Tourists Are ‘Shattered’ And ‘Disappointed' After Discovering Bali Temple Is Faked For Instagram

As social media culture continues to increase, normal people are slowly realising that expectation vs. reality is becoming more stark.

You might see a beautiful beach on Instagram, only to arrive one day and see that it's become littered with rubbish. You might see a mountain range on Facebook and when you head there you discover that the person who uploaded the picture vastly tuned the colours and it's nowhere near as interesting.

Or you could rock up to a temple in Bali thinking you were going to recreate an incredible shot you saw, only to find out it's all a lie.

That's the reality facing people heading to Lempuyang Temple in Karangasem, which is often referred to as the 'Gates of Heaven'.

A quick scan of people's photos on Instagram shows many people stand in between the gates in front of a beautiful, clean and perfectly reflective pond to create a mirrored image.

It really does look magical.

But if you head over to Tripadvisor, you'll see that locals use an actual mirror to create these photos.

There's no water system in front of the gates at all, just a crafty Indonesian who knows how hungry people are for the shot.

And people are pissed that once again, expectation vs. reality is depressing.

"People come to this temple to take a picture with a piece of glass. Yes the photo is spectacular and Instagram is full of these pictures but it's a shame that people don't come for the history and religion," wrote one person on Tripadvisor.

"Expect many tourist, and NO WATER ON THE FLOOR," said another.

"Without editing, most photos will look rather ordinary. Photos you see online look pretty because the shots are taken with a mirror, giving the impression of a reflection on water," added a third.

"I am a photographer and water reflection is what made me go in the first place, so I was disappointed but it's good to visit," wrote a fourth.

People who have been leaving reviews say tourist wait up to three hours to get their shot in front of the gate.

That is a hell of a long time just to get a photo that isn't even real.

But there are plenty of tourists who say that the temple is still worth visiting because it's stunning.

Featured Image Credit: gillesvandamme/Instagram

Topics: Interesting, Social Media, Community

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie