My Bali Blog

Below posts from my Bali visit March 8th to 21th 2019 where our driver Dewa showed us the best of his magical island of Bali - Beautiful Rice Fields, Amazing Temples, Religious Ceremonies and Religious Dances, Cultural and Local life in Bali as well as Stunning Nature. 

A total of five day tours. Posts with videos, pictures and day by day description - Tour posts marked 'Excursion' in the topic:
Day 3 - Temples, Batur and Tegalalang
 - Rice fields, Gunung Kawi and Tirta Empul Temples, Batur Volcano and Tegalalang Rice terraces 
Day 4 - Pura Ulun Danu and Jatiluwih
 - Pura Ulun Danu Bratan Temple and Jatiluwih rice terraces 
Day 6 - Ubud Area 
- Private home, Puri Agung, Pura Batuan 
Day 8 - Eastern Bali 
- Barong and Kris Dance, and Tirta Gangga 
Day 12 - Tanah Lot og Uluwatu 
- Tanah Lot, Enjung Galu and Uluwatu temples. Kecak Ramayana & Fire Dance

The text is translated from Danish Language to English - some might not be well translated - some might still in Danish Language.

The first day of the visit is the last post. Just note that there are 3 web pages with posts - click on 'Older Posts'.

Day 14 - From Bali to Singapore

This was our last day in Bali before our cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong.
At 8:30 am we were ready to leave the Marriott Nusa Dua Gardens. Dewa, our driver had already arrived - we were just waiting for our suitcases to be brought to the front desk. Goodbye and thank you - then towards the airport. The traffic was very moderate so it didn't take more than 30 minutes before we arrived at the airport. 
We said goodbye to Dewa. First, all our luggage had to go through security checks - no problems. Checked in and then we had to go through a security check ourselves.

In security I got my  power pack confiscated - it was 36000 mWh  - the limit which was early legal, but  half a year ago it was changed to 32000 mWh. No problems when we left Denmark, nor in Singapore when we traveled to Bali. 
We had some breakfast in the Airport Premier Lounge and at 12:05 SQ 939 took off towards Singapore. Landed in Singapore and quickly got through the immigration, got a taxi and after a drive of about 20 min we arrived at the Marriott Hotel Tang Plaza ready for our Singapore to Hong Kong adventure.

Day 13 - Last day in Bali

Last day in Bali. Relaxing at the balcony. 
In the afternoon we started packing the suitcases and washed some clothes. From the restaurant, the manager came with a bottle of Chardonney and some snacks with a greeting from Novi Murad - the site's CEO, whom we had talked to previously. Before dinner we just went for a short walk. For dinner we got Sate Plesing Besar - beef skewers with beef, served with a warm salad of finely sliced green beans and of course rice. One of our favorite dinners here in Bali. 
Time to say goodbye to the staff of the restaurant. 
It was very hot and humid  - the result was a huge rain shower. In the distance we could hear music from a nearby temple.

Day 12 - Tanah Lot og Uluwatu - Excursion

At noon, Dewa picked us up for the day's excursion. We drove to the west coast of Bali and the Tanah Lot Temple located close to the city of Tabanan. A total of 35 km from Nusa Dua, but due to chaotic traffic and lots of scooters, the trip took 1 hour and 20 min. Tanah Lot is a Hindu temple dedicated to Dewa Baruna, one of the gods of the sea. Tanah Lot means "Land in the Sea" in Balinese. The temple, which was built in the 16th century, is located on a large rock out in the sea, which has been shaped over the years by the tides of the sea. It was low tide and we could almost go out to the temple, right next door is another Hindu temple, Enjung Galu - though not as famous as Tanah Lot.  

Tanah Lot

Tanah Lot

Enjung Galu

We now drove back towards Nusa Dua through the tourist towns of Seminyak and Kuta to Uluwatu - a small 11th-century Hindu temple. The temple is facing the sea and located high on a cliff. The temple is inhabited by monkeys notorious for snapping visitors' belongings, so we had to make sure to pack both glasses and hats if we didn't want to lose them. From the temple, two paths go high up the cliffs - we walked on both of them to see the temple at a distance and the great location high on the cliff. 
Overlooking the temple is an amphitheater built where on select evenings a traditional dance show is performed, as it is performed in many temples in Bali - Uluwatu Kecak Ramayana & Fire Dance. A religious dance taken from the mythology performed by many male dancers.

The name Kecak derives from the hypnotic and repetitive rhythmic song that the men sing: "chak-ka-chak-ka-chak". The performance began at 6 pm - a fascinating experience accompanied by sunset over the sea and overlooking the temple on the rock. By the time the show finished at 18:45 it had become completely dark. - Going back to Nusa Dua took an hour. 
Back at the hotel we had dinner - Nasi Goreng - which we had had before, but it tastes very good. Our last day of excursion in Bali was over.

Uluwatu tempel

Kecak Ramayana

Uluwatu tempel

Sunset

Kecak Ramayana &..

Fire Dance

Day 11 - At the Pool - Hotel

No plans for today - spent the day - relaxing on  the balcony and partly by the pool. 
Late in the afternoon it was raining.
For dinner we got Black Fettucini Prawns - and like all the other evenings it was very delicious. We ended with a couple of balls of ice cream - coconut and banana / chocolate ice cream.

