Ta Hagrat and Skorba Temples

First of all a weather update. We have been seeing on Sky News that the rain is really lashing down over in Blighty, so I am hoping that you are all safe and sound and there is not too much sewage running through your houses.....if it makes you feel any better, the weather over here is pretty terrible too. It is forecast to be 35 degrees sunshine without a cloud in the sky, quite unbearable at times. We all have our cross to bear I guess. Anyway back to business, today we were up and ready to assault the temples proper. The aim was to get a bus from Bugibba, where we are based, down to Golden Bay (a resort renowned for its sandy beach), and from there change buses which would take us to Mgarr, the town where the temples are.

Golden Bay seemed very popular, even with the locals

It got off to a bad start when we bought our day ticket, and the driver in the first bus didn't give us the validation ticket (you need a validation ticket to travel on the buses for the rest of the day) so when we came to change buses, the other driver refused to let us on unless we bought another day ticket. Admittedly this was only another six euros, but. It was annoying nonetheless.

Then, when on the bus from Golden bay to Mgarr the driver, in order to save time I am guessing, took a shortcut which missed most of the town. I beeped the buzzer for him to let us off near the temple, but he ignored that and stopped at the next available stop, which was in the middle of nowhere and a good mile from the nearest town. Therefore we decided to stay on the bus and visit the town of Mosta instead, which has a lovely church in the middle of it. The idea was we take some photos of that while waiting for a bus to take us back to Mgarr so we could visit the temples.

I made the Mosta this opportunity to take a photo

The church in Mosta was lovely I have to admit, but I was actually more impressed with the place below. I guess that tell you a lot about me....

I only know one person from Kent, so I didn't appreciate they used a unique blend of herbs and spices in their cooking. You learn something new everyday....

We finally made it back to Mgarr, and we got off at a stop near to Ta Hagrat temple. It was a very quiet day, and I am amazed at how few people actually bother to go and see temples in this country. Indeed I was talking to the bus driver, and while he knew the ins and outs of most of the towns and roads on Malta, he admitted he didn't know where the temples were at all. Quite astonishing really. Still, we turned the corner and walked eagerly towards the temple and this is what confronted us.

None shall pass (except on Tuesday and Thursday between 9am and 12pm)

This is a classic case of doing your research before going to see the temple! It only opens on specific days and only for three hours in the morning, with all our bus changes we didn't get there until gone midday anyway. This is something worth noting when in Malta and looking to travel around using the public transport. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time, as while only a small island, it can take ages to get a very small distance.

So, after all that, there was not much else to do apart from heading back to base and writing today off as an epic fail. Tomorrow we have booked a proper official temples tour, so their shouldn't be any more of this faffing around. However Malta is a seriously relaxed sort of place, so who knows what is going to happen....tune in and find out.