Bali - Mystically Beautiful and Culturally rich !!

Bali - Mystically Beautiful and Culturally rich !!

Bali , one of the 17000 odd islands in the Indonesian group of islands may seem like a dot on the map, but once your'e on the ground it feels like a world of its own. From beaches to temples, from mountains to paddy fields , the island has it all. Lying somewhere more eastward, many a times there are connections to Denpasar (which is the only international airport) from other asian or australasian cities like KL, Singapore, Jakarta or Perth in Australia. The primary religion of Bali being Hinduism makes it unique in the sense that most other indonesian islands have Islam as their primary religion. The islanders also speak a dialect of Bahasa (The official indonesian language) which is called Balinese and is quite very different from Bahasa. Many of the words had their origin in Sanskrit and I could relate to a few of the words. The commercial districts primarily are Kuta, Seminyak and Denpasar which are within a 10-20 mins drive from the airport.

This is where youd find most of the shopping complexes, cafes and pubs and nightlife happening. However, if you want the blue water, white sand beaches and being away from too many throngs you may have to drive further away from Kuta or Seminyak towards the south or north of the island. Southern beaches like Nusa Dua,  Dreamland, Jimbaran and Pandawa are known for their pristine beaches, delicious seafood cafes, and being less crowded. Towards the north, the drive is much more from Kuta or Seminyak but beaches like Lovina are known to be extremely beautiful and make it all worth it.

What to do at Bali:

Bali has a large variety of activities to cater to the needs and preferences of a variety of tourists. Whether you're visiting for the beaches or for the temples or the mountains , Bali has something for everyone. Whether a honeymooning couple or on a family trip, its all possible at Bali. Make sure you check reviews of the hotel and area you're staying at before confirming any bookings. Beach trippers would be better off staying at the Kuta or Seminyak area while if you're more of the countryside kind of person try taking up a resort in the Ubud area instead.

The beach Tripper.

Undoubtedly Bali is known all over the world for its famed beaches. However what you need to be aware of is that the beaches can vary dramatically in terms of facilities, crowd, water sport facilities, access and many other factors. Of course, as it usually is , more secluded beaches are definately much more pristine and beautiful but may come at the cost of having fewer facilities, water sports and other amenities. 

So i'd think it totally depends on each ones' choice. The typical southern beach route would be to go to beaches like Jimbaran, dreamland ,pandawa and perhaps Nusa Dua. While the beaches are close by in terms of distance, traffic is more and hence it could be take 30-40 mins between beaches depending on traffic. I'd like to share what we did here. We visited Jimbaran which is known not only for its beautiful beach which is white sand and blue waters but also for a bunch of seafood restaurant shacks located along the beach.

I'd definately recommend doing this once in your trip. The vibe of sitting by the amazing beach and savoring some fresh seafood and seabreeze , doesn't get better than that. If you're lucky (and we were) , serenaders may be parading around and busking with some enjoyable acoustic music and songs.

Be kind and tip them if you do happen to have cash/change. From there head out to Pandawa beach for water sports like parasailing, kayaking, rapelling etc. I didn't try any of the water sports , but i heard costs are high and you may have to bargain for a good price. It's still lesser than what you'd pay for the same experience in some of the exotic Indian Ocean island destinations like Maldives or Mauritius though.

Since the beach however itself was quite crowded, we asked our tour guide for a less crowded and he told us of the neighboring Melasti beach. We took a chance on it , and we didn't regret it one bit at all. The beach was hardly a 10-15 mins drive from Pandawa but much much less crowded , beautiful lagoon like waters and peaceful to the best. We spent a good 90-120 mins at this beach. I'd totally recommend this, though be informed that there aren't facilities like water sports, cash machines , shops or eateries like you'd get at the neighboring  Pandawa , dreamland or Nusa Dua beaches. Note , all beaches have a tourist development entrance fee but it's minimal but the beach areas are well developed and maintained. We didn't try the northern beaches of Lovina , Gigi islands etc but i've heard these are very pretty too.

Exercise basic safety rules when swimming, watch out for tide changes, dont swim where it's prohibited, stay away from the strong currents and waves. Some of the beaches do not have lifeguards. 

The mountain and adventure Junkie

The Ubud area in central Bali is known for the adventure and thrill seeker's paradise. Home to the mountainous terrain of Bali it houses some  high rise peaks towering more than 1500 mts above sea level. A typical trip to the Ubud area would take you to the handicraft shop, art shops and galleries (there are plenty of these and most of the woodwork is all handcrafted by artisans), the silver and gold factory, followed by a visit to a coffee estate, kintamani (from where you get a magnificent view of the active volcano Mount Batur and the Batur lake) and finally the Tegallelland rice terraces. The Rice terraces offer some adventure sports like the famour Bali Swing, rapelling, etc. Also, Mount Batur can be trekked with organized trekkng groups starting at 3 am to see the sunrise which is around 6 am. (we didn't try this though). If you are not up for the trek, make sure you get to Kintamani which is across from Mount Batur and offers a magnificent view of the volcano. Sometimes though, if its foggy / cloudy may not get such a great view. The place is generally cool (much much more than coastal parts like Kuta etc.) because of the altitude. The Ubud area can be reached within a hours or so drive from the coastal towns of Kuta / Seminyak

