Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Taman Soekasada Ujung


This was called the Floating Palace on the semi-useful map I mentioned before. As it turns out it is a bit more useful than I thought as this place isn't in the Lonely Planet guide I have. So I consider it a find. The architecture looks almost roman/classical here and is a mixture of Balinese and European. The local name is Taman Soekasada Ujung, Wikipedia has nothing on it but Google does so the basics are thus: It was built in 1919 by the late king of Karangasem, I Gusti Bagus to welcome other kings and important guests. Damaged by the eruption of Gunung Agung in 1963 and furthered damaged by the 1979 earthquake, restoration was undertaken to restore the palace to its current state, which is stunning if my photos don't do it justice (and I doubt they do). I don't have much more to say, so here are some pretty pictures. One more thing though, as is common here, aside from some areas of religious places, you are given almost complete freedom of movement.

Taman Soekasada Ujung, Floating Palace













These are two fawns in an enclosure behind one of the buildings. Cute to see but sad as they're all fenced in what is a rather small area with little shade or grass. Not that it is much different from a petting zoo back home, though that doesn't make it less sad.

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