Hi Everyone, I'd like to share my visit to Tanah Lot Temple in Bali. This was before the COVID-19.  Here you are:  

I have visited this temple so many times to see the sunset but most time I did not see it. There were many reasons for this. It could be the bad weather, or the sun was not in the right position so it just disappeared somewhere behind trees or mountains or islands instead of going down on the horizon.

 When I arrived in Tanah Lot, the sun was still far away from the horizon.

Heading down to the beach near the little island where Tanah Lot temple is built on.

"Where is the best place for sunset?" my friend asked me. His name is Mr. Sourdet.

We went to the beach in front of the island of Tanah Lot temple. There was a small island on the beach separated from the main island where the 15-century temple was built on. On high tide, the sea would surround the island that it was not possible to get to the island. But when I was there, the tide was low so we could walk around the island.

 The sun was getting nearer to the horizon.

I stopped walking on the beach and found the spot for a perfect sunset, but I was in doubt if I could see the sunset at that time.  It's a point where the island appears on the right side, while the sun would supposedly go down on the left.

"Here is the spot for seeing the best sunset, I think."

The sun was still high. Sunset was still another hour. We took a few photos and had a conversation. Then he said, "Is this really the best spot?"

"Well, we could try another place," I said and started walking to a different spot closer to the temple. We took more photos and he asked again if that spot was really the best sunset. I just took my friend to another spot. There were five spots we tried to find the best sunset place. 

We arrived on the cliff not far from Tanah Lot temple. The sky has turned orange,. The sun was a perfect circle. It was beautiful. I still did not believe there would be perfect sunset on the horizon. We stopped searching for the best point to see the sunset, because we may miss it while looking for the best point.

 We moved to another spot to see the best sunset. Maybe this one is better?

 Or this one?

 Maybe this one is better?

And finally, the sun was setting in the west. I still could not believe my eyes seeing this. It was a perfect sunset. The sun was disappearing behind the horizon. 

Why would sunset bring this calm feeling to people or to me? Why was it so beautiful? As if there was slight happiness sneaking to my heart seeing the sunset. I was busy thinking about this when a group of bats flew out from little caves on the cliffs.

 The bats were swarming the sky.

Well, I have been working as a tour guide and have been visiting this place for the last twenty years and this is the only time I saw a great sunset here. I felt joy.