Celebrating in KL no longer seemed to be special. There's nothing more that I can think of other than fine dining, clubbings, dinners, & karaokes. These seemed to be fun back in those days, but after awhile, they don't seemed to bring on any effects. So, I'd decided to take it out of the country. From now on.
Flew 3 hours from LCCT to Denpasar Airport via Air Asia. It's the only airport on the island. Touched down around noon and had a hard time locating our driver. It was a scene to be remembered. At the arrival hall, beyond the gates, were about a hundred drivers and tour guides, holding place cards, waiting for the arrival of their passengers and guests. I mean a hundred! We got stunned at the gates, with a "wah" on our lips and went, "Which one is ours?" We scrutinized the place cards, looked from left to right, right to left, and finally saw this card with our names at the left hand corner. Mr Made it is.
The itinerary had been roughly planned out earlier. As time was limited, we've only chosen places of interests. The "must visit" places. The places whereby you won't deemed to have visited Bali if you haven't been to them. And according to Mr Made, there are 4 things where Bali is famous for - their temples, their scenic mountain views, their rice terraces and their rich culture.
1) Uluwatu Temple
Our very first stop. The temple on the cliff. Visitors weren't allowed in so this was all we've got. The view was breath-taking. The feeling was indescribable - to have the strong sea wind in your face coupled with the serenity of the view. Imagine standing at the very tip of the cliff with nothing but the sea below...
2) Taman Ayun Temple
Being a first-timer to Bali, I've realized that all their temples were built is the same way. Like the ones you see above. Layer upon layer. The only difference would be the way they structured it. The way they were "arranged".
3) Lake Beratan Temple
I call it the mystifying temple. Located on Lake Beratan and surrounded by a mountain. Watching it from far gives it a sense of mystery. An untold story waiting to be unfold.
4) Kintamani Mountain and Batur Lake
We missed this due to the poor weather. It was raining on the day we planned the visit. The area around the lake and the mountain were covered with mists and fogs and there was nothing much to view. We had no choice but to turn around. What a waste!
5) Jatih Luwih
This was not being planned. We had extra time from forfeiting the Kintamani tour so Mr Made decided to bring us here instead. The journey in took 2 hours and it was worth it. A note to future tourists, tell your drivers to take you all the way in. The view is much better deeper into the rice terrace. You could stop by any where by the road for pictures. It's the best birthday gift I ever had - just by being on the field.
6) Besakhih Temple
The mother of all temples. Built on Mount Agung. And even then, you still got to climb numerous stairs to get to the top. It's like a stairway to heaven. Perhaps it was built with that intention. Amazing architecture. Amazed at how they aligned rocks after rocks to form the temple structure. A guide had been "provided" to us. For a fee of course. And as he explained, there were 4 parts to the temple - the main courtyard, the temple of the sun god, the temple of the fire god and the temple of the wind god. A tour of the entire place takes 2 hours.
And it was the temple of the sun god which got me mesmerized.
2 dragons guarding its entrance. You've got to walk further to the back of Besakhih to reach it. Up another slope. The sun god was deemed the most powerful. There were 3 different flights of stairs to reach the main prayer courtroom. It was majestic. I can almost feel that I'm in heaven.
7) Balinese culture
Balinese practices Hinduism. Yes, I was surprised too. And I would like to say that we were pretty lucky that our vacation coincides with their New Year - the Nyepi, which falls on March 23rd each year. We got to witness their celebration. As explained by our guide, there would be processions by the different villages in the few days leading to the Nyepi, processions to various temples for prayers. On the eve of Nyepi, each village would prepare different forms of ogoh-ogoh, demons of their legend, to be paraded on the streets before being burned in cemetaries. To rid of bad omens. On New Year's day, they are to observe a day of silence. No one is allowed on the streets, no one is to work, no one is allowed to switch on lights, even their only airport is closed for the day. Tourists are to strictly remain in their hotels. It is tradition to which they adhered to.
Prayer processions
One of the ogoh-ogohs
I am fascinated with Balinese sculptures, especially their doors
We were lucky to have our return flight booked on the eve of Nyepi, or we'll be stuck in our hotels for an entire day.
It was a vacation to be remembered. Free and relaxing. I left with a heavy heart. I wouldn't mind returning for another time. Or a few more times for that matter.
I had a great birthday this year!
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