Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport Renovations Finally Begin

by Barrie | November 23rd, 2010   Tweet

No doubt many of you could name a few things that are badly in need of change at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport; those things that really annoy you. I could name quite a few – the hard seating in the departure lounge that make your bum ache, the lack of budget-priced eateries, the early closure of shops when you are on a late-night flight and the high prices. But hey, it’s Bali and they gotta make a buck!
And, we have all seen the disruptions in the airport of late caused by minor renovations. There is a reason, however, for all of that. Extensive renovations of Bali Ngurah Rai Airport are now set to commence next month. Apparently it is considered a top priority for this development considering the increasing amount of air traffic.
The article in the Bali Discovery explains further and according to it, the renovations are sorely needed due to rapidly expanding tourism arrivals and the under-capacity of Bali’s airport that now handles more than 10 million travellers each year.
I often ask myself why the sudden urgency as nothing is done in Indonesia without a cause. Indeed I was correct: an acceleration in the renovation of the airport is being done at the express orders of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who wants the work completed in time for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit (APEC) in 2013.
Let’s just hope they put in recliner rockers in the departure lounge and add a couple of kaki lima and cheap warungs while there at it!

Canang Sari: An Offering to the Gods

by Barrie | November 18th, 2010   Tweet

Walk down any street in the Kuta area and in fact, anywhere in Bali and you will see on the pavements small, square-woven coconut leaf trays with an adornment of flowers and other things. These are offerings to the Gods known as Canang Sari. The phrase canang sari is derived from the words sari (essence) and canang.
All manner of animal love them and no sooner are they placed in offering, their contents are devoured; except of course the flowers. Canang sari are offered every morning by devout Balinese to show gratitude to the creator – Sang Hyang Widi Wasa. On your sojourn in Bali don’t freak out if you step on one although I always try and avoid doing this.
A canang sari consists of coconut leaves, flowers, sliced banana, rice kernels, fragrances, and bamboo strips. Flowers and foodstuff are an art form associated with every ritual in Bali. These various elements are the most essential media of sacrifice in Hinduism. The canang sari shape and size differ in the form and function. Some of them are triangles, squares and circle.
They truly are beautifully created and it is the Balinese belief believe in the forces of the invisible worlds that dictates offerings be created with a spirit of thankfulness and loving attention to detail. Canang sari can be found everywhere; in household temples and houses, cross roads, shops, temples and other places of worship and sacred statues; in fact, any place the Balinese believe sacred.

Diving on the USS Liberty: Tulamben, East Bali

by Barrie | November 21st, 2010   Tweet

On 11 January, the USS Liberty was torpedoed by Japanese submarine about 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of the Lombok Strait. Two destroyers took the damaged ship in tow attempting to reach Singaraja, at that time, the Dutch port and administrative centre for the Lesser Sunda Islands on the north coast of Bali. However, the USS Liberty was taking too much water and so was beached on the eastern shore of Bali at Tulamben so that the cargo and fittings could be salvaged.
In 1963 the tremors associated with the eruption of Mount Agung caused the vessel to slip off the beach, and she now lies on a sand slope in 30 to 100 feet (9.1 to 30 m) of water, providing one of the most popular dives off Bali. This shipwreck is probably the easiest wreck diving in the world.

Bali is a fabulous place to visit for snorkelling and diving and for scuba divers the east coast of Bali is a big drawcard. One of these hot spots is the wreck of the USS Liberty (as mentioned above). Located on the beach at Tulamben the Liberty wreck sits in water 15-30m deep, 30m offshore and is very close to shore. This makes the Liberty wreck Bali’s most popular dive location. The best time to dive this wreck are between the hours 11am-4pm as these are the most popular with anything up to 50 divers down there at one time. You might want to avoid this busy period. Apparently the night dives are excellent here as well.
The landscape around Tulamben and a large portion of the east coast is dry and boulder strew. The rice belt ends and the corn-belt begins further to the south-west and there is not much going on heading up the coast. In Tulamben there are several losmens, a few places to eat and, plenty of dive shops!

