No-Beach Bali (Part 1): Exploring Bali's Majestic Past

Prologue:

- My friends Marga and Clarisse, and I have long wanted to go somewhere far together, since we would always only meet up within Manila, and so we booked tickets to Bali a year ago during the Cebu Pacific promo-fare period. Aside from celebrating 10 years of friendship, we also wanted to see Bali beyond its beaches; we wanted to learn more about Bali's cultural and historical heritage, especially since it is the only predominantly Hindu-Indonesian community left in Indonesia after Indonesia's mass islamization. Since we could only afford a few days off from the things that we're doing, Bali was a good choice. The island is only 10 times the size of Metro Manila, making it a small island good for three days (a longer stay would have been better though, like a week;) we had an early flight back home on the 4th day, so we only had three days to explore.

- A week before our trip, there was a volcanic eruption in Eastern Java. We were worried about Bali since the island of Bali is located at the eastern coast of Java. Fortunately, Bali was not at all affected by the eruption, as confirmed by our inn, van-rental agency, and my Balinese friend Pram. Apart from this, we were also worried about the weather; it was a low season in Bali because February is part of the Balinese rainy season. We hoped that the rain wouldn't interfere with our meticulously-made itinerary.

The Trip:

- February 22, 2014, Saturday.

-  We met at my house on the 21st of February after I attended a friend's debut, and left for the airport at half past midnight. Our flight was scheduled at 4 in the morning, so we had no choice but to take some naps at the airport; it was my first time to sleep inside an airport and I did not like it one bit. Well, we didn't have a choice since Cebu Pacific only had one flight to Bali from Manila on Tuesdays and Saturdays (4am-8am,) and only one flight from Bali to Manila (8:30am-12:30pm) on both days as well.

- We arrived in Bali on time, and we were greeted by the warm sun on paradise island. We met our driver Mr. Karyu from Bali Agung Tours. I hired our van online, much like our inn. Karyu drove us to Nakula Familiar Inn in Denpasar, so we could check-in first and leave our luggage there. We reserved for an air-conditioned twin bedroom with an extra bed for three nights. When converted to peso, each of us would only spend around 300php per night. However, our room looked like a decent hotel room, minus the amenities, and a big factor that made us decide on reserving a room with Nakula Familiar Inn was because of the many positive reviews in Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor. Well, the reviews didn't lie. Ibu Adi, the owner, was also very hands-on and very accommodating to all her guests. She personally welcomed us too. (Too bad I wasn't able to take photos of the inn, and more importantly, a remembrance photo with Ibu Adi; by the way, her name is ""Adi," and "ibu" is like "madam" in Bahasa Indonesia.)

Hello Bali!! :D:D:D:D

Garuda.

Garuda with Wisnu (Vishnu.)

- After leaving our bags, we left with Karyu to the nearby Bajra Sandhi Monument. The monument is called as such because the tower is shaped like a "bajra/vajra," the thunderbolt of Indra; it is also made in honor of the Balinese struggles throughout history. Inside the intricately-carved monument, a series of dioramas on Baliense history can be found. Climbing the never-ending spiral stairs to the top of the tower made us dizzy, but the view from the tower was not to be missed.

Our first destination in Bali.

Bajda Sandhi Monument.

Marga found her name.

View from the top.

- We had lunch afterwards, and had Balinese spiced fish and Bali's famous fried "bebek" (duck.) We also got to try godo-godo, a kind of vegetable salad with a generous amount of peanut sauce. It was one of my favorite dishes in Bali.

- In the early afternoon, we had an hour's journey to Pura Tanah Lot in Tabanan, at the southwestern side of Bali. The 15th-century temple was built on a rock just a bit off the shore, and during the low tide, a pathway from the shore to the temple would emerge, and people could go visit the temple. Sadly it was high tide during our visit, and a bit of rain showered too. (My photos of Tanah Lot would be nicer too if the sky were sunny and blue.) Near the parking lot, a long stretch of shops with cheap souvenirs and snack bars could be found.

See that.

It was very windy, and slightly rainy.

- The highlight of our first day was our visit to Pura Uluwatu, another iconic Balinese Hindu temple, located at the southern trip of Bali. It is one of the nine directional temples designated to protect Bali. This 11th-century temple is located at the cliff of a mountain with a breath-taking view of the rocky shoes below being pounded by powerful waves. However, it is infamous for its naughty (not the "dirty" kind naughty) monkeys; thankfully, we saw only a few monkeys who didn't bother the tourists when we were there. Also, the temple stages a kecak chant and fire dance everyday during sunset, except during extreme weather conditions. Tickets to the kecak and monkey dance are worth 50,000 rupiah, and is separate from the smaller entrance fee to Uluwatu itself.

This is the view during a cloudy-and-slightly-rainy day; what more if it were sunny!!

Uluwatu.

Almost sunset.

Momma monkey and her kiddo monkey.

While waiting for the performance to start.

Around 70 men chanted; some groups have as much as 250 mem.

Rama and Sita.

Golden Deer.

Ravana.

Ravana changed himself into an old and thirsty hermit to lure Sita out of the house.

Garuda!!

Sugreeva, the monkey king.

Rama, Lakshman, and Hanuman.

Sita and Ravana's niece.

Hanuman stealing the spotlight from the other dancers; he liked to play around with the audience. Haha.

 - During the kecak performance, the sky did not only give a golden sunset, but a rainbow painted on the purple sky opposite the sunset. Couldn't get better than this!!

Rainbow!!

- The fire dance on the other hand highlights the climax of the Ramayana epic. This is when Hanuman was punished by the Lanka court by setting his tail on fire. Hanuman sets himself free, and goes around Lanka with a bunt tail, burning the whole kingdom of Ravana. Rama and Sita go back to Ayodhya, and without the Uttarakanda (the controversial last "chapter" of Ramayana, sometimes not included in the narration of the epic,) everyone lived happily ever after.

Fire dance: Hanuman dancing around a fire, kicking the lit hay.

Curtain call.

With my kecak homies yo!! :D:D:D:D

Sunset photo!!

With Ravana's niece.

With Hanuman.

With Rama.

Dancer in the dark, minus Bjork.

- The kecak monkey chant was originally a trance-like ritual performed by Balinese men. When German artist Walter Spies went to Bali in the 1930s, he became interested in it, and infused this trance performance with dance scenes from the Balinese version of the Ramayana. While initially intended for Western audiences, the Balinese have since then fully embraced this relatively "new" form of Balinese art.

-  We went straight to the hotel after the performance, and had the challenge of finding dinner; it was already 9 when we arrived at our hotel, and most restuarants nearby have closed, except for one small nameless local restaurant that served grilled seafood. The restaurant only had 5 dishes: grilled squid, grilled fish, grilled shellfish, grilled prawns/shrimp, and sauteed vegetables with sauce and nuts. The price was incredibly cheap, but the food was way above our expectations; the fish served to us was very fat and moist.

- Now that we have experienced Bali for the first day, we somehow knew that the following days would bring better things to us, although we still kept praying that the weather wouldn't give us a hard time in the next two days.