Kuta is a town in southern Bali, Indonesia. A former fishing village, it was one of the first towns on Bali to see substantial tourist development, and as a beach resort remains one of Indonesia's major tourist destinations.It is known internationally for its long sandy beach, varied accommodation, many restaurants and bars, and convenience to Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport.
Kuta is now the center of an extensive tourist-oriented urban area that merges into the neighboring towns. Legian, to the north, is the commercial hub of Kuta and the site of many restaurants and entertainment spots. Most of the area's big beachfront hotels are in the southern section of Tuban.
Legian and Seminyak are northern extensions of Kuta along Jl. Legian and Jl. Basangkasa. They are somewhat quieter suburbs with cottage-style accommodations, where many of the expat crowd live. Also to the north are Petitenget, Berawa, Canggu, and Seseh - new and quieter continuations of Kuta's beach. They are easy to reach through Abian Timbul or Denpasar and Kerobokan. Several large hotels are located in this area: the Oberoi Bali, Hard Rock Hotel Bali, the Intan Bali Village, the Legian in Petitenget, the Dewata Beach and the Bali Sani Suites in Berawa.
To the south, Kuta Beach extends beyond the airport into Jimbaran. The Balinese Provincial Government have taken the view that the preservation of the Balinese culture, natural resources and wildlife are of primary importance in the development of the island. To this end they have limited tourist development to the peninsula on the extreme southern aspect of the island; Kuta beach is on the western side of this peninsula and Sanur is on the east. To the north of the peninsula no new tourist development is supposedly permitted.
Ngurah Rai Airport
Ngurah Rai Airport, also known as Bali International Airport, is located in southern Bali, 13 km south of Denpasar. It is Indonesia's third-busiest international airport, after Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and Surabaya's Juanda International Airport. The airport is located close to the extensive tourist developments of southern Bali; the resort center of Kuta is 2.5 km north of the airport.
Domestic Arrival and Departure Width: 9.039 m²
International Arrival and Departure Width: 28.630 m²
The parking area is 38.358 m².
The total terminal area is 265.60 Ha.
The Domestic Terminal is located in the old building, while the International Terminal is located in the L shaped terminal.
The airport has 17 gates: 3 in the Domestic Terminal, and 14 in the International Terminal.
The Domestic Terminal has 35 check in counters, and 2 baggage carousels.
Jimbaran
Restaurants on the beach near Jimbaran is a fishing village and tourist resort in Bali, Indonesia. Located just at the south of Ngurah Rai International Airport, the beach is cluttered with hotels from inexpensive homestays to five stars hotels. Tourism in Jimbaran has increased rapidly that has boosted local economy, but it suffered by the 2005 Bali bombings where the bomb exploded in one of the restaurants in Jimbaran.
Jimbaran lies on the 'neck' of the southern peninsula in Bali and is widely known for the fresh seafood kiosks that litter the beach. Diners select the seafood live that they wish to eat and it is prepared immediately. More recently, Jimbaran has become a popular location for foreigners to build villas.
Selasa, 28 Oktober 2008
Kuta Bali with its daily spectacular sunsets
Nusa penida's an island of southeast Bali
Nusa Penida is an island southeast of Bali island, Indonesia.
Administratively, the island is a subdistrict of Klungkung regency. There are two small islands nearby: Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. The Badung Strait separates the island and Bali. Diving sites Nusa Penida covers a wide area of diving locations. They are Penida Bay, Manta Point, Batu Meling, Batu Lumbung, Batu Abah,Toyapakeh and Malibu Point.
The flow through the Lombok Strait is, overall, south-tending, although the strength and direction of the tidal streams are influenced by the monsoon seasons. During the southeast monsoons, the tidal flow tends south; during the northeast monsoons, the tidal flow tends north. In the area of the strait north of Nusa Penida, the pattern is relatively simple, with a flow, at peaktide, of about three-and-one-half knots.