Take a Walk Through…Sangeh Monkey Forest

by Barrie | November 20th, 2010   Tweet

The most popular place on Bali for simians is, without a doubt, the Sangeh Monkey Forest and a place that is inundated on a daily basis by hordes of camera toting tourist. The monkey forest at Sangeh has a mischievous clan of monkeys and now it will cost you a Rp20,000 entrance fee. The monkeys here are friendly, to a point, downright thieves and can be aggressive especially if there is a baby monkey in the vicinity. It’s a cool place to go but has more to offer than just monkeys. Inside is a temple.
Being set within a large growth of nutmeg (pala) trees, Pura Bukit Sari was built in the 17th century as a meditation temple by the son of the King of Mengwi but now it is an irrigation or subak temple. It is definitely an eerie temple and especially at sunrise when the monkeys come down to feed as the streaks of early morning light filter through the trees canopy.

The grey-stone and weather-beaten temple is in a square compound with stone-carved reliefs and a thatched meru. Although not as appealing as many of the temples in Bali are, it is simply constructed and is a fine example of a subak temple and is important to the area. The main feature you will notice is the large garuda statue seemingly guarding the temple whereas in fact it is the monkeys that are the guardians of this peaceful place.
There is an intriguing local legend attached to the monkey forest: The forest was created when Rama’s general, the monkey king Hanuman, attempted to annihilate Rama’s enemy Rawana and his army by squashing them between two halves of Mount Meru. In the process of doing so part of the mountain fell to earth at Sangeh along with hordes of Hanuman’s army monkeys just left clinging to the nutmeg trees and the result being the creation of Bukit Sari.
Intriguing as this legend is, if you retain this in your mind as you walk the path that runs clockwise through the forest and down to the river then it is your imagination that could re-create the legend for you.

Travel Insurance IS a Prime Necessity

by Barrie | November 18th, 2010   Tweet

More so than ever travel insurance should be a priority and organised for you and your family even before you leave for Bali. It’s no good saying “I’m healthy and have nothing to worry about. Besides, it’s only for a few weeks” The problem with that attitude is that bad things DO happen and the spiralling cost of medical attention in foreign lands would put a hefty dent in your budget not to mention the anguish caused.
Only idiots travel anywhere without insurance. Walk down any street in the tourist strip on your holidays in Bali and sooner or later you will notice somebody in a plaster cast or a limb bandaged in some manner. Travel insurance is a necessity. To give you an example of cost for medical care, earlier this year I suffered an extreme bout of food poisoning and was hospitalised for two days. The cost was heavy at Rp6 million.
Fortunately, Bali has a good selection of hospitals and clinics. The Clinics favoured by tourists include SOS International and BIMC, both located in the Kuta area. Obviously if you have medical / travel insurance you would want to go to a western standard clinic but if you don’t have insurance those places are very expensive.
There are many good travel insurance companies and one that I would highly recommend is the one provided by BootsnAll. There are other travel companies and also your own medical insurance company in your home country can assist you.
With travel to Bali it is imperative you are well covered and especially for medical evacuation and this can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. There are too many strange bugs ‘out there’ that are more than willing to spoil your holiday.

Balinese Dance

by Barrie | November 17th, 2010   Tweet

Bali is renowned the world over for its arts, culture and in particular, dance forms. It is a part of the culture the Balinese take seriously. Balinese performing arts often portray stories from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana but with heavy Balinese influence.
Bali boasts one of the most diverse and innovative performing arts cultures in the world, with paid performances at thousands of temple festivals, private ceremonies, or public shows. As a great admirer of the arts you will often find me at any dance or cultural performance, and, I am always on the lookout for places that stage these beautiful and mesmerising performances.
The other day, by sheer accident, I came across a website that is full of detailed information on places you can see dance performances. Bali Dance is chock full of info about dance. One in particular I have yet to see – Catur Eka Budi. According to the site, this performed in the village of Kusiman in Sanur.
Seeing a performing arts on stage is one experience that you must add to your travel list when next you visit Bali. Believe me, you will adore it!

