The Department of Justice and Human Rights has officially determined that as of 1 February 2004:
1.The Free Visa Facility (length of stay max. 30 days) will be issued to citizens of the following countries: Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Macao, Morocco, Chile, Peru.
2.The Visa-on-Arrival Facility (length of stay max. 30 days) will be issued to citizens of the following countries: Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, United States.
3.Citizens of countries not stated above are required to apply for a visa at the Indonesian Embassy/Consulate in their country of domicile.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Immigration
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
How To Access bali
Flights
Bali can easily be reached by air and now there are eleven International Airlines running scheduled direct flights from Europe, America, Australia, and most Asian Countries to Ngurah Rai Airport. Destination to Bali will be Denpasar (DPS) instead of Bali. Domestic flights are also available to and from major cities within Indonesia.
Sea
Regular passenger ferries from Java and Lombok.
International Cruise ship anchored in Benoa--south of Denpasar--and for larger and luxury cruiseship used to stop of at PadangBai.
Overland
Overland trip to Bali can be done by car from Java. Regular ferry service connecting Gilimanuk and Java for 24 hours.
Passports and Visas
The Department of Justice and Human Rights has officially determined that as of 1 February 2004 :
1. The Free Visa Facility (length of stay max 30 days) will be issued to citizens of the following countries: Brunei, Malaysia,Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Macao, Morocco, Chile, and Peru.
2. The Visa-on-Arrival Facility (length of stay max. 30 days) will be issued to citizens of the
following countries: Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
3. Citizens of countries not stated above are required to apply for a visa at the Indonesian Embassy/Consulate in their country of domicile.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Smart Tips
Here are several simple but useful tips that can make your holiday in Bali goes smooth and more enjoyable. It is simple but if you failed to adhere it may ruin your exciting holiday.
Do :
- Reconfirm your outbound flight.
- Drink a lot of bottled water as you may dehydrated easily.
- Leave your important documents in your hotel safe and wandering around with the copies.
- Shop around when intending to change money as the rate may vary, check whether the commission added or not.
- Show your respect by wearing sarong when entering temple.
Don't :
- Stepping on offerings in the street.
- Honking if a caught behind the slow pace of processions.
- Attempt to swim outside designated areas on the beach.
- Deal in or do drugs. The death penalty is await.
- Touch people's heads even children as it considers offensive.
- Enter temple during menstruation.
- Use your left hand in sacking or handing over something to someone as it is consider impolite. If there is no other option then express your apology.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Bali community
The Village
The capitals of the princes' districts, the seats of the regencies, are commercialized half-European, half-Chinese towns like Denpasar and Buleleng; but the true life of Bali is concentrated in thousands of villages and hamlets. With their thatched roofs they lie buried under awnings of tropical vegetation, the groves and gardens that provide for the needs of the villagers. Out of the chartreuse sea of ricefields they surge like dark green islands of tall palms, breadfruit, mango, papaya, and banana trees.
Underneath the cool darkness, pierced only by the shafts of sunlight that sift through the mesh of leaves, are the houses hidden from view by interminable mud walls that are broken at regular intervals by long narrow gates. All the gates are alike: two mud pillars supporting a small roof of thick thatch, giving access to each household by a raised doorstep of rough stones. In front of every gate is a stone bridge, or, simpler still, a section of coconut tree trunk to ford the deep irrigation ditch that runs invariably along both sides of the road.
A simple village consists of family compounds, each completely surrounded by walls, lined on each side of a wide well built avenue that runs in the direction of the cardinal points; from the mountain to the sea, the Balinese equivalent to our " north and " south." The villages grew as they spread in these directions, and the Dutch bad only to pave the main streets and extend them through the rice fields to obtain the five hundred mile net of automobile roads that covers this small island.
The Balinese, being still essentially pedestrians, took good care to shade the roads with large trees, and every morning and every evening one sees the people in the streets, men going to work, nonchalantly beating rhythms on their agricultural implements, or returning from the fields overloaded with sheaves of rice heavy with grain. Poised women come and go with great loads or shin black clay pots on their beads. If it happens to be market day in the village, at dawn the roads are crowded with husky people from the nearby villages who come to sell their produce - piles of coconuts, bananas, or vegetables, pottery, mats, baskets, and forth - carrying on their beads even the table that serves as stand. If there is a feast in the village temple, the people parade in yellow, green, and magenta silks with fantastic pyramids fruit and flowers, offerings to the gods, in a pageant that you have made Diaghilev turn green with envy.
Naked children play at the gates by the bell-shaped bask where the fighting cocks are kept. Each morning the baskets a', lined out on the street so that the roosters may enjoy the spectacle of people passing by. Small boys wearing only oversize sun-hat drive the enormous water-buffaloes, which in Bali appear in colours, a dark muddy grey, and a pale, almost transparent pink albino variety. A water-buffalo will not hesitate to attack tiger; their ponderous calm and their gigantic horns are awe inspiring to Europeans, who have been told that their evening bath. the buffaloes. They have often charged white people for no apparent reason, although the smallest Balinese boy can man handle the great beasts. They love to lie in the water and be scrubbed by their little guardians, who climb all over them and bang from their horns when they take them for their evening bath. The buffalo tolerates the children perhaps as a rhinoceros tolerates the birds that eat the ticks on its back.