Tidal streams in Badung Strait are semi-diurnal, but the character of the stream is very complicated because its direction runs obliquely to the general south to north direction of Lombok Strait, and the channel has a curved shape.
Toyapakeh
Toyapakeh has a stretch of reefs, and in the southern part of the bay there is a similar area of rugged bommies, rich with color and fish. Big schools of fish, sea turtles, and occasionally Mola mola (sunfish) are highlight of Toyapakeh diving. Toyapakeh is special for its pillars of coral.
Malibu Point
Malibu Point is a diving site with gray reefs, reef white tips, silver-tips and numerous sharks. While Penida Bay is another anchorage, and the rocky islands have an interesting forms; something like an old resting elephant. The bay is vulnerable to swell, creating-up-and-down-currents. Then, Manta Point is a limestone rock off Pandan cafe. The swell is relatively strong.
Nusa Penida/Lembongan
Nusa Penida/Lembongan is a diving site with vast spread of coral reefs and good visibility. Big fishes are frequently observed at the area. Manta rays or sunfishes appear in the certain season. The site is also known of the very strong currents requiring divers some skills.
Pearls are a Girl’s Best Friend
Bali is famous for many things, and although pearls do not readily spring to mind, if you consider how and where pearls are cultivated you soon come to realise that Bali would be a perfect place to find them.
pearlsDeep in the pristine waters of West Bali National Park a quiet miracle of nature and beauty grows a little every day. Lustrous, top class pearls are cultivated in The Bali Pearl's exclusive pearl preservation, and harvested to produce gorgeous export-quality pearls that are fashioned into jewellery-pieces of must-have splendour. The tour of the pearl preservation is interesting, and a wonderful way to be acquainted with the appreciation of just how much goes into each pearl's existence.
The jewellery is fashioned by one of The Bali Pearl's own three designers whose distinct styles vary from traditional, classic or contemporary designs, each using white or yellow 14 or 18 karat gold, as well as diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, rubies and semi-precious stones to set and enhance the natural exquisiteness of each pearl that is so individual. Choose your personal style in either a ring, pendent, bangle, bracelet, brooch or necklace, or a combination of several, not forgetting the vast variety of earrings, a sure fire bet for 'girls' of all ages, as pearls send light to the complexion to luminate it winningly.
A strand of pearls given, as a thoughtful gift, will win over any situation, as any sensible man will tell you. Or, you can always opt for a loose pearl and take the time in designing how you would like to treasure it. As Marilyn so famously once sang 'Pearls are a Girl's Best Friend', oh she didn't, well she certainly didn't do her homework then. Why not do yours, and visit The Bali Pearl and take home something so unusually Balinese, that will be the inspiration ofw many conversations to come.
Available at;
The Bali Pearl,
Simpang Dewa Ruci 7,
Jl. Bypass Ngurah Rai, Kuta.
Information on jewellery and tours;
T: 62-361-765656
F: 62-361-767450
Selasa, 07 Oktober 2008
Wild West Sumbawa
the island of Lombok and several kilometres of sea may seem to be all that separates Bali from West Sumbawa, but just as Lombok is significantly different from Bali in geography, culture and religion, the same can be said about the island of Sumbawa, itself having two very distinct identities. Welcome to the last frontier of Indonesian surfing.
About three times the size of neighbouring Lombok, Sumbawa is home to approximately 1.5 million inhabitants and is essentially divided into two parts: West Sumbawa and Bima. The two main ethnic groups are the 'Tua Sumawa' in West Sumbawa and the 'Dou Mbojo' in the eastern area of Bima, the former revealing influences from its neighbours to the west and the latter from the eastern islands and from Sulewasi to the north. And while both have the Muslim religion in common, it seems like West Sumbawa has taken a more progressive attitude towards an otherwise very orthodox faith. Trying to find a beer in the city of Bima is like trying to find a slurpee in the Sahara, but by contrast, the town of Maluk in West Sumbawa has beers aplenty and karaoke bars to boot.
