Bali Day 3 (Part 2): Kedonganan Beach & Tanah Lot Temple

Since Bali is an island, we wanted a beach day!  In my mind I was picturing a beautiful white sand beach with umbrellas and beach chairs.  I was picturing myself with a book in one hand, a fun fruit drink in the other while basking in the glorious sun.  We told our driver that we wanted a beach, so he drove us to a tourist adventure beach.  There wasn't a sandy beautiful beach greeting us, it was rocks and ocean and a table with a binder.  Apparently, most people that come to Bali and ask for a beach want to have beach adventures, like paragliding, glass-bottom boats, ocean tubbing, etc.  We all really wanted a relaxing beach, so we found our driver and explained what we wanted. We got back in the car and drove a little longer to Kedonganan Beach.

Kedonganan Beach wasn't the most picturesque beach, it also wasn't an island beach that I was picturing, but it would have to do.  At first we were at a restaurant table to get lunch.  The menu was all seafood, and I'm not a big fan of seafood.  I could see a few restaurants down the beach, so while everyone else ordered seafood, I made my way down the beach in search of food.  I found a place that had chicken and French fries and a glorious fruit drink!  I also found out they they had umbrellas and beach chairs, so I reserved 6 of them!  I went back to the group and told them to meet me over by the umbrella and chairs when they were done eating.  While I was waiting for my food, I put my feet up, closed my eyes and enjoyed the sound of the waves while relaxing on the beach!

I was able to sit by the beach and eat my lunch in my beach chair and enjoy my virgin drink!!

Once everyone else finished eating, they all came and sat and relaxed for awhile.

Holly and Sarah wanted to get in the water, so the two of them ventured out into the waves.  The current seemed pretty strong to me, so I was a wuss and did not go in.  I also didn't want to spend the rest of the day completely wet.  Holly and Sarah enjoyed the waves and the refreshing water.  Their only complaint was that there was so much sand in the water!  When they got out of the sea, their entire body was covered in sand, and their swimsuit must have had 3 lbs worth of sand hiding inside.

I love this picture!  You can see them trying to run back in before a wave hit them.

Holly, Sarah and Heather enjoyed a walk in the sand along the ocean!

And I enjoyed putting my feet in the sea foam with  Betsy and Corianne!

Since we wanted to see Tanah Lot at sunset, we left the beach and made our way to Tanah Lot.  Unfortunately we hit pretty back traffic.  Our driver knew we really wanted to make it, so he was being super aggressive.  It took so much longer to get there, and when he finally pulled up, we had to run to make it before we lost all day light.

Little did we know that before you get to the temple, you have to walk through about a mile of a market.  The market opens right up to a huge gate that overlooks the sea side temple.

This temple is amazing!  My one regret is that I didn't get to spend more time at Tanah Lot!  This temple is super unique because its built right on the rocks in the ocean.  The only time someone can go into the temple is during low tide.  When we got there it was high tide, and the path to the temple was already too dangerous and closed.

With the limited sunlight remaining, we all enjoyed walking around the rocks and taking sunset pictures by the temple.

I truly wish I could have explored this temple more.  It looked so amazing set right up on the ocean.  I want to know how the foundation stays strong with the waves crashing on it half the time.  If I ever make it back to Bali, Tanah Lot will be my first stop!