The temple Runner

Bali is known for it's temples strewn all across the Island. The temples have a unique architecture which our guide explained to us. Foreigners are not allowed to enter any of the temples at all, only locals accompanied by temple priests. The temple is usually opened only when there are special occassions and ceremonies. This is a little unfortunate as you'd hope as a tourist you'd be able to visit the inside of the temples too, but thinking of the long term its' probably good as it helps avoid misuse, dirtying and corwding of the temple premises by tourists and helps maintain it's sanctity. The temples have the most beautiful and prime locations on the island.

For instance the famed Tanah Lot temple located on a Rock just off the coast and into the sea, the Uluwatu temple located precariously off a cliff and facing the sea front or the Besakhi temple located by the Batur lake and at the base of Mount batur. I'd recommend visiting all these temples, as a temple runner and culture enthusiast I did visit all these temples. In addition, as you're driving , especially in the Ubud area and other rural areas , you'd see many temples located across the countryside. Extremely beautiful and picture worthy. Do however check with you tour guide if you can stop for a picture. I got to learn that sometimes the locals do not 

like pictures being taken of the temples so your guide may put in a word in the local language to help you get one. A MUST DO in Bali which typically combines with a visit to the Uluwatu temple is the World famous Kecak dance. SPanning an hour and takes place at a specially designed amphi theater close to the uluwatu temple the drama / play like dance enacts scenes from the Hindu holy scripture of Ramayana. The act is I'd say easily world class and an experience only to be got at Bali. I'd recommend this activity really high even if it must come at the cost of something else do try to set aside one hour to experience the Kecak dance. It starts by 6 pm and 

takes about an hour. Coupled with the ocean view, sunset and the fire torches its an experience to remember. The entrance ticket can be obtained at the temple entrance itself but there are limited seats so don't be late.

Exchanging Money

Visit only authorized exchange outlets or banks. Rate may differ only to the tune of 100-200 RP / USD which is way better than exchanging with non authorized places that claim to provide a better rate or touts. Its quite known that the latter tend to cheat toursts by offering better rates but providing wrong value or fake notes

Biking Around

Didn;t try this but Bali is known for bike rentals and riding around the island. Bikes are a convenient way to get across however there are some golden to know rules. First is all riders must wear helmets, you need to possess a international driving license and not be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Most importantly though, riding in Bali is a way of it's own. Criss crossing, lane changing, signal beating, overspeeding aren't uncommon so be careful and factor all these in before you decide to do a bike rental.

Trying Food

Must Try : Kopi Luwak: known as the most expensive coffee in the world, the coffee Luwak comes out of the poop of the civet called the Luwak.

A visit to the coffee estate will not only allow you to sample this world famous coffee but also give you a tour of how the coffee is made, along with other varieties of coffee of course. Beware though, this coffee is really rich and heavy so even a small cup can make you feel extremely stuffed. To savor a cup of Luwak coffee, it tastes much more thrilling at one of the coffee estates in the Ubud area.

Oriental cuisines: Bali is known for it's oriental cuisines. Restaurants offering from Local food , to chinese , thai, indian , vietnamese japanese and much more. Do visit the Kuta Square area which has a host of restaurants offering cuisines from around the world. Of course needless to say for the less adventourous , the standard fast food options have all set foot in Bali though offerings may be more localised or custom but the standard options do exist. If at a local restaurant, do not limit yourself to the famed Nasi or Mie Goreng but explore other options too. Pork and beef preparations are famous on the island and consumed by the locals too. Their most famous dish is Babi Guling (roast pork) and these stalls are all over so you cannot miss this option.

Shopping

Bali has loads of areas to shop around. From the malls with the big brands to the road side vendors. Rates can vary quite a bit , but then so can quality. The Kuta beach road offers lots of hawkers and street vendors sellign a variety of stuff but bargain hard for a good rate. Also do check the quality of what you're purchasing before making it. For souveniours to make life easier, there are dedicated souveniour shops many places which would contain some of the bali essentials like Coffee (of course), oils and soaps, trinkets, tees and caps, incense

sticks, handicrarfts and other such merchandise.

All in all, Bali is known for its pleasant people, nice climate, views and vistas, cuisines and I can say for certain it

didn't disappoint on any of these fronts. Exercise basic cautionary principles like staying away from touts, doing your research on the hotel and area you're staying at, choose your activities wisely , ensure you pay respect to the people and their rich culture and you're good to go. We spent 4 nights , but we have heard of people who visit multiple times a year to simply take a chill pill.