Built over 1000 years ago this sea temple sits over 200 feet above the water on a thin strip of cliffs. Its location is magnificent. The temple is said to sit at the boundary between heaven and earth. There is a troupe of monkeys that live there. They are believed to be protecting the temple from evil spirits. We had been warned repeatedly about their rascally ways. Snatching phones, cameras and sunglasses is a favorite pastime. Our guide also warned us not to make eye contact with them as they will perceive this as a threat. He was armed with a slingshot that he did not need to use. Only once did he brandish it as a threat. We were a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of visitors. Cars, buses and scooters were everywhere. But there was only one VW Thing! That came on handy when it was time to leave. First was walked to a large statue of the 11 th century founder of the temple. Then a short walk down to the first vista view. Than we walked to the temple itself.
Walking in the monkey forest
Looking out to the sea
The founder, Dhang Hyang Dwijendra.
Ornate iron work on the gate
This is the sarong that almost killed me. I stepped on it as I was walking up the steps to this statue and almost went down
Our guide was directing the photoshoot
He told us to look out to the sea. His phrases were a funny mix of English and text speak. He described this pose as the OMG pose
No significant cliff erosion hete is seen as a sign of its divine location
All temples have an odd numbere of tiers
Looking at the walkeay in the direction away from the temple
It snakes along the cliff side
Looking at the walkway towards the temple
This is where we walk next
The bougainvillea was spectacular
Our guide knew all the OMG spots
Looking back from where we came
It is also a big surf location