The Balinese raise a fine breed of cattle, a beautiful variety of cow, with delicate legs and a long neck, that resembles overgrown deer more than ordinary cows. Ducks are driven in flocks to the rice fields, where they feed on all sorts of small water animals. Their guardian is a boy or an old man who leads them with a little banner of white cloth on the end of a bamboo pole topped by a bunch of white feathers. This he plants on the ground and be can then go away for the rest of the day, sure that his ducks will not wander away. At sundown the trained ducks gather around the flag waiting to be taken home. When the duck guardian arrives, the flock is all together, and at a signal from the flag, they march home, straight as penguins and in perfect military formation.
All Balinese domestic animals are rather extraordinary; chickens are killed constantly by rushing automobiles, but their owners make no provision to keep them from the road except the low bamboo fence that bars the house gate, and that is intended, perhaps, more for the pigs, which in Bali belong to a monstrous variety that surely exists nowhere else. The Balinese pig, an untamed descendant of the wild bog, has an absurd sagging back and a fat stomach that drags on the ground like a heavy bag suspended loosely from its bony hips and shoulders.
The roads are particularly infested with miserable dogs, the scavengers of the island. Most dogs are attached to the house they protect and keep clean of garbage, but they reproduce unchecked and there are thousands of homeless living skeletons, covered with ulcers and mange, that bark and wail all night in great choruses. The Balinese are not disturbed by them and peacefully through the hideous noise. The curs are suppose frighten away witches and evil spirits, but I could never disco bow our neighbours knew when it was an ordinary mortal not a devil that the dogs barked at; they always awoke when stranger came into the house at night. Such dogs were undoubtedly provided by the gods to keep Bali from perfection.
The Balinese make a clear differentiation e dwelling-grounds and the " unlived " parts of the village, for public use such as the temples, assembly halls, market, cemeteries, public baths. The village is a unified organism in every individual is a corpuscle and every institution and organ. The heart of the village is the central square, invariably located in the " center " of the village, the intersection of the two-A avenues: the big road that runs from the Balinese " , South " and a street that cuts it at right angles from " east west " Consequently the crossroads are the center of a Rose Winds formed by the entire village; the cardinal dir mean a great deal to the Balinese and the crossroads are a spot of great importance.
All around and in the square are the important public. places of the village; the town temple (pura desa) , with its assembly (bale agung) , the palace Of the local feudal prince , the market, the large shed for cockfights (wantilan) , and the tall and often elaborate tower where hang the alarm tomtoms (kulkul) to call to meetings, announce events, or warn of dangers. Also important to the village life is the ever present waringin , a giant banyan, the sacred tree of the Hindus, planted in the square. Under its shadow take place the shows and dances given in connection with the frequent festivals; market is also held there in villages that do not have a special market enclosure. In ancient villages the waringin grows to a giant size, shading the entire square and dripping aerial roots that, unless clipped before they reached the ground, would grow into trunks that unchecked might swallow up a village. A beautiful village waringin is an enormous rounded dome of shiny leaves supported by a mossy, gnarled single trunk hung with a curtain of tentacles that are cut evenly at the height of a man; but in the waringins that have grown freely outside the village, the tree spreads in every direction in fantastic shapes. The aerial filaments dig into the earth and grow into whitish trunks and branches emerging at illogical angles and filled with parasite ferns, a dreamlike forest that is in reality a single tree.
Somewhere in the outskirts of the village are the public bath and the cemetery, a neglected field overgrown with weeds and decaying bamboo altars, with its temple of the Dead and its mournful kepuh tree, a sad and eerie place. The bathing-place is generally a cool spot shaded by clusters of bamboo in the river that runs near the village, where all day long men and women bathe in the brown water in separate modest groups. Some villages have special bathing-places with fancy water-spouts and low walls of carved stone, with separate compartments for men and women. Tedjakula in North Bali is famous for its horse bath, a special compartment that is larger and even more elaborate than the baths for the people.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Bali Airlines
Bali's International Airport is actually located in Tuban - Kuta but is listed with the airlines under the islands capital city's name Denpasar or DPS. There are a number of major airlines that service Bali.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Kelungkung City
Geographically, the Province of Bali is located 80-30'-40" to 80-50'-48" south of the Equator and 1140-25'-53" to 1150-42'-40" east longitude.
The relief and topography of Bali have their main features of a mountain range that transverse the island from West to East. Among those mountains are two of significant sizes: the volcanoes of Gunung Agung ( 3.140 m ) and Gunung Batur (1.717 m).
As well as these features, Bali also has four lakes: Lake Beratan (375,6 Ha), Lake Buyan (336 Ha), Lake Tamblingan (11 Ha) and Lake Batur (1.607,5). Rivers, which have their sources on these lakes as well as forests, flow to the southern side of the island. Such rivers are; Unda, Petanu, Ayung, Pulukan, Loloan and many others.
Because of its location, Bali has a tropical climate, which is influenced by seasonal wind pattern and alternate every six months. There are two seasons: the dry season from April to October and the rainy season from October to April. With such climate, Bali is in inhibited by variety of tropical flora and fauna.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Bali People & Culture
In religion, the prehistoric influences, especially those of the megalithic periods were still quite strong. Beliefs at that time were focused on worship of the spirit of the ancestors which was symbolized in the form of temples which was called pyramid terraces or terraced buildings. Sometimes at the top of the building a menhir was placed, i.e. a monolith column as the symbol of their ancestor's spirit.
