good.

As it turned out Yumi has rented a brand new Toyota Kijang SUV from a friend of hers and altogether 7 of us were going, everyone apart from me a staff member at Stadium Cafe on Jalan Katika Plaza is Kuta.

I was ready at my house at 5.30 pm as suggested complete with sarong. The car showed up an hour later with Yumi, Agung a cook, Mini a waitress and Ayu another waitress.

The Besakih temple is the most important temple in Bali and sits near the base of Mt. Agung, the highest volcano. To get there from Seminyak we shot out to Denpasar, Gianyar, Klungkung and up to Besakih in Karangasem.

I was interested to see how a Balinese road trip would compare to the many I’ve taken in the US and Australia. Being the tallest I was given the front seat and Yumi started off driving. We picked up 2 more passengers along the way, Yuni a waitress and Komang the cashier. Everyone was dressed in traditional attire and it was interesting to see a group of young people getting excited about going on a religious trip. The music ranged from western to Indonesian pop and as we got acquaited I learned that Mini usually wears a Inter Milan shirt and Yuni a Man U shirt at Stadium on soccer nights. My friend Yumi wears a Thiery Henry Arsenal away shirt.

Everyone on board has been to Besakih before and make the trip about once every 6 months. They had prepared boxes of offerings and selection of road snacks Indonesian style. These included, apples, oranges, small bananas, chicken and small road Balinese cakes.

After about an hour of driving Yumi decided she’d had enough and the next driver was requested. It turned out to be the young cook Agung, who figured out where the lights were, how to turn the wipers on and off and where the hand brake was. He gingerly pulled off to a jerky start and we whooped and wooed as he negotiated his first few turns. Not sure I would of selected him to drive a brand new SUV but I wasn’t calling the shots. I was thinking of volunteering but my eyesight is really not that good at night and along the roads here you have pedestrians strolling and people on bicycles without lights. A slight mistake could be expensive.

As we neared Klungkung the traffic lessened and heading north the roads were almost deserted. Got to be careful though because here in Bali a curve ball can come out of nowhere and its just not like going for a cruise in Oregon. To add to the excitement the windows were fogging up ( no vent on the dash in a Kijang ) and the ladies wanted the windows shut as they were cold. I didn’t want Agung driving us into a ditch so used the only thing at my disposal, a pair of my underwear ( no Jen, the spare pair ) to wipe the windshield every 3 minutes.

We visited a smaller temple before driving to the large one. The mother temple as its known is a hive of activity and the street outside is full of vendors selling Bakso ( a noodle type soup and Soto Ayam ( chicken soup ). I bought satay and rice for everyone which they appreciated. With a little soup and a couple of drinks the total was 70,000rp ($7.75)…not bad for a group.

Before we left I asked Yumi where we’d be staying and she said we’d all sleep outside at the temple. I asked if I should bring my sleeping bag and she said no. I brought my Goretex bivy sack anyway. As we had accended to a higher elevation its was obvious people were going to be spending a chilly night and my extra clothing ( 2 t-shirts and an Indian lunghi were quickly snapped up by Yumi, Mini and Yuni. They were shivering and I was fine at that time although it was definitely in ther cool range.

Donning my headgear I followed on through the temple complex climbing long staircases to other outside temples. At each we would sit in front of the main area in a line and the preist would perform his duties. My friends were insistant that I took part and it went like this. We would take our supply of offerings which are made of flowers similar to the ones seen in the street each day, break a small part off and clasp it between both hand raised to the forehead. Hold there for about a minute then repeat 2 more times with new flowers. The second time we’d always use what I refered to as a sushi roll, with banana leaves tied into a cone and flowers overflowing out the end. Then the preist comes along with a jug of holy water and a giant paintbrush. I would sit with with palms facing upwards, arms raised at the elbows and recieve 3 flicks. I then cup one hand under the other one and hold then both to the front to which the priest flicks in more water. I sip and hold out 3 times, the fourth time wiping the water over my head. He then gives a tiny amount of uncooked rice to my hand which I glue to my center forehead. My unfamiliarity and western politeness caused some amusement, with me looking around to see when to move on to the next step.

The whole thing was rather informal with people strolling around and talking but quite interesting as we were outisde under the stars at midnight doing this act of observance.

On one occassion the preist was not on hand and Ayu who the other girls told me was from a high caste and had ‘blue blood’ performed the ritual for us. I could tell she was the one most likely to be from a higher caste with the light skin and the very strict way she carried out her duties. There were times when she and another girl would go to a separate part of the temple complex to perfomr rituals because of the difference in caste. Mini tried to explain it and likened Ayu to a ‘king’ and the the rest of us to a ‘jack’.

I snapped a couple of pictures in the low light which are of the temple and Komang standing above some stairs.

I was ready to call it quits quite a while before we did at around 1.30am. Under some of the temple roof structures were people milling around and making a racket. I brought my foam pad and all the girls brought was a bamboo mat…how’s that for planning. By now it was cold and sleeping outside exposed to the wind didn’t help. I went exploring and found the building that we were in front of was accessable from the side so quickly told everyone to move in there.

I must say this is another instance of an old lesson I learned a long time ago…don’t rely on other people when you go camping. Sometime during the night everyone except Yumi moved to the car and did their best to keep warm. Joe Erlich I can report that after testing in the hills of Bali it has been proven that a Goretex bivy sack won’t hold more than a degree or 2 of heat…no need to go and do this yourself.

Another interesting aspect of this culture / religion was we were allowed to camp on site. I was wondering how it would look to locals or the preists having a western guy sleeping next to an array of local women…nobody seemed to care.

At around 6.20am we were greeted by a great view and a pile of garbage. All those offerings and their wrappers were spread over the site and it was another complete contrast to what you might expect at a mosque or church.

When Sean was here in Bali he commented that the Balinese are very religious but he wasn’t sure if all those offerings really help their situation. I found myself asking the same question. Days have to be taken off from work, money spent, offering made. This stuff isn’t a quick process and the usual ceremonies that people do in their villages aren’t cheap. Yumi said to me the other day that muslims here in Bali have an easy time moving in and making a profit because they don’t have to sacrifice their money for ceremonies. Its great to see a culture where this is the most important part of people’s lives, not for show and not because of a fanatical government. I was also wondering in 20 years time if someone were to take a road trip with young Indonesians would all of them proceed as unquestioningly as these people.

Arriving back at the car all the crew was awake and into their breakfast of fruit, cakes and chicken. I had some bananas and a cup of Bali coffee from a vendor. Across the street were an assortment of food vendors not open yet offering various favourites including Babi Guling ( suckling pig ). Yumi told my it might be open soon but I told her suckling pig isn’t on my breakfast menu.

Soon we were on the road. The Kijang handled very well and I can advice someone thinking of renting one its a nice vehicle ( AC but no heat…wouldn’t you know it). Yumi drove home and dealt anyone with nerve enough to get in her way a liberal dose of the horn. This a is a good strategy and it fits in with the law of the jungle attitude ( I’m bigger than you get out of my way ). Everyone understands this and it no big deal.

We dropped everyone off, me being the last one. I gave Yumi some cash for the car and said bye bye. After taking a nap I got up to type this. Quite a little adventure and it was great to meet all those people. I really enjoyed the lack of ego and the group aspect rather than the ‘I’ aspect that is often present.

My friend Mick Turnbull sms’d me and wants to watch Formula 1 racing on tv today…at the Stadium Cafe.