Big Increase in Tourist Fees for Kintamani

by Barrie | November 16th, 2010   Tweet

You will notice that just about anywhere you visit in Bali whether it’s a temple, museum or other cultural attractions a fee has to be paid before you can enter. In fact, there are very few places in Bali that are tourism-related that don’t incur a fee.
If you intend visiting Kimtamani to see Gunung Batur then you are in for a bit of a rise in the fees. There are several roads up to the mountain to try and get around these scoundrels and on my last three trips using different roads but they seemed to have covered those as well. The latest situation is that there is now a 200% increase in tourist fees at Kintamani.
The article I read regarding this was in the Bali Discovery and according to the article: In an effort to increase tax revenues earned from its tourism sector, the regional government of Bangli have suddenly decided to increase by more than 200% the “tourism retribution fee” charged to visitors to area tourist attractions from Rp. 3,300 (US$0.35) to Rp.10,000 (US$1.09) per visitor.
This might seem trivial to some folk but when you have watched over the years how prices have increased just to ‘make a buck’ out of tourists is erring on greedy. At one time, decades ago, visiting Kintamani for a relaxing lunch was a great day out. Now, it’s costly hassle.

Feeding Squirrel Named the Best Photograph

NUSA DUA as a luxurious tourist resort in Bali turned out to have tremendous appeal. Do you want a proof? Simply have a look at the photograph contest held in the series of Nusa Dua Fiesta (NDF) 2010. A lot of uniqueness remained to be hidden in this tourist resort. They were ranging from natural beauty, beaches, water sports, activities of seaweed farmers, sea birds, community activities on the beach, local animals up to clean-up the environment and so forth.

From the photograph contest, 63 participants were recorded to present their best photographs whose number reaching 229 pieces. Such amount increased from 31 participants last year. They perfectly immortalized a variety of objects around Nusa Dua area. Participants were from the circle of students of photography and pupils. “These participants were from various photography community, general public, students and pupils. It is remarkably encouraging,” said the jury panel of the photograph contest in the series of NDF 2010, IB Putra Adnyana who is familiarly addressed Gustra.

Proximity of wild squirrel to foreign guests in the resort hotel was also captured by photographer as an interesting object. The photograph by I Made Gede Suherman entitled ‘Feeding the Squirrel’ won the first winner. Meanwhile, the second and third winners were respectively achieved Made Adi Darmawan entitled ‘Going Home’ and I Putu Gede Ardi Dinanta with the work entitled ‘Environmental Conserver.’ (BTN/bud)

View the original article here

The Sasak of Lombok

by Barrie | November 15th, 2010   Tweet

There were many interesting aspects with the culture of Lombok that I wanted to experience on my last visit to the island. As with the Bali Aga in Bali, you will also find the almost equivalent on the island of Lombok; the Sasak people. Although the Sasak are predominantly Muslim while the Balinese are Hindus, they are related to the Balinese in both language and race. It’s interesting to know that 85% of Lombok’s population are Sasak.
Very little Little is known about Sasak history except that Lombok was placed under direct rule of the Majapahit prime Minister, patih Gajah Mada. During the late 16th century to the early 17th century the Sasaks converted to Islam under the influence of Sunan Giri and the Muslim Makassarese. Thus, basic Islamic beliefs and Hindu-Buddhist beliefs were ‘merged’ creating the Wektu Telu religion.
The term Wektu Lima is used to distinguish them from the Sasaks who are practitioners of Wektu Telu or three times who only pray three times a day. Orthodox Islamic teachers generally instruct adherents to pray five times a day. Large numbers of people adhering to the Wektu Telu faith can be still found throughout the island, especially in the village of Bayan. This is where the religion originated. A small minority of Sasaks called the Bodha – an estimated population of 8000 – are mainly found in the village of Bentek and on the slopes of Gunung Rinjani.
There are a few Sasak villages set up for visitors to the island wishing to see this fascinating culture and I was fortunate to see such this at a place called Desa Wisata Dusun Ende. It is fascinating to see the Sasak going about life as they have done for centuries and I was most impressed by their outgoing attitude to visitors. If you do get a chance to go to Lombok then having a visit to a Sasak village must be on top of the list.