During the Hindu period, menhir could be seen in the construction of the temples which looked similar to the terraced pundan. Belief in the gods of the mountains, the sea etc, originated from the period before the arrival of Hinduism, was still reflected in the lives of people after the Hindu religion came in. At the beginning and during the period of King Sri Wijaya Mahadewi, the religion practiced is not mentioned. We know only the names of the priests who bore the name Siwa, such as Piwakangsita Siwa, biksu Siwanirmala and biksu Siwaprajna.
Based on that, the religion that developed at the time was the Siwa religion. Only during the period of King Udayana and his queen, there were two large religions practiced by the people, i.e. the Siwa religion and the Buddha religion. This information was obtained from the charters which mentioned mpungku Sewasogata (Siwa-Buddha) as the king's assistant.
Rembang, The Master of Bungbang, UNESCO Acknowledges Him
Simple, friendly and not talk too much are the first impression of Mr. I Nyoman Rembang. He is the traditional musician's maestro in Bali and is the maestro of Balinese gamelan (Bali's traditional musicals) and the master of Javanese traditional musical instruments.
In his retirement at his home in Banjar Tengah, Sesetan Village, southern part of Denpasar, he enjoys his life happily with his family. "People never used to think in terms of age," he always says to the young generations. Playing traditional Balinese instruments and often blowing his suling (bamboo flute), are the ways he loves to spend his time, beside receiving guests (his term to people who visit him to learn or discuss about Balinese arts). Sometimes, he writes books about traditional music, too.
Always supporting younger generations to learn and develop Balinese Instruments, he is busy giving advice or teaching Balinese traditional musical groups, not only in his Banjar but also around Denpasar and Bandung. It is this determination that keeps him busy. "Getting old is one thing, but doing nothing is another thing entirely". Rembang was quoted by Bali Echo as saying. "I do not just play wherever I'm asked to. As an artist, we refuse to be considered cheap or easy. It's part of our responsibility to educate people to have respect for artists everywhere, and to pay the accordingly."
I Nyoman Rembang, The Maestro, never had a formal education, simply five years in primary school. But since his earliest memory he had a desire to learn to play the gamelan. For his first lesson, he joined the local Gambuh group in his village. At seven he was already playing gender (melancholy music to follow leather puppet show and tooth filing ceremony). At eight he began to learn to play the gamelan legong from many teachers around Badung.
In his teenage, Rembang was the most accomplished musician in Bali. It made the Bali Government offer him a job to teach the Balinese Gamelan at the Surakarta Conservatorium in Central Java. His talent and hearts desire made it easy to also master the Javanese gamelan under RM Yudoprawiro, a nobleman from Surakarta Palace.
In 1960, with the former Bali's second governor, Ida Bagus Mantra, he pioneered the establishment of the Balinese Conservatorium. Because of his lack of formal education, he refused the position of Head Lecturer at the Conservatorium, and Mantra took the place for a year. In 1963, Rembang resigned from the Surakarta Conservatorium and concentrated in Bali.
After finishing as a teacher at Denpasar's School of Arts, he created The Bungbang gamelan, a traditional instrument made from lengths of bamboo which can produce a certain tone based on it length. To play this gamelan at least 32 musicians are required and harmonises with suling (bambo's flutes).
As Nyoman Rembang explains, "Bungbang can be interpreted as bungbung nembang (singing bungbung), but some friends interpret it as bungbungnya Rembang (Rembang's bungbung)." Rembang explains the meaning of his creation.
"Nowdays, Bungbang is not only played locally, but some countries have already imported it. Recently, I sent one over to the States." Rembang said proudly.
And with this instrument, Rembang has received national awards. Earlier this year he was awarded by UNESCO for his invention of the Bungbang, a kind of bamboo xylophone. And the Bungbang itself, has been played with other percussion instruments from around the world to commemorate the last New Year's Eve in Samuan Tiga, Ubud.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Tabanan City
The land of rice or even mention as abowl rice of Bali, Tabanan is a rich regency. Its fertile areas and vary in its land scape makes many kind of tourists' attraction can be developed in this area.
The history of Tabanan can be started in the 14th century when Javanese invaders came in the area. As they expanded their territory, they came into conflict with the Mengwi house, founded during the mid-1600s with the fall of Gelgel and allied with Buleleng. In the eighteenth century Mengwi was the second most powerful royal house after Klungkung, whose support it enjoyed. Internal conflict in the late 1700s weakened Mengwi and led to territorial losses to Tabanan which were retaken in the mid-1800s. By the late 1800s further conflict erupted and Klungkung withdrew its support, opening the way for its destruction by Klungkung, Badung, Bangli and the Dutch. Tabanan got most of Mengwi, but rising Dutch interests in Bali and the refusal of Tabanan to give in led to its end in 1906 with the imprisonment and suicide of the ruler and his son.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Bali modern architecture
The New Bali Style
The "Bali-Style" of architecture and interior design is renowned and increasingly popular the world over. How it came into being is a story of cross cultural legacy and an amalgamation of different design elements. In this chapter, we explain the connection between religion and architecture in traditional Balinese design, trace the development of new styles in both commercial and residential buildings and see how a thoroughly modern, international architectural form has been born.
