In Reply to: Tours to Mother Temple posted by Vicy on Friday, 10. February 2012 at 06:57 Bali Time:
Just some tips re the mother temple.
I was there in July.
On entering the area you will pay an entrance fee, it is very cheap. Once there they will tell you you need a guide, this is not true you can go to the temple yourself but a guide is an advantage as they explain the temple to you.
Our driver said 150000rp was a fair price for the 4 of us, they will show you a book with figures around 400000 to 500000rp ignore it it is a fake.
The guide will take you around, show you the temple and perform a ceremony during the ceremony he will ask for money from each person as part of the offering. Keep a specific amount of money for this in a pocket, do not take out your wallet as the guide will keep asking for more money.
Finally at the end the guide will ask for a tip. Give what you think is fair.
You will be hassled by hawkers through out the temple selling all sorts of things. We ignored them and they left us alone. We saw many people walking around without a guide.
Your driver will not act as a guide for the temple as the locals are very protective of their patch and intimidate the fdrivers so they dont do this.
You will also need a sarong we bought some at the markets before going but they do hire them at the temple I dont know the price.
the locals can be a bit intimidating but if you stick to your guns they will stop and the temple itself is beutiful and wirth the visit.