Experiencing the ugly side of a beautiful temple.
Traveling around Ubud, Bali can be relaxing, spiritual, breathtaking, and at times down right annoying. On a recent tour of the surrounding area, I visited the Mother Temple...err the gates to the temple that is. Beautifully nestled and towering at the foot of the mountain, one will be aggressively hounded by 'guides' (touts) en route to the temple. I was lucky to have been forewarned to trust NO ONE upon approaching this temple.
Things are not always what they seem.
After paying an entrance fee for 150,000 RH, I was flagged down by a personnel at the ticket checkpoint booth (this isn't real either) and was advised to hire a 'tour guide' for my temple visit. I politely said, terema kasi (no thank you). Further up the hill on the approach to the steps to the temple another man dressed in traditional clothing stopped me and asked that I hire a 'temple guardian' to guide me inside the Mother Temple, again with a smile, I politely said, no. The best part of this was that they kept following and hounding me up the steps until I was near the gate and eventually barring me from entering and anyone else from going any further unless I hire a guide or 'temple guardian'. If you are really keen on viewing the temple, my advise is to walk away as if you are leaving, then the guides will start offering lower rates for entry.
Word to the wise, don't support corruption. Tourism has an ugly side and as I was informed by my driver, these overly aggressive touts are from other islands polluting the Balinese culture.