The Art of Tropical Living
The island of Bali has along been a magnet for the western culture-hound-and over the last 100 year many people have set up home there. Most built their tropical dream villas in vernacular style. Today, however, a new internationalism is emerging : along with wood, alang-alang and bamboo are ceramics, stone and glass; pavilion-style is being replaced with a more modern vision of space. Here, we showcase the most inspiring examples of contemporary residences, shops, restaurants, studios and resort homes the island has to offer.
The Tropical Garden
Tropical gardens in Bali are traditionally associated with a sense of fecundity, Javanese-inspired water gardens or junglescapes with mossy walls and hand carved statues and fountains. Today's gardens seem to have taken this style one step further : firstly, they are designed more to complement the architecture that they are attached too, and, secondly, there is more order and definition in the planting. In this section we portray the creme-de-la-creme of Ball's private and resort landscaped gardens.
The Delightful Balinese Pavilion
No longer is the 'bale simply a 4-poster wooden platform protected by a thatched roof. Innovative designs are emerging: be they modernist stone structures shaded by canvas "umbrella-roofs" or vernacular-inspired, poolside loungers, all are excellent dens for the those seriously committed to languour-induced afternoons. Here, we showcase a selection of contemporary reinterpretations of the classic Balinese pavilion.
The Tropical Water
Water is the source of life for the Balinese; it is also a wonderful cooling element in hot and humid climates, it's not surprising, therefore, that virtually every architect and landscape artist incorporates some type of water feature in their designs. Here, we present an array of contemporary water features: gardens, open-to-the-air bathrooms, numerous cascades, fountains and springs, modernist pool scapes, even a giant, eleptical, rooftop lily and lotus pond. Water as play, water as architectrual element and of course water as a natural source of nourishment for garden and soul alike.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Bali offering
The many unseen inhabitants of Bali - gods, ancestors and demons - are treated by the Balinese as honored guests through the daily presentation of offerings (banten) of every imaginable shape, color and substance. These are first and foremost gifts - expressing gratitude to benevolent spirits, and placating mischievous demons to prevent them from disturbing the harmony of life.
Simple offerings are presented daily as a matter of course, while more elaborate ones are specially produced for specific rituals. After the daily food is prepared, for example, tiny packets are presented to the resident gods of the household before the family eats. Every day, too, the spirits are presented with tiny canang - palm leaf trays containing flowers and betel as a token of hospitality.
Being gifts to higher beings, these offerings must be attractive, and a great deal of time and effort is expended to make them so. Leaves are laboriously cut, plaited and pinned together into decorative shapes (jejaitan). Multi-colored rice flour cookies (jajan) are modeled into tiny sculptures and even into entire scenes which have a deep symbolic significance quite apart from their decorative function. In many ways, therefore, the production of offerings may be regarded as an important traditional art form that still flourishes on Bali.
Materials and preparation
Aside from a few durable elements employed, like coins, cloth and an occasional wooden mask, offerings are generally fashioned of perishable, organic materials. Not only the materials, but also the function of these objects is transitory. Once presented to the gods, an offering may not be used again and similar ones have to be produced again and again each day.
The preparation of offerings is one of the many tasks undertaken by every Balinese woman. Within the household, women of several generations work together, and in this way knowledge and skills are handed down to the young. To a limited extent, men also cooperate, for it is their task to slaughter animals and prepare most meat offerings.
Many women in Bali even make a living by acting as offering specialists (tukang banten). Their main task is to direct the armies of people who collectively produce offering for large rituals at home or in the communal temple. They are able to coordinate this work because they know the types and ingredients of offerings required for each occasion.
As more and more Balinese women work outside the home in offices or tourist hotel they have less time to undertake elaborate ritual preparations themselves. This result in an increasing demand for ready-mad offerings that many tukang banten produce in their own home with the help of women they employ. In spite of this limited commercialization, the meaning and ritual use of offerings is not diminishing in Bali.
Ritual uses
For almost any ritual, the enormous number and variety of offerings required is quite a astounding. There are literally hundreds of different kinds - the names, forms, sizes an ingredients of which differ greatly. Further more, there is considerable variation fro region to region, and even from village to village. The basic form of most offerings is quite similar, however. Rice, fruits, cookies, meat and vegetables are arranged on a palm leaf base and crowned with a palm leaf decoration, called a sampian, which serves also as a container for betel nut and flowers.
Certain offerings are used in many rituals, whereas others are specific to a particular ceremony. Basic offerings form groups (soroh) around a core offering, and since most rituals can be performed with varying degrees of elaboration depending upon the occasion and the means and social status of the participants, the size and content of these offering groups vary also according to the elaborateness of the ritual.
The size of an offering may be scaled up or down to match the occasion. For example, an ordinary pula gembal contains, among other things, dozens of different rice dough figurines in a palm leaf basket. In more elaborate rituals, this becomes a spectacular construction of brightly-colored cookies, measuring several meters from top to bottom.
Besides the major communal offerings associated with a particular ritual, each family brings its own large and colorful offering to a temple festival. It is a spectacular sight when women of a neighborhood together carry offerings in procession to a temple.
At the temple offerings are placed according to their destination and function. Offerings to gods and ancestors are placed on high altars, whereas demons receive theirs on the ground. An important difference is that offerings to demons may contain raw meat, while those for the gods and ancestors may not. Specific offerings required for a ritual are Placed in a pavilion or temporary platform.
