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reparations are underway in tourist sites around Bali in honor of the expected visit of US President Barack Obama to the resort island next week.
Although the schedule has not been confirmed, reports said
that Uluwatu Temple, located in Pecatu village, South Kuta district, will be the first site that the presidential entourage will visit when they arrive.
The temple, situated on the picturesque cliff edge in the southern coast of Bali, is a historic as well as a sanctified place, believed to be the place where Danghyang Nirartha, the founder of the island’s Brahmin lineage, reached moksa, perfect enlightenment.
Along with other sages, such as Danghyang Markandeya and Mpu Kuturan, Nirartha was responsible for shaping Balinese Hinduism into its present form.
The local administration, together with representatives of customary village and the temple management, are preparing to rehaul the site, including improving the access toward the temple and the area where the dance performance usually takes place.
Badung regent A. A. Gde Agung, who observed the temple several weeks ago, said the overhaul was not merely to welcome the US president, but to further develop and maintain Uluwatu as a popular site for tourists.
“We are also preparing this temple for karya agung [grand ritual ceremony] that will be held here in the coming months,” Gde Agung said recently after a meeting with customary village representatives and temple management to discuss preparations for Obama’s visit.
A representative from Pecatu village’s administration, I Wayan Sudiarta, expressed the villagers’ enthusiasm for the possible visit.
“We’re proud that the US president may pay a visit to our village. This might be the only village in Bali that will be visited by such prominent figure.”
Sudiarta said the customary village administration would also deploy pecalang (traditional security officers) to help secure the location during the visit.
Besides enjoying beautiful scenery of sunset and the performance of Kecak dance at Uluwatu Temple, Obama is scheduled to attend a discussion forum at the Udayana University and pay a visit to the Monkey Forest sanctuary before leaving for Australia.
The sanctified forest, located in Padangtegal village, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Ubud. It receives 10,000 visitors per month, according to the site’s management Wenara Wana Foundation.
The 11-hectare-park, representing a sacred Balinese Hindu site, is inhabited by around 340 long-tailed macaques, 80 species of trees and boasts rich biodiversity. 
The park also hosts a temple and a sacred spring.
Monkey Forest information and marketing staff Gede Gunartha confirmed that representatives of the US Secret Service had come to the site twice earlier this month to check the situation.
“They combed the forest, and asked us some information about this site and its surroundings. A team from the TNI [Indonesian military] and the Bali Police have also checked this site,” Gunartha told The Jakarta Post recently.
He said local people were already informed their village would be visited by the US president, but had not widely expressed enthusiasm as there was still no exact schedule.
“However, [the villagers] said they were proud that this place would be visited by one of the world’s prominent persons.”
Kadek Angga, a resident of Ubud’s Taman Kaja village, was excited that Ubud had been chosen as one of the places that the US president would visit amid his tight schedule during
the trip.
“Most state leaders usually only come to Bali for attending a conference. But it will be exciting for some villagers like me if Obama is willing to come here even just for a moment,” he said.
“Should the US president come, we see it as a positive thing since it may boost the popularity of this place, thus we will have more tourists coming here.”
Angga added Obama’s visit could alleviate security worries.
“If even the US president is willing to come here, proving that this place is secure despite all the travel warnings, why wouldn’t ordinary tourists come here also?”