Tampaksiring is a small town north of Ubud with a large and important temple and the most impressive ancient monument in Bali. We used the scooter and drove to see this monument ? Gunung Kawi. On the road there, there are so many workshops and stores selling all kinds of arts and crafts.
Gunung Kawi consists of 10 rock-cut shrines ? memorials cut out of the rock face in imitation of actual statues. They stand in 7m-high sheltered niches cut into the sheer cliff face. Each shrine is believed to be a memorial to a member of the 11th-century Balinese royalty, but little is known for certain.
Rice fields on the way to the shrines
The shrines itself
A waterfall closeby to the shrines
After this monument, we drove to Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave). "The cave is carved into a rock face and you enter through the cavernous mouth of a demon. The gigantic fingertips pressed beside the face of the demon push back a riotous jungle of surrounding stone carvings. In the courtyard in front of the cave are two square bathing pools with water trickling into them from waterspouts held by six female figures." - Lonely Planet
After return to Ubud, we had a late lunch at Warung Enak. The d?cor was eclectic, with a mish mash of wood and metal furniture, and statues of large monkeys dressed in bikinis and sun hats. Besides all of that, the food was GREAT!
More food we’ve been eating. This was a plate of Danish salami, olives, and cheese from the resturant Deli Cat.
Roasted duck, stuffed with Indonesian spices.
Mon, Jan 30, 2006
Bali