While the Bima area of Sumbawa is best known to the international surfing world for its famed 'Lakey Peak' break in the Dompu Regency (where you can find that elusive beer by the way), West Sumbawa is lesser known - although it has managed to establish a reputation of its own for having several world class surf spots, namely Scar Reef, Supersucks, and yo-yos. The surf charter boats based in Nusa Lembongan have historically accessed these spots, but recently more and more travelling surfers are making the overland trek and enjoying the complete absence of rampant tourism in this area that is still pristine and full of unspoilt beauty.
A little known fact to the surfing public and to most Balinese for that matter is that West Sumbawa was at one time ruled by the Balinese kingdom of Gelgel.
There are still traces of the Balinese language evident in the local language and several thousand Balinese immigrated to the area years ago in a transmigration effort. They say that history repeats itself, and so it came to pass that a few adventurous Balinese relived history recently by invading West Sumbawa once again, not on some imperialistic land-grabbing mission or for the expansion of their trade routes to line their pockets with gold, but on a quest to find perfect waves to surf. Admittedly their motivation could be likened to the Balinese of old in the fact that there was a prize to be had (the winner took home IDR 20 million prize money and ISC tour championship tour points in addition to the status of winning a first-ever in West Sumbawa contest), but as a whole these guys were just stoked about surfing a new spot that most had only heard stories about and seen a few photos of in the surf magazines.
And although not known as ardent travellers, (why would they be with some of the world's best and most consistent surf spots on their very doorstep?) the lure of the infamous lefthand wave at Jelenga Beach known as Scar Reef was too strong for even these Bali boys to resist, so they braved a sixteen hour bus ride from Bali through Lombok and over to West Sumbawa just to give it a go. The ride was long, the accommodation at Jelenga Beach basic (most had to sleep on wooden platforms under army tents near the beach), but the food was excellent and plentiful and the waves and the water pristine.
So in the end the Bali boys finished their week in West Sumbawa by claiming a Balinese dominated victory over Scar Reef, with Kuta Beach locals Rahtu Suargita, Garut Widiarta, and Wayan Wirtama all on the podium at the end of the Rip Curl Scar Reef Pro, with Java's Dede Suryana (now Bali based) rounding out the remaining surfers in the winners' circle. But they not only had the experience of surfing the legendary Scar Reef at low tide in 4-6 foot barrels:on the first day of competition they travelled to picturesque Yo-Yos Bay about an hour's drive away from Scar Reef, where beautiful righthanders were reeling down the reef in all their squeaky clean and deep blue glory, giving the natural footers a chance to slash, carve and get barreled in this stunning wave playground for a few hours before returning to Jelenga Beach and the Scar Reef setup.
After the awards ceremony and the closing party, the boys all piled into the bus for the ride home, tired but happy. They carried with them a lot of great memories of an overcoming new challenges, and the experience of seeing and enjoying this beautiful part of Indonesia.
Land and boat trips to Sumbawa can be booked with Bali based Surf Travel Online (Jl Benesari, T: 0361 750 550).
what's on october?
1st - 31st october
The Laguna Resort (Nusa Dua, T: 0361 771 327) is offering a very unique Spa Villa Seduction Package with an aphrodisiacal dinner menu, champagne, massage and body treatments - all in the privacy of an extravagantly spacious spa villa. Only for the month of October this is a one-off Bali treat worth indulging in.
1st - 23rd october
Ganesha Gallery (Four Seasons Jimbaran, T: 0361 701 010) is hosting a solo exhibition of Nico Vrielink entitled Faces representing a radical shift in gear as the artist turns his remarkable talents as a portraitist to other subjects in a series of large oil paintings inspired by his family as well as Bali.
7th - 13rd october
The 13th Asian Sailing Championship is being staged at Turtle Island, Serangan. The Indonesian Sailing Federation has organized the Championship with competitors from Indonesian and Asian countries. Contact details at www.indonesiansailing.org
10th - 14th october
Bali Tourism Development Corporation is behind the Nusa Dua Fiesta 2008 with 5 days of art, culture, sport, music and exhibitions. This year carries a 'green theme' drawing attention to making Bali an environmentally sound tourist destination.