During the ceremony, a priest purifies the offerings by sprinkling them with holy water and intoning prayers or mantras. The smoke of incense then wafts the essence of the offerings to their intended destination. The daily Presentation of offerings at home takes place In a similar way, through the use of holy water and fire. After the ritual is over and their "essence" has been consumed, the offerings may be taken home and eaten by the worshippers.
Symbolism
The elements that make life on earth possible are transformed into offerings and thus returned as gifts to their original Creator. But an offering not only consists of the fruits of the earth, but also mirrors its essential structure - decorative motifs often symbolize the various constituents of the Balinese universe.
The colors and numbers of flowers and other ingredients, for example, refer to deities who guard the cardinal directions. The requisite betel on top of every offering symbolizes the Hindu Trinity, as do the three basic colors used - red for Brahma, black or green for Wisnu, and white for Siwa.
Conical shapes, whether of offerings as a whole or of the rice used in it, are models of the cosmic mountain whose central axis links the underworld, the middle world and the upper world - symbolic of cosmic totality and the source of life on earth. Cookies of rice dough represent the contents of the world plants, animals, people, buildings or even little market scenes and gardens. Pairs of such cookies, like the sun and moon, the mountain and sea, the earth and sky, symbolize the dual ordering of the cosmos in which complementary elements cannot exist without one another. The unity of male and female, necessary for the production of new life, is in many ways represented in the composition of offerings. By recreating the universe through the art and medium of offerings, it is hoped that the continuity of life on earth will be assured.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Bali and its Culture
The culture of Bali is unique. People say that the Balinese people have reached self-content. It is not an exaggeration that when a Balinese is asked what heaven is like, he would say, just like Bali, without the worries of mundane life. They want to live in Bali, to be cremated in Bali when they die, and to reincarnate in Bali.
It does not mean that the Balinese resist changes. Instead, they adapt it to their own system. This goes back far in history. Prior to the arrival of Hinduism in Bali and in other parts of Indonesia, people practice animism. When Hinduism arrives, the practice of Hinduism is adapted to local practices. The brand of Hinduism practiced in Bali is much different from that in India. Other aspects of life flow this way.
Traditional paintings, faithfully depicting religious and mythological symbolisms, met with Western and mod ern paintings, giving birth to contemporary paintings,free in its creative topics yet strongly and distinctively Balinese. Its dance, its music, and its wayang theaters, while have been continually enriched by contemporary and external artistry, are still laden with religious connotations, performed mostly to appease and to please the gods and the goddesses. Wood and stone carvings, gold and silver crafts parallel the development of paintings, gracefully evolving with external forces to enhance their characters. The batik of Bali owes its origin to Java, and inspired the development of ikat and double ikat.
Bali health & medical
Bali has become an international tourist destination and hence the quality of health treatments and facilities should met international standards. Many public hospitals and health centres provided by local government are not enough to serve all the needs of both locals and foreign visitors. To fulfill this needs many private company established private clinics that met the internatinal standards.
Ivodent
Ivodent Lab, established in 1997 by experienced dentist, Indra Guizot, and located in Denpasar Bali. In the beginning year, there were only two assistants that supported Guizot to operate his lab...
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Bali Geography
Virtually, you are in Bali. One of the over fourteen thousand islands of the Indonesian archipelago, the island of Bali sits exactly 12 time zones away from New York City, approximately halfway between Singapore on the tip of the South East Asian peninsula and Darwin on the northwestern part of Australia. You can see it on this Asia map. On the map above, select any region of Bali (North, East, Central, South, or West) where you want to go to, and we'll take you there. Physically, however, we have a slight problem.
But no worry. Simply choose your preferred mode of transport. Or you might prefer to read some general information about Bali before you disembark, and find out what the tropical weather of Bali is like. After which, a photographic montage of Bali will delight your eyes. And these places of interest will surely be enough of an invitation (there is even a one-page summary of these places that you can print and take along with you...).
One thing to remember about Bali is that the island is not too big - about 100 miles from North to South, and 175 miles from West to East. You can start after breakfast from your hotel in Nusa Dua, which is practically the southern most point of the island, drive up North, and have lunch in Singaraja, which is the northern most point of the island. Or you can drive around the perimeter of the island, starting from your hotel in the morning, and might even make it back before supper. And that's doing it leisurely.
Balinese Kitchen
Despite the complex blending of spices and frag- rant roots that gives Balinese food its intriguingly different flavour, the typical Balinese kitchen is remarkably simple. The centrepiece of the kitchen generally a spartan, functional room is the wood fired stove topped by a blackened clay pot used to steam rice and leaf-wrapped food. In many modern households, this is joined by a gas cooker for boiling water and frying. Both stoves receive daily offerings of a few grains of rice, a flower and salt a gift to Brahma, the animistic god of fire.
Although all utensils were once made of clay, most cooks now use metal for cooking. Many people in the major towns also use electric rice cookers, but most agree that the traditional method for cooking rice is superior. After the rice has been well washed and soaked, it is partially boiled, then set in a woven steaming basket (kukusan) over a clay pot filled with boiling water. The conical kukusan is covered with a clay lid and the rice left to steam. Every so often, boiling water is scooped out of the clay pot and poured over the rice to keep it moist and prevent the grains from sticking together.
Bamboo is often used in the Balinese kitchen. A narrow bamboo tube is used to direct a puff of air into the fire, acting as a bellows. A split length of bamboo plaited so that it fans out is used as a scoop for lifting out and draining fried food, while bamboo handles with small coconut shells on the end make scoops or ladles.
