Bali!!! This
was one of my 2012 resolutions and I accomplished it. It was my remarkable and tremendous trip that
I ever went and which is the one I went with my own funding. ^_^ We had planned
for this trip one year ahead. We arranged air tickets, hotel rooms and
everything six months ago. That is why, we got cheaper price everything. If you want cheaper price, do booking and buy air tickets as soon as possible. I would like to suggest you should bring also sun glasses, hat, short pants, medicine (if you love sea food :P) and around 1500 U$ dollars. Don't bring a lot of dresses because you could buy at bali where got plenty of textiles and varieties of fabrics. As a
citizen of Myanmar, we need to do a visa to entry Indonesia. I realized that save
the time, when we got Bali. I went to Bali through Singapore because I needed to
wait another two buddies who flew from Dubai. We left around 12-30 pm
(Singapore time) with whole of excitement. On the way to Bali, we were
discussing about what we should there and how marvelous, amazing and
fantastic it would be.
When you ask me what Bali means
to me and you’ll get as many answers as there are flowers on a frangipani,
enchanting temple ceremonies, mesmerizing dance performances and ribbons of
beaches are just some of the images of people cherish. There are pleasures of
the body, whether a massage on the beach or a hedonistic interlude in a
sybaritic spa. Shopping that will put ‘extra bag’ at the top of your list. Food
and drink ranging from the freshest local cuisine to food from around the
globe, often prepared by chefs and served in restaurants that are world class.
1st day of Bali
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| entrance gate of Kuta airport |
As soon as we arrived to
airport, we saw the traditional entrance gate which is decorated with ogre
statue and it is beautiful. Besides, we felt the smell of Bali in the air. Bali
is one of the tourist destination and we saw many Russians and Australians
there though September is not tourist season. You will not believe if I say
there are over 200 people waiting to get arrival visas. Fortunately, we already
got visas before trip so that we didn’t need to stand in the visas
application’s queue; nevertheless, we had to wait at immigration check point
about one hour to get out of the airport. When we checked the exchange rate at
airport’s money exchange counter, the conversion rate is 1$ for 9200Rp. OMG!!!!
their inflation rate is so high.Don't change money at air port because their pay rate is lower than outside. We had to pay 70000 Rp ($8) for taxi fare from
airport to hotel, which is the first time paying over 70k for one way taxi fare
in our life.
On the way to hotel, we
saw some buildings look like shrine in front of every house. So we were wondering
what it is for and how it is related to Bali’s culture. Also, we heard that
their religion is Hindu and they believe in magic.
paru or shrine (that locates in front of every
house in bali)
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| Balinese people |
The Balinese worship the Hindu
trinity Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu, who are seen as manifestations of the Supreme
God Sanghyang Widhi. Other Indian gods like Ganesha (the elephant-headed god)
also often appear, but more commonly, one will see shrines to the many gods and
spirits that are uniquely Balinese. Balinese believe strongly in magic and the
power of spirits and much of their religion is based upon this. They believe
that good spirits dwell in the mountains and that the seas are home to demons
and ogres. Most villages have at least three main temples; one, the Pura Puseh
or 'temple of origin', faces the mountains and is dedicated to the village
founders, another, the Pura Desa or village temple, is normally found in the
centre and is dedicated to the welfare of the village, the last, the Pura
Dalem, is aligned with the sea and is dedicated to the spirits of the dead.
Aside from these 'village' temples, almost every house has its own shrine and
you can also find monuments dedicated to the spirits of agriculture, art and
all other aspects of life. Some temples, Pura Besakih for example, on the
slopes of Mount Agung, are considered especially important and people from all
over Bali travel to worship there.
(I think you might interest about Taksu, that is why I found out some
information from internet and Balinese people)
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| Ramayana Resort |
When we get Ramayana Resort they
treat us with welcoming lemon drinks. It is a 4 star hotel and when we step to
lobby we felt their hospitability and nice visitor room. The best culture I love
in bali is every men and women are willing to put sagawah flower on their head.
Ramayana hotel is located in a nice place and can go to kuta beach by walking.
After we did showering, we went to walk along the street which has bars, pubs
and sea food restaurants. Kuta
is all about bacchanalian nights and rampant commerce. Prepare yourself for
plenty of attention from the shopkeepers and armies of hawkers that comb the
streets here.
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| 900000 RP Dinner :D |
We had dinner at Discovery Kartika Plaza Hotel feeling the breeze coming across the sea. It costs around 900000 Rp (around 100 $) for 3 persons. But it was nice. =D After having great great dinner there, we walked along the street and explored the tour services for tomorrow trip. We chose to go UBUD and hired car for one day and it costs 50 dollars. I think it is cheaper than Myanmar because they provide service from 7 am to 8pm with luxurious air-conditioned car. When we were back to hotel room, it was already around 10 pm and we had sound sleep at that night since we all were so tired. =)