11st October
Today sees sixteen rugby clubs from Indonesia and overseas gather on the hallowed turf of the Canggu Club (Jl Kayu Putih, T: 0361 844 6385) for the 2008 Thiess Bali 10's Rugby Tournament. Spectators and team supporters are most welcome to head along for the games.
11st Oct – 19th November
Irawan Prasetya will showcase his latest artwork 'Ordinariness' exploring a style that echoes his personality in a 'minimalist figurative' style. The simplicity of the theme and the objects he sees are captured in a monochromatic, almost photogenic technique. (Jl. Drupadi Seminyak, T: 0361 736628)
18th – 26th October
It's 'A Celebration of Life' for the Kuta Karnival this year as the nine day long festival features heaps of traditional art performances, sunset dances, sport on the beach, bazaars, live music and more food than you can shake a pair of chopsticks at. Visit www.kutakarnival.com for more info.
18th – 26th October
Indonesia will be 'Inspiring the World' when it makes sports history by hosting the first ever Asian Beach Games. Head down to Sanur Beach, Kuta, Serangan and Benoa Beach to get in on the action. More information at www.bali2008.com
21st – 31st October
Balinale Film Festival will showcase more than 50 new independent movies from Indonesian film-makers and award-winning international films as well as sponsor workshops for young aspiring film makers. To purchase tickets to events call the team at 0812 3802 641.
Balinese music, dance, and traditional entertainment part 2
Baris
A dance of war, the Baris is strong and masculine, yet also displays strong sensitivity in the myriad of moods and expressions displayed within the dance. The Baris Gede, a sacred dance usually only performed during ceremonies, consist of ten or more elegantly dressed warriors with distinctive triangular white headdresses and bearing weapons, either spears, spiked shields or swords. They dance in line, posing aggressively before each other in simulated battles.
Kecak
Out of the male chorus chant, which produces the trance of the Sanghyang ceremony, has developed a new dance; the Kecak, Usually over 100 men participate. Providing their own orchestration with a counter pattern of vocal sounds that complement their rhythmical movement, creating a living circular stage for the reenactment of an excerpt from the Ramayana story by flickering torchlight.
Legong Keraton
Perhaps the most exquisite of Balinese dances is the classic Legong, a dance traditionally performed as entertainment for the King. Young girls wrapped from head to ankle in hand-painted gold brocades, with glittering gold mirrored head-dresses topped with trembling frangipani flowers, glide with delicate movements which portray the ancient story of King Lasem and his unsuccessful love suite. The dancers seem to be the essence of all that is feminine and beautiful.
Sanghyang
Sanghyang traces dance have only in recent years become publicly performed as entertainment. Their essential function is religious, an exorcism of the spirits that is supposed to promote peace and health within the village. Specially selected boys and girls are “Sung” into a trance by a group of women who sing the special repetitive Sanghyang Dedari, the dance of the angles. The tiny girls who have never danced before are able to give accomplished performances of the Legong. In the Sanghyang Jaran, the horse dance, the men in a trance snort and canter unflinchingly over red hot coals.
Topeng
The Topeng, or mask dance is one of the most demanding of dramatic talents requiring the actor’s skill and adaptability of mannerism and behavior to suit each picturesque mask. Topeng stories are tales combined from ancient literature and local history, blended with a contemporary interpretation personal to each actor. The characters are caricatures of all that is human, both virtue, folly, and slapstick comedy is the key to the drama.
Other Dances:
There are numerous other forms of Balinese dance icluding; Tekekan, Leko & Janger, Bimanyu, Gabor, Mahabrata the Epic, Raja Pala, Calonarang, Ramayana, Frog Dance, Parwa Ramayana, Joget, Janger, Genjekan and Debus.
