Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Bali: Day 1

It was our long awaited trip after our last trip to Bangkok together last year. This trip was first suggested by my brother when AirAsia was having Great Sales. Since we had never been to Bali, we decided to join along. Unfortunately, my brother was not able to make it. Therefore, it was just us and his friends.

It was a 5-day-4-night trip, technically; it was already nightfall when we reached Bali so the first day was mostly spent in the aircraft.

So what did we really do on our first full day in Bali? My brother earlier had made an arrangement, a tour, in Bali with the local tour group.

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After breakfast, we were sent to watch Barong Dance. It is the most well known dance in Bali. This dance represents an eternal fight between good and evil spirits. A Barong (a mythological animal) represents the good spirit whereas Rangda (a mythological monster) represents the evil spirit. Honestly speaking, throughout the performance and as well as when the performance coming to an end, the hall was full of “question marks”.

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Next was Celuk Village where we were brought to Yan Yan. Celuk Village is the famous village in Bali for its proactive and full of innovative local residents on gold and silver crafting. Most of them are Balinese professional, artistic and skillful of design development related to the silver and gold crafting.

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After about one hour ride, we reached our next destination finally for some photography. This is Tegalalang Rice Terrace. I’d seen it in the pictures but didn’t know it would be this amazing as it is built on the cliff bank with beautiful valley. Tegalalang Village is famous with rice terrace but on the way to the village, you will find many shops selling woodcarving on both sides of the road.

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After a few minutes ride, we reached Kintamani to have our lunch at the local restaurant. There, there is a wonder and beautiful view of a still active volcano of Batur Mount and wide Lake of Batur in a valley.

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After lunch, we continued our journey to the next destination, Trisna Bali Agrowisata Natural Spices. It is one of the places where Luwak Coffee was produced.

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Last and final stop before we went to have our dinner was Tirtha Empul Temple or Tampak Siring Temple. It is famous for its Holy Water where Hindu Bali people go for purification. The picture above is the non-accessible Holy Water.

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We had dinner at Jukung Bali Seafood at Jimbaran. Well, it is said that the place is famous for its seafood. However, the food was not that great. I can get better ones in Penang though.

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