Every Balinese kitchen has its coconut scraper, either a wooden board set with rows of sharp metal spikes or a sheet of thin alumunium with spikes punched out. Grated coconut is mixed into many dishes, or squeezed with water to make coconut milk.
Another essential item is the saucer like stone mortar (batu base) used for grinding dry spices, chillies, shallots and other seasonings. The Balinese mortar is shallow and the stone pestle has a handle carved at right angles to the head so that the action is one of grinding rather than pounding.
The chopping block used in the preparation of almost every meal is usually a cross section slice of a tree trunk, the wood strong enough to take the repeated blows of a sharp cleaver used to mince meat or fish to a paste, and for chopping and slicing various roots and vegetables.
The furniture in a Balinese kitchen is minimal; apart from the stove, a bench and a food cupboard, where the cooked food is stored during the day, there's usually a wide, low bamboo platform, used for sitting on while preparing foods. It also doubles as an eating area or a spare bed. Practicality is the theme of any Balinese kitchen.
getting arround in Bali
There are many modes of transportstion to help you around Bali. A variety of excellent half day, full day and overnight tour packages are available from your hotel desk or any of the numerous travel agents and tour operators which abound in Bali. Or you can find a car and driver who will also act as your guide.
Taxis operated from all major hotels and the airport with rates vary according to destinations. The taxi companies, in Bali are Praja Taxi, Bali Taxi and Koperasi Taxi Ngurah Rai instead of those belong to travel-agencies, have metered taxis.
Public minibuses or big buses are available to every corner of the island with quite inexpensive price but their stopping here and there a lot to take and drop local passengers. It may give you the exprience of travelling with the locals.
For those who prefer to travel more privately, self-drive. Rented car or motorbike may be the choice. Types of cars available are usually Jimny or Toyota Kijang (larger car with room for 6 people). The price, however, do not always include insurance and they vary depending upon the type of vehicle and the duration of hiring.
An important virtue to have while on the road in Bali is patience! Although the road system in the heavily populated areas is quite reasonable (condition wise) in comparison to other developing countries, it can be heavily congested at peak periods. Ceremonial processions often overtake the whole road so if you're caught behind a procession, enjoy the colorful experience. Roads can be quite narrow with heavily pedestrian traffic on each side.
Petrol-pumps and service-stations are available at every larger towns, however in emergency there are always roadside kiosks selling fuel-out of drum at a bit dearer price.
While driving yourself, please take utmost cara since the traffic rules may be somewhat different from those conducted in your own country. International Driving License is required but one can apply for a temporary permit in Denpasar and go for a test at Traffic Police Department, Jalan Seruni-Denpasar, Phone 227711.
It is a compulsory to wear a crash helmet while you are on the road and it is always available at motorbike hire outlets.
Bicycles are available but bear in mind heavy traffic in Kuta, Legian and Denpasar. Bicycles are ideal in Ubud and the countryside if you're fit. A few companies offer mountain biking excursions.
Small horsedrawn carts called "dokar" serve as convenient transportation off-hours and off the beaten tracks.
City's Local Dinning
Jl. Teuku Umar, which eventually joins Jl. Imam Bonjol, the road to Kuta, is a location of well-established warung, rumah makan, and restaurants serving Indonesian specialties at very reasonable prices. The city's densest concentration of Indonesian-style eating establishments.
Kumbasari Shopping Complex, just off Jl. Gajah Mada by the river. Open 1800-2400. Dozens of stalls under plastic covers serve Chinese noodle soups, fried rice, sate, excellent martabak, babi guling, nasi campur, pangsit mie, chocolate donuts, and hot.Other pasar malam include the Kereneng bus station (the Asoka Night Market), serving excellent babi guling (only Rp4500) and other native dishes; opposite Tegal station (where you catch minivans to Kuta); and on Jl. Diponegoro near the Kertha Wijaya Shopping Center. All are good, cheap, entertaining night eateries that are so inexpensive only a glutton could possibly spend more than Rp6000.
Bali Museum
The largest collection of Baliana in the world is located on the east side of Taman Puputan on Jl. Mayor Wishnu just south of the tourist office. The Bali Museum was established in 1910 by the conquering Dutch, who sought to collect and preserve artifacts they felt were disappearing overseas or succumbing to the elements. In 1917, an eruption of Gunung Batur and subsequent earthquakes destroyed hundreds of Denpasar's buildings, including the museum. Rebuilt in 1925, it was used as a storehouse for artifacts and temporary exhibits until 1932, when it was established as an ethnographic museum. The German painter Walter Spies helped assemble many of its original treasures from private collections and donations.
The grand, well-kept complex consists of a series of attractive, grassy courtyards containing all the archetypes of Balinese architecture?ale agung, candi bentar, kulkul. The main structure, with its many pillars, is built in the manner of Puri Kanginan in the eastern regency of Karangasem. Standing next to it is a reproduction of Singaraja Palace on the north coast. With rich ornamentation both inside and out, the museum's architecture combines the two principal edifices of Bali, the temple (pura) and the palace (puri).