Temples of Bali: Pura Sakenan

by Barrie | November 9th, 2010   Tweet

Visiting any Balinese temple during your stay in Bali is an experience but when you visit during a temple celebration of festival; it is an amazing and colourful one. Located on the Bypass between Kuta and Sanur, just after the turnoff for the port of Benoa you will find a road bridge that spans 1km of the Benoa Strait and this will lead you to Serangan, or Turtle Island. It is on this island you will find an interesting Balinese temple, Pura Sakenan.
This is an important temple for Balinese people. The temple was built in the 16th Century by a Javanese priest named Nirartha. During the Galungan festival, particularly the closing day of Kuningan, the temple is very busy. Pura Sakenan is a public temple, meaning Balinese people from all over the island can come and receive blessings.
Visiting this temple at any other time than when festivals are being held could, to most travellers, seem a waste of time. But, it is a serene temple and one worth visiting. I was fortunate to visit the temple during the Galungan festival. Tourists can also enter the temple, even during Galungan, as long they are wearing a sarong and sash. This is a great photo opportunity. During the ceremony you will find many food and drink sellers outside the temple; it is quite an amazing scene.

Photo of the Day: Dusk at Candi Dasa

by Barrie | November 13th, 2010   Tweet

I absolutely adore Candi Dasa. It is a peaceful enclave that once was a tourist stronghold and is without a doubt the most underrated part of Bali. It slipped as a tourist destination after the terrorist bombings and unfortunately never really recovered. It’s a shame because Candi Dasa has so much to offer the traveller.
Candi Dasa has some excellent accommodation in all the price ranges and some of the best restaurants on the island, and it is ideally located for visiting some of the greatest attractions Bali has to offer. The great thing now of course is that the area is gradually recovering and no doubt, in the future, great deals will be available at al the hotels in the area. For an alternative to the tourist hype of Kuta escape to the peace of Candi Dasa.

Gunung Batur Closed to Climbers

by Barrie | November 9th, 2010   Tweet

There is so much volcanic activity across the archipelago at the moment. As more and more earthquakes occur the higher the chances of usually dormant volcanoes coming to life. In the last ten day Gunung Merapi in Central Java has unleashed its fury on the city of Yogyakarta. This afternoon I received yet another phone call from Yogyakarta informing me of an earthquake in progress!
The two main dormant volcanoes in Bali are Gunung Agung and Gunung Batur. I can well remember talking with some locals a while back about the volcanic activity of Gunung Batur. One of the fishermen told me that if the lake’s water gets warm then this is a good sign the volcano is coming to life.
I was reading an article today in the Bali Discovery about Gunung Batur being closed to climbers. According to the article: One of the volcanoes placed on alert is Bali’s Mount Batur which, as a result, has been closed to mountain climbers and other activities on its slopes until further notice. 19 volcanoes across Indonesia are currently classified at a “Waspada” alert status, the second highest danger level just short of a “Siaga” status reserved for mountains at an elevated level of tectonic activity.
It’s a worrying time for Indonesians across the archipelago at the moment and one can only hope that recent disasters like those in Sumatra and Central Java never occur in Bali.

What is the best gift for yoga lovers?

by Cristina | November 8th, 2010   Tweet

With Christmas only six weeks away, it’s definitely time to start looking into gifts for your friends. I’m guilty of doing my shopping online and… usually a bit too late.
We all have at least one friend who is into an active lifestyle. And many friends who love to travel. If you want, you can combine the two hobbies into one interesting gift: a vacation in Bali.
First step? Ask your friend when their next vacation will be. Then, look up flights to Bali . It’s a bit harder to figure out cheap options when you’ve got a limited time frame to work with, but it’s not impossible. It just requires time. And patience. Just remember that a ticket will definitely set up back about $1200 (round trip, from New York). If you fly from Europe, round trip flights start at $1500 (from London).
Next step… look for accommodation. Cheap hotels in Bali are not that hard to find, especially if you spend a bit of time looking for good options. A room (for two) in a 4-star hotel starts at $300 (for 6 nights). Facilities typically include AC, tea/coffee making facilities and phone in room.
Oh, and by the way, Bali travel packages are excellent choice for you and your loved one.
Vouchers are also excellent choice. Whether you opt for a flight or hotel voucher, a spa treatment or a gift card, your friends will definitely love them.
And if your budget is not exactly accommodating such a gift, then you can always get one of the eco-friendly yoga mats and , maybe, a gym membership.