Pura Luhur Batukaru temple.
We drove to Tabanan then north to Jatiluwih for an outing one fine day. We hadn't ventured into this area previously. We found the Butterfly farm along the way and called in. We arrived about 10 so there were only 2 other cars in the parking lot. We paid our 30000rp entrance fee and glanced at the beautifully coloured butterflies encased in frames. I thought, ni way would I buy a dead butterfly. We wandered around the enclosure watching them flutter past. We walked into the birthing' room and watched butterflies pushing their way out of their cocoons. They stay in this area for about half a day until their wings are thoroughly dried. Their carer releases them to the outside enclosure and they begin their 2 week lifetime. They have sex once during their lifetime and its last 8 hours! They are born fully coloured and as we watched one being released, a mate sidled up ready for a mating. Talk about fast movers. They did not join for about half an hour as we saw them later as we were leaving, fully united, end to end. You'd have to hope over the 8 hours that some butterfly mates called past for a chat. On our way out, once I'd realised that the butterflies in the frames were at the end of their 2 weeks lifespan, I figured it was ok after all to buy some to bring home. The larger frames 10x10cm cost 65000rp and the smaller 40000rp. They come with customs declarations stickers stating no endangered species.
Very peaceful area, rain forest like, narrow roads and one bridge that was ‘bror-oken', fortunately we eased across slowly and came up after each major gap between the planks. Saw the glorious terraced rice paddies around Jatiluwih. Lots of adventure activities in this area. We saw square open topped VW's, quad bikes and motor bikes.
The temple is quite large and very quiet. We donned our sarongs and sashes and took our own guided tour. The flora is very lush and deep green. This temple was originally built in the 1600's then last restored about 18 years ago. We had planned to stop at Jatiuwih for lunch but there were too many people and it seemed very commercialized. We headed back south and also planned to lunch at Echo Beach at Canggu, but each direction sign we followed ended into narrow laneways or dead end streets. Talk about pot holes. I think we toured downtown Canggu. No problem, we came back to Made's Warung in Seminyak and enjoyed delicious meals.