Uluwatu Temple

Pura Luhur Uluwatu stands on a limestone cliff about seventy metres above the sea at the south-western tip of Bali, one of the sad kahyangan, the six temples regarded as the pillars of the island, and like Tanah Lot it is attributed to Dang Hyang Nirartha - tradition holds he achieved moksha here. The temple compound itself is entered only by worshippers; visitors walk the cliff path in sarongs for the setting, which is the point. A kecak performance runs in an open amphitheatre on the cliff at sunset, the Ramayana told by a chorus of men chanting chak in interlocking rhythm, a form developed in the 1930s from a trance ritual with input from the German artist Walter Spies. The macaques here are organised thieves who take glasses and phones and trade them back for food.

What you actually see

• A temple on a 70-metre cliff - one of Bali's six pillar temples.
• A cliff path - the walk along the edge, which is what visitors actually see.
• Kecak at sunset - the chanted Ramayana in the cliff amphitheatre.
• Thieving macaques - taking glasses and phones and bartering them back.

When to go

April to October; late afternoon for the kecak. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The monkeys genuinely steal - remove glasses, hats and dangling items before entering. The temple interior is closed to non-worshippers. Kecak tickets sell out and seating is a scramble.

Nearby

Padang Padang and the Bukit surf beaches are close; Jimbaran is north.