 |
| Balinese offerings for Gods |
Most of you probably know what "EAT, PRAY, LOVE" is & reportedly nowadays there are quite some tourists in Bali seeking "the last chapter" of it...
I`ve only used it as a catchy title ;)
Many years ago (like 15- 20) travel journalist Dmitrij Krilov featured BALI in his then very popular TV travel series & since then I had this image of Bali as a perfectly beautiful tropical paradise that was way too far to ever reach...
Turns out even childhood dreams (that were kinda forgotten) come true!!! :)
First impressions
- supper easy & fast Visa on arrival
- relaxed Balinese - airport customs officer suggesting Bali as a perfect honeymoon destination :))
- lots of water everywhere
- flowers
- beautiful "orange" architecture (my favourite colour!)
 |
| Balinese architecture: housees look like temples, temples - like palaces! |
Balinese don`t seem to be too bothered by tourists - they follow their daily routines & rituals, pray to Hindu gods & keep smiling :)
 |
| School day`s over |
Our very talkative taxi driver on our way to Ubud offers to stop for the famous LUWAK coffee - one of the world`s most expensive coffees. It is made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by Asian Palm Civet & then passed through its digestive tract...
 |
| Complimentary tea, chocolate & coffee set |
UBUD - Bali`s artistic centre! Beautiful area around UBUD is perfect for discovering the secrets of Balinese mystical culture!
 |
| Kecak dance (with hypnotizing chanting as a background, no musical instruments used) |
from Ubud we went for White River Rafting on Telaga Waya river - 16 km & 3 h of pure & wet excitement :)
 |
| as ready as you can ever be for 45 degree 4 m drop |
95% Balinese are Hindu. Temples are everywhere and offering are made on every corner, in front every house, shop; you can even see little offering dish inside most cars
Religious ceremonies take place very often in different temples
 |
| Village were a religious ceremony took place |
BALI & UBUD have its share of tasteful luxury...we had a peek at http://www.luwakubudvillas.com/ on the way back from one of the many villages around UBUD - quite nice!
 |
| Outside bathroom |
Bali is very famous for its SPA treatments. We tried some. One of them - fish doctors - little fishies consuming human skin :)
 |
fish doctors
|
Our Pradha hotel in UBUD
And then we rented a motorbike to see more of Bali...here`s how it went:
Many times we were lost & found again on the small village roads...many time we were inside clouds hardly seeing the road.... many times you could hardly call it a road...many times our motorbike had a really hard time getting us uphill that so called road...
 |
| Jatiluwih rice terraces |
 |
| Jatiluwih rice terraces |
 |
| Jatiluwih rice terraces |
 |
| Candikuning market |
 |
| Pura Ulun Danau Bratan |
 |
| Pura Ulun Danau Bratan regulars |
 |
| Pura Ulun Danau Bratan |
 |
| Pura Ulun Danau Bratan - magical temple on the lake |
 |
| Pura Ulun Danau Bratan - offerings |
 |
| We also met some friendly monkeys on the way |
 |
| Danau Buyuan lake |
 |
| Into the clouds |
By the sunset time we reached the Northern Coast of Bali - LOVINA - black sanded & laid-back beach
 |
| Dinner at the night market of Lovina |
 |
| our dinner :) - finger food - to be eaten using fingers as no tools are provided |
 |
Arak attack! (arak - "the" local drink) & some unplugged fun with the beach bar band
|
Lovina is famous for its morning dolphin watch tours ~6 am, but after the previous nights`s "Arak attack" these were the only dolphins we managed to see ;)
 |
| Famous Lovina dolphins ;) |
And we`re back on the bike...
 |
| Singaraja - Bali`s 2nd largest city with some Dutch colonial architecture... |
 |
| ..and a cool restaurant |
 |
| Pura Beji |
 |
| YEH SANIH fresh-water springs by the sea: refreshing dip on a hot day! |
 |
| And again riding uphill into the central mountains of Bali |
 |
| Kintamani |
 |
| View of Danau Batur lake from Kintamani |
 |
| View of Danau Batur lake & Gunung Batur active volcano from Kintamani |
 |
| View of Gunung Batur active volcano from Penelokan |
 |
Balinese lady
|
Temple ceremony...one of my Bali highlights!
Mystical Gamelan music, beautiful traditional clothes, dances, some animal sacrifice, some duck feathers flying, incense aroma... pure luck experiencing it in one of the villages on the road!
Sometimes taking the wrong turn takes you just where you wanna be - rooster fights!
Kinda hard to fit BALI into a blog post! At least I tried :)
Next - Lombok island with lots of surf & dreamy beaches ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment