THE TEMPLES OF BALI (PART III)

Komang had not mentioned that there was yet another temple on our days agenda.  As we left the restaurant, the skies opened and it started to pour rain.  Tom and I were remarking how lucky we had been--that the rain usually occurred when we were either in the car or tucked in for the night--and how it didn't matter.  It was then that  Komang told us we would be visiting another ancient temple.  This was the Temple on the Lake.  He told us that the lake, Lake Beratam, was the second largest lake in Bali, formed by a volcano thousands of years ago.

When we got to the site, Putu dropped us as close to cover as he could and we ran under umbrellas for the Welcome Pavilion where people pay the entrance fee to enter the temple.  I was ready to bag this part of our day, but decided not to say anything--maybe it would stop soon. Hordes of people were sloshing through the rain, exiting large tour buses, squeezing into the available dry places and herding groups of small children as if on field trips.  They were almost all Muslim!  

This was not the serene atmosphere of the Royal Family Temple and I asked Komang why the visitors were Muslim when this is a Hindu temple.   He told us that the Muslims worship here as well and that these folks were all from Java, just a 40-minute ferry ride away.  We waited thirty minutes or so and my misgivings about braving the rain to see another temple grew, but people were started to enter.  Many others were coming out the exit, soaked to the skin for the most part.   It was showing no signs of slowing down.  I wasn't worried about getting wet, but about falling--I was wearing sandals and the terrain looked typically slippery and uneven.  Interpreting my dubious looks, Komang said that we would not want to miss this temple.  And we each had large umbrellas.

Oh well, I think, let's do it.  I'll look like a spoiled American wimp if I chicken out.  I'll hold on to Tom...

To say that chickening out would have been a major mistake is an understatement.  The rain only made it more magical, and the other people, most of them carrying colorful umbrellas--but many walking uncovered and not caring--gave our hearts a lift that the usual horde of shoving tourists could never have done.  It was so much better in the rain.  Sadly, I don't have many pictures because of the rain, but here are the few that I have.

It was a very good day.