Pura Besakih, or the mother temple, is Bali's biggest temple. Nestled way up in the clouds on Mount Agung it is an extensive complex of temples and on a clear, sunny day has incredible views of Bali. Sadly we had a really crap taxi driver so we didn't arrive until 3pm, moral of the story book a taxi driver based on recommendations. We paid our entry and parking fees and then begun the long, steep walk up towards the temple.
After about 100m mum gave up and hopped on the back of a moped for 10,000 RP ($1 / 50p) which zipped her, without a helmet -eek, to the top of the hill. In hindsight it was probably worth paying the dollar, as the whole street is lined with tourist shops who relentlessly try to drag you in.
We arrived at the top and were told to pay more money to every man, wife and dog in the place. 'Temple Guardians' insisted that you required a guide by donation only but then gave suggested prices varying up to $50. They said no entrance to the temple unless you were worshipping, unless you paid a guide extra money and then you could go in. We decided to just walk around the outside and have a look, on mum's last trip to Bali they paid for a guide and she said at every door he demanded more money. A sad example of how tourism has affected Bali.
Every few metres another stall was set up trying to sell postcards, umbrellas, key rings and so on..and the sellers were relentless following us up pathways shouting prices, and when we politely declined a small child would pop up and in perfect english ask for ' one dollar' for something or rather. Without sounding ungrateful, it ruined the whole experience. One would expect a temple, especially such an important one, to be a peaceful, honest place but it felt like everyone wanted to rip you off and get money for anything and everything.
To top it off just as we got to the top the heavens opened and the umbrella our driver had given us fell to pieces, brilliant.
The whole day was a lesson is looking on trip advisor and paying attention to reviews, because if you look a hell of a lot of people are saying it's not worth the trip. I'm not saying don't go but I'm not saying you'll regret it for the rest of your life if you don't.
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