Tirtagangga in Amlapura - The Water Palace Pleasure Park

This is a fabulous Water Palace situated in the eastern part of Bali of Amlapura, the main town of the Karangasem Regency, which was previously the seat of the most powerful Rajadom of Bali, with the power of its kings extending to the island of Lombok. Its name comes from Tirta (holy water) and Gangga (from the Ganges). The royal family managed to retain both title and certain powers under Dutch occupation, and so the palace, Puri Kanginan, has a fascinating mixture of designs from Europe, China and Bali in both its architectural design and layout. There is even a main building with a verandah called the ‘Bale London’ that has furniture bearing the motif of the Royal Crest of England.

The late King, Anak Aging Anglurah Ketut, built architectural ‘follies’, among them the extravagant Water Palace at Ujung, and a royal pleasure park named Tirtagangga in 1947, where natural springs gushing forth from animal statues and fountains feed a series of beautiful pools. Locals flock here at sunset to bathe in the cool shade of the pools. The Tirta Ayu restaurant in the grounds of the palace is the perfect place to take in a drink and the amazing scenery.

Rice Terraces
The view of the surrounding countryside is blessed with some of the most amazing rice terraces, and the local accommodation within walking distance may persuade you to stay overnight. The mornings are stunning and inspire many a walk, photograph or even paint on paper. The visual stimulus is breathtaking. This is real Bali at its best.
The cooler temperatures of Tirtagangga make it a popular destination during the hotter months and enhance the charms of the Water Palace’s features.

Open daily from 7am – 6pm. There is an admission fee with various additional charges for the pools. Found 6 km north on the road to Abang – 20 minutes drive from Candi Dasa, 85km from Denpasar.

Silence and Demons of the Balinese New Year-Nyepi

In many more ways than one Bali is the exact opposite of the West; While Westerners open the New Year in revelry, the Balinese open their own New Year in silence. This is Nyepi day, the Balinese day of Silence, which begins on the day, following the dark moon of the spring equinox, and opens a new year of the Saka Hindu. This year Nyepi falls on March 26th.

On Nyepi day proper, which starts with sunrise, don't expect to be able to do very much at all. You will have to stay within the grounds of your resort. No traffic is allowed, not only cars and motorbikes, but also people, who have to stay in their individual houses and are not permitted to leave for anything short of an absolute emergency (panic not anyone in need of medical attention – the hospitals are fully operational during Nyepi).

Light is kept to a minimum, radios and televisions are tuned down, and no one works, of course. Even lovemaking, this ultimate activity of all leisure-timers, is not supposed to take place, nor even attempted during Nyepi. A whole day simply filled with the barking of Bali's wild dogs, the shrill of insects and simply a long, long period of uninterrupted quiet. A welcome day of serenity, of calm and an opportunity for the island and it's people to rest.

Nyepi is a religious event. Bali is a Hindu society, one that believes in the karmapala principle, according to which the dynamics of life, and of Man's individual fate, is set in motion by 'action'. Man is in the midst of a Samsara cycle of incarnations, each of which is determined by the quality of his actions (karma) in his existence.  His 'ideal' is thus to put the system to rest, to control one's actions, and thus to subdue one's inner demons. Only in such a way can Man hope to achieve 'deliverance' from his cycles of life (moksa) and eventually merge with the Oneness of the Void, the Ultimate Silence of Sunya.

The Day of Silence is a symbolic replay of these philosophical principles. At the beginning of the year, the world is 'clean'. It has been cleansed in the previous days. All the effigies of the gods from all the village temples have been taken to the sea or to the river in long and colourful ceremonies. There they have been bathed by the Neptunus of Balinese lore, the god Baruna, before being taken back to residence in their shrines of origin. On the eve of Nyepi all villages also hold a large ceremony of exorcism at the main village crossroad, by lore the meeting place of the demons.

There at the crossroads a Siwa priest addresses the gods, a Buddha priest, the middle world and a Sengguhu priest the netherworld. At night the demons of the Bali world are let loose on the roads in a carnival of fantastically crafted monsters - the Ogoh-Ogohs.

Thus, on the day of Silence, the world is clean and everything starts anew, Man showing his symbolic control over himself and the 'force' of the world.  Hence the mandatory religious prohibitions of mati lelangon (no pleasure), mati lelungan (no traffic), mati geni (no fire or light) and mati pekaryan meaning that nobody may undertake any work, even Ngurah Rai airport remains closed for business for one day of the year.

There is more than mere religion, though, to Nyepi. Twenty years ago, there was still fun to it. Traffic was discouraged, but there were almost no cars anyway, and people would walk freely around, visit friends and the like. But now, Nyepi has become a demonstration of identity. Faced with urbanization, large-scale migration of non-Balinese to the island and a withering of its agrarian basis, not to mention the millions of tourists visiting the island, the Balinese use Nyepi to remind all those visiting guests of who exactly is ruling the land.

And they do it so gently, as with almost everything Balinese, in the most peaceful manner. Think of the Balinese demons. Which other people in the world take its demons in the streets in a non-political carnival, as the Balinese do in the Ngrupuk cavalcade of the night preceding Nyepi?

This cavalcade of demons is as relaxed as Nyepi proper is serious. The parade is held all over Bali, but the most fantastic one is undoubtedly that of Denpasar. There all the banjar (ruling village heads) neighborhood participants and hundreds of youth associations make their own Ogoh-Ogoh monsters. Banjar neighborhoods and youth associations, who raise a special 'tax' for the purchase of the needed glue, bamboo and cowhide, make the Ogoh-Ogoh. Some work at it for weeks on end and spend millions of Rupiah on their creations, hoping to have the most beautiful effigy of the village or of the entire neighborhood.

