Bedugul Temple
Exotic and beautiful Bali. That's how I would describe a small island of 65,000 square kilometre with 4 million people.
Exotic because of its culture. 90% of its population practise Hinduism and very religious. There are more than 25,000 temples in Bali itself! Balinese have Temple Festival every six months, which are known as Galungan and Kuningan. During these time, people from the villages will all help out in the preparation of the temple festivals. These preparations include offerings item, decorative items, food, performances and many more. So happened that during this trip, they are having temple festival preparation so I can witness the process of preparing for the big day.
Balinese new year is very different from the rest of the world, where everyone celebrate in high note. Theirs is a silent new year, which this year fall on 26 March. In Balinese tradition, everyone has to be confined in their homes, and all shop will be closed during this day. New year's day is a day for self reflection.
Tanah Lot Temple with Holy Spring
Beautiful, not only the scenery but also its people. Bali boasts one of the few beautiful scenery, like Kintamani's Batur volcanoes, Uluwatu temple, Tanah Lot temple, Jimbaran beach for sunset and dinner and many others. During the early 80s, government has restricted construction of high-rise building, whereby no building will be taller than the height of a coconut tree, approximately 20 metres height (4-storey building height). Therefore, you can see beautiful starry night there. Also, when you are up in the sky from your plane during night time, you can see beautiful illumination of Bali, breathtaking indeed!
Besides picturesque scenery, you will also find amiable people around. You will always find Balinese people smiling and greet you with courtesy. Even tourist guides do not bring you to expensive places for shopping-slaughter. I was told by our guide, Mr Pari, that every Balinese is a born artist. You will find many craftsmen in-disguised, like our tour guide, who is a wood carver part-time. Furthermore, you will notice that Balinese keep everything neat and presentable, and you can witness this by looking at the cleanliness around. I truly feel very much at home, no, even better than home.
Lots of other activities are available besides sightseeing. (i) Water rafting on Ayung river, which I think it's worth the trip because you paddle 9km downstream from Ubud to Badung for 2 hours! Along the river, you will find beautiful sculptures under construction telling stories from different Indian epics like Ramayana, Maha Baratha. (ii) You can choose to do mountain trekking, hiking or biking in west Bali where the National Park is, covering almost half of Bali island. (iii) Dolphins watching is a must do as I was told from the visitors there. The journey from Kuta town takes around 3 hours to reach. The only things is that you may need to wake up at 2:30am to be in time to travel to sea coast to see sunrise and dolphins in action (I was told that dolphins are visible during sunrise). (iv) Romantic couple into honey moon could opt for sunset cruise with meal and show.
After all these strenuous activities, you could then proceed to your relaxing spa session. The pricing of spa is reasonable, but book through agent to enjoy greater discounts than walk-ins. Along the Legian street, you will be spoilt with choices and varieties of massage parlors available to you.
Last but not least, shopping! You can choose factory outlets or wholesalers which offered reasonable price merchandises for you to choose from. I was told that Tanah Lot has the most affordable priced retail shopping besides wholesalers. You could get master-art wood carvings, paintings, silver, furniture, rattan baskets, batik clothing and other unique and exotic (even erotic) souvenirs to bring home with you. Not forgetting RM3 pirated DVDs are up for grab (Buy 10 free 4)! Food items like Bali kuih lapis (layer cake) and Rahayu brand peanuts are must-buy items to take home sharing with colleagues at work and family. If you are into branded items, try look for your favorite items in Kuta Square, Matahari shopping mall, Discovery shopping mall, and the exclusive duty free malls in Bali Galleria. All these are definitely cheaper than you can get in Malaysia.
Bali, a place I will truly recommend to my other friends. For me, I will definitely be back to see more of Bali and discover more of her beauty.