I hired a driver for the day and went up north to see the temple Pura Ulun Danu thinking it’d be a quiet, contemplative sort of outing. Turned out my 500 new best friends from the Mt. Batur tour had exactly the same idea, same temple, same day, same hour. It stopped being a spiritual pilgrimage and started feeling like a school reunion, a Buddhist speed-dating event, and a fire hazard, all rolled into one. The temple itself earned every bit of the crowd though – beautifully restored, the kind of place that makes you forget you’re standing shoulder to shoulder with half a tour bus company. Even the weather did its bit, no humidity worth complaining about, which is basically a miracle. I came for enlightenment and left with a much better appreciation for personal space.
