Bali ToursHighlights of Bali tour
AUD$35 per person - 9am-5pm - min 2, but you can go alone with another couple that the tour company organises, like I did. Company is Tour East
Kintamani Volcano/Mount Batur
making of a Gamelan Orchestra
Archaelogical Museum
Sri Batu (cheap saffron!)
Panglipuran Village
Bakit Jati (nice views!)
an expensive lunch at Kintamani Restaurant (85,000Rp) but all-you-can-eat
62 361 725833 or saptadps@indo.net.id
I went on it, I wouldn't go on it again, but if you are going to go on this tour, I would recommend that you do it in the first couple of days of arriving in Bali as it gives you a good overview of the Balinese culture. I went in my last week, after being there almost a month and didn't appreciate it as much as I could've, but I still had a good day.
Just across the water from East Java sits Bali, the longtime jewel in the crown of Indonesian tourism, a tiny island of elegant temples, verdant landscape and fine surf.
The biggest resorts are the party towns of Kuta and adjacent Legian, with the more subdued beaches at Lovina and Candi Dasa appealing to travellers not hell-bent on raging nightlife.
Most visitors also spend time in Bali's cultural centre of Ubud, whose lifeblood continues to be painting, carving, dancing and music-making.
The islands east of Bali – collectively known as Nusa Tenggara – are now attracting bigger crowds, particularly neighbouring Lombok, with its beautiful beaches and temples.
East again, the chance of seeing the world's largest lizards, the Komodo dragons, draws travellers to Komodo and then it's an easy hop across to Flores which has great surfing, and the unforgettable coloured crater lakes of Keli Mutu.
South of Flores, Sumba is famous for its intricate fabrics, grand funeral ceremonies and extraordinary annual ritual war, the pasola.
Lombok - Music & Dance (has dances not found elsewhere in Indonesia, but not marketed, exclusive to luxury hotels and village of Lenek)
Religion 90% Islam/Muslims
The peak tourist season is between mid-June and mid-September and again over the Christmas and New Year season.
Villages:
Celuk - noted for silver and goldsmithing
Mas - woodcarving
The Bali Barrat National Park = flora & fauna, hot springs, guided jungle treks, animals (monkeys, deer, reptiles, birds).
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Guide to Bali - Part Two
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My Bali Tour Story:
Today I went on an all-day tour of Bali.
The tour was called "highlights of Bali" and costed about 270,000R, which is very expensive, but as it was with my first tour-company, I knew it would be less personal which is the kind of tour I felt like, one where I didn't have to "keep a smile on my face just to re-assure them I'm having a good time".
Tour East picked me up at 9am. I can't remember the names of the places we went, and I've lost the map they gave us, but we drove from Kuta through Denpasar to a village to see how they make a gamelan orchestra. The guys who normally show you how it's done were attending a village ceremony, so the guide just explained the process of mixing 2 parts copper with 1 part steel, etc. He showed us how they play the instruments.. gamelan, bamboo gamelan, wooden flute (recorder), etc.
We then visited an "outdoor" Archaeological Museum which holds ancient coffins of Royal families dating back to 500BC - sarcophagus's (sp?) made of stone, in the shape of turtles, but for a human to fit in them, they would need to be "bent in"! These days, the Balinese cremate their dead because they believe it frees their soul.
We then went to Sri Batu? a place that grows and sells Balinese coffee, fruit, and spices. Cheap - but "tourist price". I spent 470,000 ($80) there on essential oils, ginger tea, spicy tea, cinnamon sticks, and saffron.
Then we drove to the mountains of Kintamani to view the active volcano of Mount Batai. Even with my binoculars, I couldn't "make out" the black lava that was apparently at the bottom, but the view was breathtaking. I was "wowed".. I took a picture, and I hope that it portrays an accurate image.
(bugger.. it doesn't!)
We then had lunch at Kintamani Restaurant which looks out to the volcano/mountains and lake. Very expensive restaurant, it costed 85,000 just for MY LUNCH ONLY! It was buffet style, the meal was cold for us but they "heated" it up after we had already been served which was pretty annoying. I could've fed 6 people for the price of that meal and it was cold, so I was pretty unimpressed and won't be recommending it to anyone.
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