Bali - Pura Luhur Uluwatu

The coastline of Bali is dotted with temples to protect the island from harm. While Tanah Lot is the most well know, another beautiful temple worth a visit is at Uluwatu, right on the tip of the island.


The best time to visit the temple, as we're all told, is at sunset to watch the sun sink into the ocean. I visited on my last day, just before going to the airport, so I was there in the middle of the day. This is not without risks, as this is a monkey temple...

The monkeys seemed much bigger and much more aggressive than the ones at Ubud. I suspect people mainly visit in the afternoon, so when they see people at other times, they still think food, but there are a lot more monkeys than people! The end result is really aggressive monkeys. They're also really quiet and sneaky. One guy there was quietly taking a photo, only to have a huge monkey jump on him. Not nice. As I've said before, monkey temples are a BAD idea!


Apart from the monkeys though, the temple is really beautiful. It sits atop a huge cliff face. It's known as one of the most beautiful temples in Bali and has some of the richest carvings on the whole island. The temple on the cliffs with the sea crashing below is an amazing sight.


The one slight disappointment is that the actual temple complex is closed to tourists, so you can only peak in from the outside. The view's pretty good though! Traditionally, the temple was restricted to princes of Denpasar, so we should feel lucky to get as close as we do.


As you leave the temple, there's a lovely avenue of stairs leading down, surrounded by frangipani trees. It looks really lovely. The only problem is, yet again, monkeys. The trees are covered in the brutes! I had to walk quietly and quickly down through the middle of them. It was very tense, but I finally got through without being gobbled alive.

It's a marvelous place to visit and should be on everyone's must see list for Bali.