The museum's four buildings contain a splendid collection of Balinese art?eolithic stone implements, a hoard of Buddhist clay seals excavated near Pejeng, Balinese folk crafts, carved and painted woodwork, cricket-fighting cages, dance costumes, textiles, masks, weaving looms and fabrics, agricultural tools, musical instruments, furniture, scale models of ceremonial events, ethnographic exhibits. The first pavilion is a two-story building containing high-quality, early traditional, Kamasan-style paintings; classical Balinese calendars; modern Batuan and Ubud-style paintings; and work of the Academic and Young Artists (or Naive) schools. Another pavilion displays carved media?ood, stone, clay, and bone?ncluding sculpted windows, doors, pillars, ceiling beams, friezes, old guardian figures, demons, and specimens of Bali's extraordinarily earthy and vigorous folk art. The building, dedicated to prehistoric artifacts, displays Bronze Age implements, including the famous Gilimanuk bronze spearhead, the largest ever discovered in Southeast Asia. Also see ritual objects, priestly accoutrements, and a veranda lined with old stone statues. One building is devoted entirely to masks, weapons, and costumes of the performing arts, including rare barong pig masks and primitive dance masks from remote villages. There's also an incredible display of topeng.
A good part of the displays are annotated with English explanations, and clear maps in the central building show all the important prehistoric and historical sites of Bali. The museum also has a library and a shop selling postcards and books in English. However, there's no ground plan of the museum nor is a guide available to show visitors around. Open Tues.-Thurs. 0800-1700, Friday 0800-1530, closed Monday. Admission Rp500. Wear long pants.
Denpasar City
Once part of Badung Regency, in 1992 the Denpasar area split off and became Bali's ninth kabupaten. In addition to the island's capital, Denpasar Regency encompasses Sanur, Benoa Port, and Serangan Island, leaving Badung more pencil-shaped than ever.
Denpasar is the largest and busiest city on the island. An old trading center, its name means "east of the market." It's the headquarters for the government, the media, the island's principal banks, airline offices, and hospitals. Bali's two universities, Udayana and Warmadewa, are also based here. The city's local name is Badung, its old name, and you'll hear "Badung" sung out by bemo drivers all over Bali. Though it's been the capital of Bali since 1958, it's no longer the administrative center of Badung Regency. In 1992, Greater Denpasar and Sanur split off from Badung and formed their own administrative entity?enpasar.
A hot, dusty, cacophonous, former Brahman-class city, Denpasar has grown fifteen-fold over the past 10 years and is now home to 367,000 people. Its citizenry consists of Badung's landed gentry, the priest class, and the new Balinese techno and bureaucratic elites, as well as Indonesians drawn from other islands to this economic magnet. Denpasar is one of Indonesia's most fully integrated and tolerant cities, with separate kampung of Bugis, Arabs, Indians, Chinese, Madurese, and Javanese. Without doubt it's the richest, most important city in eastern Indonesia.
Unless you've got business here, the city has few charms, other than those quiet back alleyways where people are quite friendly. The most important government offices are located in a tree-shaded administrative complex of handsome reddish brick and gray stone. Industry is low-tech and non-polluting. Denpasar is actually best at night, when it's not so hot and the individual kampung resume their normal rhythms. It seems the whole population is either directly or indirectly involved in the tourist industry, and you can easily engage people in conversation.
Denpasar's main one-way east-to-west shopping street, Jl. Gajah Mada, is crammed with chauffeured cars, noisome putt-putting bemo, roaring motorcycles, and smelly, spewing buses. The city's limited attractions include a spacious alun-alun, tourist information offices, the island's main bus stations and best-stocked markets, some good Chinese restaurants, a spirited night market, dance and drama academies, a major art center, first-class museum, and five big cinemas heralding the coming of the next kung fu epic.
bali beauty & Spa
Most women would agree that beauty is not just a matter of outer looks but also inner beauty. This is what is usually referred to as the holistic approach to looking at beauty. A lot of local or imported cosmetic brands may help women look younger, but recently there has been a growing trend of many women turning to traditional treatments that use less chemical materials. Chemical materials are often found to have longer-term destructive effects on the skin rather than making one's face fresh.
Indonesia has been famous for its spices for hundreds of years, originally for culinary purposes, but more recently for maintaining health and beauty. These traditions are cultural heritages handed down from one generation to the next. Natural ingredients such as cloves, cinnamon, potent leaf, roots and many others are the main material of Indonesian traditional cosmetics. Mustika Ratu and Sari Ayu are two well-known brands that offer a plethora of traditional herbal recipes.
Recently, a number of spas have sprung up also offering a wide range of health and beauty treatments. A spa is a beauty and health centre that uses water as the basic ingredient and source of energy, offering rejuvenation of both body and soul. A spa can be pampering, rejuvenating, nurturing, caring, and calming. It also can be so relaxing, both physically and more importantly, spiritually. A spa can help you improve fitness, detoxify, commune with nature, and learn about nutrition. At a spa, you can regain your inner balance and manage stress, enhance feelings of tranquility, well being and heal.
There are approximately 200 spas scattered across Indonesia, the second largest number of spas in any one country after the US. The best-known Indonesian spa treatment is traditional massage or aromatherapy. Indonesian massage usually uses traditional herbal cosmetics, for example: luluran. The purpose of this kind of massage is to lighten the skin and make it look much fresher.
Indonesian spa treatments normally offer also traditional drinks made of herbs and roots, known locally as "jamu". Most Indonesians believe that jamu is a powerful remedy to alleviate light ailments such as fatigue, headaches, aching bones or chills.
