Bali’s Heaven’s Gate

admin — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 20:50:08 +0000

Naked truth about the most famous and controversial instagram spot on the island.

Pura Luhur Lempuyang is a Balinese Hindu temple located in East Bali, in the region of Lempuyang, in the slope of Mount Lempuyang in Karangasem. This pura or how you prefer – the temple, is famous because of the iconic gates of heaven. You may already be familiar with this location, as it is the most famous Instagram spot on the entire island, perhaps rivaling the legendary Tegalalang Rice Terrace Swing.

As the spot seems to divide travellers and it has become really controversial, today I will share with you some interesting facts about the gates of heaven and I would give you tips (including some spoilers:) on how to make the best out of your time at Pura Luhur Lempuyang. In the end I will share with you my personal opinion and I would be happy to hear yours:)

How to get to Bali’s Heaven’s Gate from Ubud?

The best way to get to Pura Luhur Lempuyang is to hire a local driver in advance. I can recommend you a great one if you are interested. Do you know we found him? He was one of the Grab drivers, who we met on the island. Because his English was really good and we had a great conversation, we just asked him if we would like to spend with us some days and be our private driver. Of course it is really important to agree to the price before! As i mentioned in my previous article, the price for the driver rental services is really good on Bali and Balinese people are the best local tour guides. They know a lot of amazing hidden spots.

What about taxi? Taking into consideration the amount of people visiting Heaven’s Gate every day, it is way better to have someone waiting for you, who can drive you back at the time when you want that. Otherwise, you might have two problems: you would need to wait a long time for your taxi driver to arrive and taxi services might become really expensive. The same with Grab.

When to arrive to Pura Luhur Lempuyang?

Currently, the temple opens at 6 am and closes at 7 pm. I would recommend you to get there as early as possible, because it might be very crowded and do not forget that you will also need to wait for your turn to take the iconic picture in the most popular spot on Bali. In my opinion, 5 o clock would not be a bad idea. It also depends if you want to see a sunrise there.

Currently, the temple opens at 6 am and closes at 7 pm. I would recommend you to get there as early as possible, because it might be very crowded and do not forget that you will also need to wait for your turn to take the iconic picture in the most popular spot on Bali. In my opinion, 5 o clock would not be a bad idea. It also depends if you want to see a sunrise there.

As we were staying in Ubud, in our case getting there required many hours of driving, and honestly I was really skeptical about visiting the temple just to take the picture. It was my boyfriend who really insisted on waking up at 4 o clock in the morning to get to the temple as early as possible. And you know what? For us it was definitely worth it, because I need to admit it that my best pictures from Bali were taken at Pura Luhur Lempuyang. Nevertheless, you need to know that the famous pictures with water are some kind of camera optical illusion. Still I did not regret having gone there and I would do it again.

How much is the entrance fee?

The entrance fee is 100,000 IDR. On top of that there is an additional fee for parking if you are on scooter or car the fee would be 5,000 IDR. Please remember that sarong is also required to be worn around your legs and your shoulders and you must be covered when visiting this sacred Hindu temple.

Do I need to bring my own saron to the temple?

We did not bring our sarons, as we were not aware that we had to. It was not a problem, because you can rent them there. The design is really nice and by wearing them your pictures look just fantastic.

How to take photos at the Gates of Heaven, Bali?

As I mentioned before, the water in the pictures is just the optical illusion. To get one of the famouse iconic pictures from the The Gateway to Heaven you need to queue for a couple of hours. It might take two or three hours and of course it depends on how many people are waiting in the line. The famous pictures are made by the Balinese people, who are at the gate to help you with a shot. You do not have to pay them anything. How does it work or rather what is the trick? The water is just the reflection of the sky and it is made with the mirror placed closed to your camera. This is the whole secret, but in my opinion the guys make great shots and I had no problem to wait two hours for my turn.

You might also ask what if you just need to take a picture by yourself? If you would jump really fast to the gate it might be realistic to take some pictures. Of course if you are faster than the next people waiting the line. That might be frustrating. On top of that the quality of your pictures might differ from what you can expect by the Balinese guys taking your shots.

What can I see there apart from the Heaven’s Gate?

The Pura Lempuyang is a really nice temple with an amazing view on the of Mount Lempuyang. We were lucky to be at the temple during a Hindu ceremony.

And of course the most important question that I would like to answer:

Should I visit Pura Lempuyang or skip it?

If you are a patient Instagramer (like me), who would love to take an amazing iconic picture, you should definitely vist Heaven’s Gate on Bali. On the other hand, if you are looking for a quiet, non-touristic spot and you don’t like crowded places and waiting in the line even for hours, maybe you can just read my pervious article and travel to some different destination.

What about me? I was lucky to be on Bali in May and it was not really crowded so I enjoyed my experience at Pura Lempuyang temple and I love every single picture that I took there. For me it was really worth it.

From Bali with Love

admin — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 20:49:14 +0000

Today I will share with you some practical tips that made my trip to Bali just great, but I will also mention some tourist traps and things that you might want to avoid.

Authentic Bali adventure. Local gems recommended by locals.

Bali or the island of Gods is one of the most spiritual places on the Earth. If you have ever visited the island, you might have probably felt this incredible energy that is not easy to describe. It can be explained by so-called ley lines that meet on the island. Therefore, Bali belongs to the most magical places on our planet and it is believed to be able to heal not only our bodies, but also souls.

From the first minute on the island, I could perceive this incredible spiritual flow, but I did not fully understand it… yet. It was my intuition and internal peace that made me look for the answer within myself, among local people and finally on the Internet:)

Today I will share with you some practical tips that made my trip to Bali just great, but I will also mention some tourist traps and things that you might want to avoid.

1) Cheap airlines might not be the best option in Indonesia. Do not save your safety!

Our trip to Asia started this time in Singapore, continued in Malaysia and finally we landed in Indonesia. Bali was our last stop. One of our good friends from Singapore, who knows a lot about the local aviation industry, recommended us to fly with AirAsia. It is because the quality of planes, as we learnt, matters a lot in the region. Some airlines repurchase old planes, even after 20 or 30 years!!!! Yes, this sounds a bit scary and it is one of the reasons why sometimes we hear about plane crashes in Indonesia.

To our surprise, food on the plane was just amazing. We have ordered a national dish of Indonesia – Nasi Goreng. The dish is made of rice and some mixture of spices, which gives it a smoky flavor. The secret is the sweet, caramelized soy sauce and the shrimp paste. I would definitely recommend you trying it when you are in Indonesia. All in all, the Air Asia flight to Bali was pleasant. Some passengers were complaining though that there was no business class available, and they were just seated with non-priority passengers, but that was the biggest “problem”on the board:)

2) Rent a local car driver to explore the island

Many of you might be wondering why traveling with a local driver is better than exploring the island on your own. Here are the answers:

a) On Bali you need to drive on the left-hand sideof the road. This might be really confusing!
b) Driving on the island requires incredible driving skills. Many times I was asking myself how people manage to drive through such crowded and narrow streets, for example in the Ubud area. This is why renting a scooter was not an option for us.
c) Local drivers are the best tour guides. Not only are they very friendly and helpful, but they really do their best to make your Balinese experience unforgettable. They show you their real world, the authentic Balinese culture, a lot of local restaurants and they take you to places, where they bring their own families. Some of the spots cannot be even found in the guidebooks and are breathtaking.

As our driver was born on Bali, he shared with us a lot of interesting facts about the island, local religion (Balinese Hinduism) and beautiful customs, such as famous Balinese offerings called canang sari.

Indonesia – Travel with Paulina

Bali’s Heaven’s Gate

From Bali with Love