Thursday, August 25, 2011

Temples Temples and More Temples

It was another full day. We started out with the driver at 11 am, after the boys had a chance to go scuba diving that morning.  
kurtagosa baliOur first stop was Kurtagosa, the former royal courts of justice in the town of Klung Kun. Kertagosa was the end of the line of the law system for serious crimes at that time in Bali. Criminals facing trial were kept in a building where the ceiling held gruesome murals depicting good vs evil and what happened to sinners.
kurtagosa bali
 Some of the scenes depicting what might happen to the "sinners"
kurtagosa bali
kurtagosa bali
 Good to know
kurtagosa bali
We met a group of boys that were hanging out inside the site. One boy was not shy about sharing his chocolate crepe with Jeremy.

After finishing at the palace we walked across the street to a market, which I doubt many westerners go to. We were met with gawking locals as we searched through the bolts of traditional indonesian batik fabric.
kurtagosa bali
kurtagosa bali
Our next stop was Goa Lawah bat cave. legend has it that the cave goes all the way to the mother temple, some 70km away. No one knows for sure if this is true because no one has ever been that deep into the cave. This is because the legend also says there is a large vicious dragon guarding the inside of the cave.
Goa Lawah bat cave bali
The temple at the entrance of the cave. If you were really wealthy, this is where you paid to have your funeral. Inside you could see bats covering every inch of the walls. It didn't smell the best.
Goa Lawah bat cave bali
Goa Lawah bat cave bali
When driving in the country side it is common to see students of the nearby schools marching. We were told that they did this on a regular basis. 
We arrived at our hotel on the north side of the island in Tulamben just before night fall. It is a tiny town in the middle of no where that has only a few restaurants on it’s ½ mile main road. It was exactly what we were looking for. Seclusion. We ate at one of the 3 local restaurants and for a main dish, appetizer and drinks for both of us it came out to about $12usd. Something I could definitely get used to. Another thing I loved about the city and being in the middle of no where were all the stars. With so much light pollution in Geoje, it’s a rarity to have such a clear sky that you can see the milky way.  

On the way to the hotel we passed one of the many lava flows that lead into the ocean from Mt. Agung volcano