Shadow Puppet Show
Known as Wayang Kulit, these shows are an important part of traditional Balinese life. They convey modern ideals and current news and are instrumental in holding on to the past and teaching the young about important aspects of their lives to come. Many of the stories told in the form of Wayang Kulit are from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana. In the shows flat puppets made of stiff leather are manipulated behind a thin white screen that is back lit with an oil lamp. The action of the puppets are accented by voices that correspond with the character and an orchestra of gamelan.
Balinese music, dance, and traditional entertainment
| In Bali no temple festival or ceremony is complete without entertainment for the gods, attending guests and local people. Temple anniversaries are occasions for all night dramatic and dance performances, with different types entertainment on each consecutive night, sometimes lasting until morning. The basic accompaniment to any such performance is provided by the local gamelan orchestra, a group of brass instruments, metal phones, tuned gongs, cymbals and hand drums, the village generally owns the instruments, as they are extremely expensive and they are stored at the village Banjar meeting hall and taken great pride in. No Balinese music has been written down or recorded until recent years. It has been passed down from generation to generation purely by memory. Each particular dance and dramatic performance has its own special combination of instruments to suit, melodious bamboo flutes, reedy two-stringed rebab violins and twanging Jew's harp like gengong are all used to provide their own special effects. |
Arja and Drama Gong
A performance of Arja Balinese Folk Opera can hold an entire village engrossed from late evening until nearly sunrise. Love stories drawn from the classics of the ancient kingdoms of Java are reenacted with all the tragic, comic and romantic ingredients guaranteed to appeal. The royal characters move in a slow stylized dance and sing and talk in a high falsetto using high Balinese, which is translated into common language by the comedians. Arja has lost some of its popularity in recent years in favor of the Drama Gong, which has less music and dance and therefore is much more easily understood by the masses.
Barong and Rangda
The endless metaphysical battle between good and evil is symbolically reenacted time and time again by two weird characters, Barong and Rangda, who by their very performance reinforce the magic power of the village and restore the balance between good and evil. The Barong, representative of the right, white magic and the good forces of nature is a strange long swaybak creature that takes two strong men to animate. His adversary Rangda is Queen of the Witches, an ugly creature with long nails, tongue and fangs. The dual strength of their magic power is enough to drive men crazy as they clash. The Barong’s followers attack the terrible witch with their Kris daggers, only to find their weapons turned black against themselves by an evil spell. However the good is not to be overwhelmed, the Barong’s white magic is strong enough to protect his crazed followers from harm.
What's on cremation
Cremation of the dead (pengabenan pelebon), the ceremony pitra yadna is perhaps the most important and often the most colorful, ritual in Balinese religion. A cremation is necessary for the soul of the deceased for the passage into heaven and reincarnation and is liberation from material attachments. Due to the immense, cost and the complicated preparations necessary, cremations often occur long after the death of the person. Usually, group cremations are held in order to share the expense and the labor involved. Between death and cremation the body is buried in the cemetery, or in the case of a wealthy person whose family can arrange a cremation more quickly, the body lies in state in the family compound. During this time the soul of the deceased is thought to be agitated, longing for release.An auspicious day for the cremation is chosen by a Pedanda, or priest, after consulting the Balinese calendar. Preparations begin long before the appointed day, each family builds a large tower of bamboo and paper, extravagantly painted according to the caste and wealth of the deceased, on a large bamboo platform. A magnificent, brightly colored, life size bull, winged lion, or elephant creature is also constructed of Kapok wood, bamboo and cloth or colored papers that is used to hold the body for cremation.On the morning of the cremation relatives and friends of the deceased visit the house to pay their last respects, and are richly entertained and fed by the family. At midday the body is taken from the house, placed in the tower and carried with the bull, to the dead man’s Cemetery. This becomes a loud noisy, boisterous procession, designed to confuse the soul of the deceased so that it will loose its way and not be able to return to the family compound, where it could cause mischief. |