Day 10 - Sunday in Nusa Dua - At the hotel

It did rain heavily the entire night. The heavy rainfall had been far from normal and in Indonesia itself had caused landslides and accidents with several dead. 
In the bar of the restaurant here, the ceiling had fallen down. 
The sun was shining and we spent a few hours by the pool eating satay from the grill for lunch. In the afternoon we went for a walk to the Bali Collection.  Some shopping and it also turned into a cup of ice cream in Starbucks. On the way back we walked through a street with local merchants and restaurants. When we went out for dinner that evening, it had started to rain again

For dinner we got Bebek Betutu, which is long-fried duck or chicken - we got chicken. It is a delicacy in Indonesian and Balinese cuisine. The meat is rubbed into a mix of spices and fried in banana leaves for 8 hours. The chicken was filled with pak choy and garlic. We got it served with cooked rice, small bowls of pickled onions (usually also with chili in strips), deep-fried onions and soy sauce, and jackfruit soup. Getting the chicken cut out at the table was a bit of a challenge! Usually the dish is pretty spicy, but the chef had adapted the amount of spices to our Northern European taste buds. It tasted super good. 

Bebek Betutu

preparation of the food...

... well done

Day 9 - Nusa Dua Gardens - The hotel

Breakfast along the pool side. The breakfast buffet is very delicious and sumptuous - here's everything you can think of. Various freshly squeezed juices, fruits, vegetables cut neatly, salads, omelette with fillings of your choice, mirror eggs and scrambled eggs cooked when you order it, lots of warm dishes, breads and cakes - a table exclusively with Indonesian breakfast such as  soups, fish and rice noodles. On the cake table i.a. Danish pantry, banana cake and pumpkin pie. But also small Asian cakes made from rice flour and sagomel. 
A relaxing day at the pool and on the balcony.

Omelets and wafles

hot dishes

Indonesian breakfast

fruits

vegetables

bread

juice

cold cuts

Omelet with vegetables

At one point we could smell that a barbecue was lit by the pool and I couldn't control my curiosity - I had to go down and see what was going on - it resulted in  a plate of satay (small skewers) of chicken, fish and beef, a sauce of peanuts, slightly sliced carrots and rice rolls. It tasted really nice.

It had been raining all afternoon - at 15, we decided to go to the pool. However, we no longer had one just laid on the sunbed before it started to drip and we went in again. It looked like it was clearing up, but it only lasted so it started to rain - there was a lot of rain that we have never seen before - and it kept going. The trip to the restaurant in the evening was with umbrellas and plastic sandals - the water stood several cm high on the tiles. For dinner we got a lovely Sate Plesing Besar with chicken and for desert Bika Ambon. 

Raining

Sate Plesing Besar

Bika Ambon

Day 8 - Eastern Bali - Excursion

We were picked up by our private driver / guide at 8 am. Today's trip went to the eastern part of Bali. We started by driving to Gianyar, which is just east of Ubud. Here we visited the Nadisurai Batik Collection, where they weave different types of fabric and decorate with patterns either by hand-painted batik or by printing with paint. We saw the batik process demonstrated. Bought a very beautiful silk scarf for 1,380,000 Rp, equivalent to about USD 100. After a very short drive we came to the Sahadewa theater, where we saw the performance 'Barong and Kris Dance' - a ritual dance as it is performed in the temples in Bali at this year's holidays. It was a classic tale 'Colon Arang' from the 12th century about good versus evil. The baron (a tiger) is a benevolent spirit to protect Bali from the widow and witch queen Rangda. In the dance, two male dancers participate in a heavily adorned tiger costume, as well as dancers depicting monkeys, priests, Rangda, servants and villagers. A both tragic and at the same time very humorous tale with dancers in very beautiful and colourful costumes accompanied by an "orchestra" playing on percussion instruments and flutes. The show lasted 1 hour - we sat in a large open but covered theatre - and fortunately for it - in the middle of the show a huge rainstorm broke out with huge amounts of water.

The servants arrived

Barong (tiger)

Prieasts

We continued along the east coast north to Tirta Gangga, which is a royal water garden and temple. Tirta Gangga was severely damaged by the hot ash from Mount Agung volcano - Bali's highest mountain - when it erupted in 1963 and hit the village of Ababi, located on the southeastern slope of Mount Agung, but Tirta Gangga has subsequently been restored. The lavish water gardens - 12,000 m2 - owned by the Royal Karangasem family include water pools, ponds and fountains surrounded by finely mown lawns, paths, and tropical gardens adorned with statues and figurines. Many of the characters are the same ones we visualized in 'Barong and Kris Dance'.   Send feedback History Saved Community

Tirta Gangga

Barong (tiger)

Colon Arang priests

Lotus flower

the garden

water pond

On the way back to Nusa Dua and we stopped along the way at the fishing camp Kusamba, where salt is still produced according to old methods. Seawater is poured over black lava sand. When the sand is dry again, it is placed in vessels and the salt washed out with water, after which the water evaporates in the sun and only the crystalline white salt remains. Everything is very primitive. The traffic was running very, very slowly - we were back in Nusa Dua at 16. It turned into a couple of jugs of tea on the balcony before we went to dinner - swordfish with potato / pea puree and caper butter sauce - no spices today.  

Getting salt water from the sea

Salt cottage

evaporating the water