Pura Besakih, Bali – Part 3 - Orlando / Florida Guide
Florida Guide > Travelling
As I mentioned in the first part of this article arriving on tour with a guide from outside the area can get you past a lot of the scams as you will be forewarned. If you arrive on your read on carefully.
There are really only two requirements. The first is the entry fee to the complex which is quite affordable and more or less the same for all other major temples in Bali, this IDR 15, 000. Do not believe any stories about why it is higher than this.
The second requirement is various parts of your body must be covered so wear long trousers or buy a sarong, if you buy one do it before you arrive. Now I will explain why.
If you have been to other temples in Bali then you may already have a sarong. Sarongs usually cost around U$5-6 in the shops around Kuta and Denpasar. Bring it with you unless you are willing to pay around U$30 and that will only be after hard bargaining from one of the small souvenir stalls there. Keep the major part of any cash you have in a separate place as the price will depend on how much the trader can see you have.
Do not be surprised when you are confronted by the extremely rude ‘official’ temple guides who lie to you to get you to pay ridiculous amounts of money for nothing. In fact, it is best not to enter through the centre part unless you really enjoy engaging with scammers. Instead, enter on the left-hand side entrance and keep going straight on down the left side. Just ignore any guides if they yell at you and keep walking, they will go after easier prey.
Another big con is where they call you over and started to talk about some “important ceremony” being held at the temple today. This is followed by something along the lines of “you must give a donation, today is a very important ceremony for Balinese”
They will open a book in front of you with people’s names, signatures and the amount they donated. They will ask where you are from and say look Mr. XXX from XXXX also gave a donation of IDR 600, 000 you must as well. Strangely all the amounts given are over IDR 500, 000. They will also tell you that you must have a guide inside the temple, who of course must be paid for. This is all completely untrue.
If you want to get a photo with your group then ask another tourist to take it for you. Never give your phone or camera to any guide as they will ask you for a tip before they return your device.
So overall Besakih is definitely worth a visit and if you follow the advice above you will survive the experience with a full wallet.
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