Spa in Bali
Most hotels on the island offer health treatments. Massage with various techniques, body scrub with traditional ingredients, Jacuzzi indoor or outdoor with natural or 'machine' hot springs are offered everywhere.
When you have spent your day sunbathing, heat sensation and burning skin cannot be avoided. But do not worry, just visit the spa at your hotel and ask for after-sunbathing treatment. You can find out more resources on spa in the following websites:
Bel-Air Spa
Bel-Air Spa offers a wide variety of massages and body treatments. A great place to indulge oneself.
Ubud Bodyworks Centre
The original Bodywork centre in Bali is dedicated to spiritual healing in all aspect of its functions. Whether you are passing through as a guest for massage and beauty treatment or a staff member, this sacred space is a place to rebalance the positive energies in you and the universe.
Island Spice
The Indonesian spa experience is a sensual journey of heady scents, botanical beauty treatments, meditative sounds and fresh, inspiring surroundings. Island Spice, Indonesian Spa Treatments are produced using traditional hand blending methods, all ingredients are derived from nature.
Jamu Traditional Spa
Jamu Traditional Spa leads the opening of Spa in Bali, Java and Malaysia. Each featuring unique, traditional and therapeutic treatments for both beauty and health, and committed to using only pure and traditional techniques and ingredients.
Secret Garden
Secret Garden offers a high quality range of hair and body services, affordable and offering real value for your holiday money, with prices in Rupiah. Friendly well-trained staff dedicated to your special salon experience. Massages and traditional body treatments, facials, reflexology & foot massage, manicure & pedicure, a luxury cream bath - scalp, neck and back massage, hair styling and treatment and more await your indulgence.
Bali Spa and Health Club - SiloamSpa.com
Siloam Spa is designed in typical Balinese style spa, a combination of delicate Balinese traditional treatments. Experience a new feeling behind traditional natural tonic and essential oils applies by our professional trained therapist.
Bali Cremation Ceremony - "Ngaben"
Hindu funerals in Bali are intensely suggestive ceremonies of great cultural and religious signifi- cance. Requiring a complex apparatus and characterized by a large following, funerals are centered on cre- mation of the body, known as ngaben or pelebon. This practice is considered essentig if the 5 ele- ments making up the microcosm of the human body are to be returned to their original residence, the universe's macrocosm. The five elements, Panca Maha Bhuta, are the earth (pertivvi), water (apah), fire (teja), air (bayu), and ether (akasa). Since the pri- mordial dimension can only be attained through water and fire, the ashes are dispersed in the waters of the sea or if the distance is too great, in a river. The funeral ceremony is generally led by a priest and punctuated by a lavish offering of gifts. For the occasion, a large bullock-shaped wooden structure is built and then entirely covered with white drapes if the deceased belongs to a priestly caste; in black.
There are ceremonies for every stage of Balinese life but often the last ceremony-cremation-is the biggest. A Balinese cremation can be an amazing, spectacular, colorful, noisy and exciting event. In fact it often takes so long to organize a cremation that years have passed since the death. During that time the body is temporarily buried. Of course an auspicious day must be chosen for the cremation and since a big cremation can be very expensive business many less wealthy people may take the opportunity of joining in at a larger cremation and sending their own dead on their way at the same time. Brahmans, however, must be cremated immediately. Apart from being yet another occasion for Balinese noise and confusion it's a fine opportunity to observe the incredible energy the Balinese put into creating real works of art which are totally ephemeral. A lot more than a body gets burnt at the cremation. The body is carried from the burial ground (or from the deceased's home if it's and 'immediate' cremation) to the cremation ground in a high, multi-tiered tower made of bamboo, paper, string, tinsel, silk, cloth, mirrors, flowers and anything else bright and colorful you can think of. The tower is carried on the shoulders of a group of men, the size of the group depending on the importance of the deceased and hence the size of the tower. The funeral of a former rajah of high priest may require hundreds of men to tote the tower.
A long the way to the cremation ground certain precautions must be taken to ensure that the deceased's spirit does not find its way back home. Loose spirits around the house can be a real nuisance. To ensure this doesn't happen requires getting the spirits confused as to their whereabouts, which you do by shaking the tower, running it around in circles, spinning it around, throwing water at it, generally making the trip to the cremation ground anything but a stately funeral crawl.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Bali Nature
Geographically, the Province of Bali is located 80-30'-40" to 80-50'-48" south of the Equator and 1140-25'-53" to 1150-42'-40" east longitude.
The relief and topography of Bali have their main features of a mountain range that transverse the island from West to East. Among those mountains are two of significant sizes: the volcanoes of Gunung Agung ( 3.140 m ) and Gunung Batur (1.717 m).
As well as these features, Bali also has four lakes: Lake Beratan (375,6 Ha), Lake Buyan (336 Ha), Lake Tamblingan (11 Ha) and Lake Batur (1.607,5). Rivers, which have their sources on these lakes as well as forests, flow to the southern side of the island. Such rivers are; Unda, Petanu, Ayung, Pulukan, Loloan and many others.
Because of its location, Bali has a tropical climate, which is influenced by seasonal wind pattern and alternate every six months. There are two seasons: the dry season from April to October and the rainy season from October to April. With such climate, Bali is in inhibited by variety of tropical flora and fauna.
