Pura Taman Saraswati

Walking the causeway between the lotus ponds to the gate costs nothing, and that is what most visitors come for. It is an active temple rather than a monument, so the inner courtyard is not always open and a donation is appropriate if you enter it. Evening dance performances staged in front of the gate are separately ticketed.

In the morning. They close as the day warms, so a visit after about the middle of the day finds two ponds of leaves and no flowers, which is the single most common disappointment here. Early also means an empty causeway, which matters because the causeway is narrow and the frame everyone wants is taken from the middle of it.

On Jalan Raya Ubud, a few minutes north of the palace crossroads, set back behind a café frontage that gives no indication a temple is there. A great many visitors walk past it twice. Once you are on the causeway it is unmistakable — a straight stone path between two ponds leading to a carved gateway.

To approach along the causeway, no, though covered shoulders and knees are the courtesy at any Balinese temple. To enter the temple proper when it is open, yes — a sarong and sash are expected, as they are across Bali. If a ceremony is in progress, worshippers have precedence and visitors should keep to the causeway.