Travel and Photography | Uluwatu Bali | Indonesia

© 2014 Wazari Wazir | Uluwatu Cliff | Bali | Indonesia

One of the reason on why people visit Uluwatu is because they want to visit Uluwatu Temple, which is situated on the rock with deep cliff bank. The view is quite stunning especially if you come here in the late afternoon, the sunset against the Indian Ocean is awesome from what I see on the internet, I mean we din’t get a chance to see the sunset here. We arrived here around 11AM and it’s quite hot.

© 2014 Google Map | Uluwatu Map | From Ubud to Uluwatu | Bali

As you can see from the map above, the distance from Ubud where we stayed is quite far from Ulutawu, it took us more than one hour and half to get to Uluwatu from Ubud Centre. On the other hand, if you stay around Kuta, it will take around maybe thirty minute or less to get there, depending on the traffic, it can get congested sometimes especially in the late afternoon, where people come for sunset.

© 2014 Wazari Wazir | With My family Against Pura Luhur Uluwatu In The Background | Bali

My family posing against the Pura Luhur Uluwatu in the background. Uluwatu Temple is a Hindu temple set on the cliff bank in south part of Bali Peninsula. It is one of Sad Kahyangan Temple in Bali (six big groups of Bali Temples), located in Pecatu Village, Sub district of South Kuta, and Badung Regency or about 25 Km southerly part of Denpasar town.

It is situated on the coral reef sordid to sea about 80 meters above the sea level. It is featured by a small dry forest which is mostly called by Alas Kekeran (interdict forest) which is belong to the temple and dwelt by a lot of monkeys and other animal. Name of Uluwatu was come from the word Ulu meaning the head and Watu meaning stone. Therefore Uluwatu Temple mean the temple built in tip of coral reef.

About the photograph on the right side with me and my family in picture was taken by a domestic tourist from Jakarta Indonesia, he came here with his wife. Actually he offered me to take my family pictures, so that we can have everyone in the photograph. To get the photograph, he had to climb a wall behind, so that we can see the bottom of the cliff below. Some people said that Pura Luhur Uluwatu is the most spectacular temple on the island of Bali but for me I like Pura Ulun Danau Beratan in Bedugul the most. One more thing, the road from Kuta to Bedugul or from Ubud to Bedugul where Pura Ulun Danau Beratan is located is much more scenic than the road to Uluwatu.

© 2014 Wazari Wazir | Uluwatu Cliff | Bali | Indonesia

Most tourist who visit Uluwatu is to visit Pura Luhur Uluwatu but the other thing that attracts tourist here is the Kecak Dance performance, which is held daily.  Actually there are many places all around Bali which have Kecak Dance performance but what set this place among others is that, it is set against the beautiful sunset. If you can see from the photograph above, behind my wife, there is a theatre like platform where tourist watch Kecak Dance performance. If you stay in Ubud, there is three places where Kecak Dance took place every night.

If you decided to watch Kecak Dance in Uluwatu I did not suggested you to stay in Ubud, because it was quite far, so the best place that you can stay if you intended to watch Kecak Dance in Uluwatu is to stay around Kuta or Sanur. Normally the performance were held around 6Pm or 7Pm. You must plan your time to visit here for the show, maybe two or three hours early especially if you wanted to get the best seat for the show, whichever your chosen position is.

Just to let you know also, in the month of July to September is high season for tourist in Bali, so if you traveling within that month, expect a lot of congestion here. Come early, don’t worry though, there is a few restaurants at the parking area, in case you wanted to buy some snacks while waiting for the performance.

© 2014 Wazari Wazir | Uluwatu Cliff | Bali Indonesia

If you like landscape photography, I think you will love this place, for me on the other hand, it is not as spectacular as someone said, but if you happen to visit Bali, then just drop by here because it is one of the tourist attraction in Bali, whether you like it or not, is up to you. If you did not want to get disappointed, especially you come from afar like Europe, then I highly suggest you to visit this area around late afternoon and stay  until sunset and watch the Kecak Dance here. Someone said that  sunset from Uluwatu is among the best in Bali. Maybe because of its location, you can always watch sunset from Kuta also, but if you take a look at the map above, there is no doubt, on why sunset view from Uluwatu Cliff is better than from Kuta.

*A little bit about photography, if you wanted to photograph the landscape or the sunset here, bring a tripod together with a set of filters suitable for long exposure photography like ND Neutral Density Filter, Graduate Filter or any filters that you think suitable for the occasion. If you wanted to photograph the Kecak Dance performance, also comes early, the hot seat id the one facing the Indian Ocean, where the sunset is.

About lens choice, just bring wide angle lens like 24-70 mm on a full frame camera (FX) and 70-200 mm lens, so that you can pull the action closer during Kecak Dance, to get the tight shots of the dancers. The telephoto lens also suitable to get a close up shot of the Pura Luhur Uluwatu Temple silhouetted against the beautiful sunset.