Some are giants from the classical Balinese lore, while others are guitarists, bikers or even AIDS microbes. All with fangs, bulging eyes and scary hair. Thus, when they all come out at sunset, illuminated by torches and with the accompaniment of the most demonic gamelan music (bleganjur) of the Balinese repertoire, Denpasar becomes another, gentler Rio Den Janeiro. Heading for Gaja Mada street and the Puputan square, they surge suddenly by the hundreds, more 'horrible' the ones than the others, each carried on the shoulder of four to thirty youths, jerking this way or that way so as to give the impression of a dance, or suddenly turning in a circle, much to the fascination of the spectators.

This is not a small procession, it lasts for three to four hours, as if Bali has an inexhaustible pool of demons. All the Ogoh-Ogohs eventually head for the Puputan square, where they are burned. The world is then cleansed and ready for the day of Silence, a day without demons.

Today's Ngrupuk festival has lost some of its symbolic religious meaning. Youth see it as an occasion for merriment and creativity, travel agents as a business opportunity, Banjars and youth associations as a means to assert their 'superiority'. Fights sometimes erupt with politics never far beneath the surface. For this reason the present tendency is toward the control of the Ngrupuk festival and its demons.

Let's us hope, though, that the Balinese demons will always remain as gentle as they have throughout the centuries and that the world at large can be inspired by Nyepi, a very sacred and inspirational day of peace.

Let's kid play

In countries like the United States and Australia, where surfing has been in the culture for many years now, kids of grammar and high school age have ample opportunity to integrate their passion for surfing into their scholastic curriculums as part of their physical fitness programmes. During the week they can go to the beach for a surf before school, get coaching and training classes, then surf again after school, in addition to competing in junior surf competitions on the weekends.

Usually those that display extraordinary skill and promise get support from their parents and sponsors by way of surfboards, clothing, accessories, and travelling expenses, and while still being required to attend school and complete their education, can be well on their way to a career as a professional surfer while still in their teens.

Among the many benefits of these type of scholastic programmes is that it instills a sense of responsibility and discipline early on, and while at this age the kids are prone to get a bit wild now and then, the fact is that they know what they should do and usually return to doing it after they've sowed their wild oats.

Here in Bali, sports like soccer and badminton get a big part in the public school sports programmes, but surfing probably has about as much of a chance as a snowflake in hell of being added to the curriculum during our lifetime. No surf classes, no coaching, no health and diet instruction, and not much in the way of discipline or rewards. So for a young surfer in Indonesia, the only option is the private sector.

Thankfully, for several years now Bali-based surfing brands such as Rip Curl, Rusty, Quiksilver and Volcom have stepped up and supported aspiring young surfers by holding yearly competition series' with catchy names like "GromSearch", GromFest, "King of the Groms", and LTKRF (Let the Kids Ride Free) Totally Crustaceous Tour. The word "Grommet" in surf slang is generally used to refer to young surfers under the age of 16.

In these competitions the kids learn how to follow instructions, play fair, wait their turns, and then get rewarded for their performance. There are normally two age group divisions, one for those under 16 years of age and the other for those under 14. Girls are free to compete with the boys in the same ages group, although if there are enough girls at an event the organisers will generally try to create a separate division for them.

These competition events are not only held in Bali but have recently been expanding to include places in Java, Sumatra, Lombok and Sumbawa. Though not as large as Bali, these islands also have surf communities that have developed over the years through surf tourism, and as the kids don't have the means to come to Bali to compete, the surf brands take the competitions to them instead.

The local event winners usually get a free trip to Bali to compete with the other local event winners for the overall series championship created by each sponsor. The series champion in the Under 16 division final is generally rewarded with an all expense paid trip for him/her and a chaperone to either Europe, America, or Australia (depending upon the surf brand sponsor) to compete with other national series winners at the grand finals. In most cases this is the first time these Indonesian kids have been on an airplane, let alone travel to another country. It certainly is an eye-opener and a great experience for them.

They not only experience international travel but they also get to meet kids from all around the world, make new friends, and learn about life outside of their country and island. And being that the surf community is both large and small at the same time, many of their new friends will eventually make their way to Bali and so these relationships can often be maintained for life.

Surfing is undoubtedly one of Indonesia's most undervalued and unrecognised resources…well, by the Indonesian government anyways. The recent Asian Beach Games gave it a bit of a boost in visibility, but I'll still venture a bet that the current President of Indonesia knows that the town he grew up in has a host of good surf spots that draws hundreds of surfing tourists each year, and that at the Rip Curl GromSearch last year an unprecedented four young local girls joined in the competition!


But thankfully, there are those in the private sector of business that recognise the value of investing in the stimulation, nurturing, and rewarding of kids that are attracted to the sport of surfing, and this will continue to help grow the sport in Indonesia and create an career path for these talented and dedicated kids.

The Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Junior Division season just got underway at the beginning of February with the Rusty GromFest in Bali and the Rip Curl GromSearch in Lombok. It's off to a great start, and through the next few months kids in Bali and beyond will get the chance to surf together and compete not only for a trip to another country but also for the year end honor of being crowned the Coca-Cola ISC Tour Junior Champion 2009. You can check isctour for the 2009 schedule as well as for reports and photos from each Coca-Cola ISC Tour event.

Exits of Ubud

You'll need a base camp from which to co-ordinate activities whilst in Ubud and that naturally means a luxurious valley setting, spacious and refined villa, privacy amongst the serenity of Ubud's wildlife, a quality health spa for rebalancing the spirit and a top notch restaurant to rebalance the palate.


There's no point in scrimping and saving on accommodation when you're in one of the most beautiful parts of Bali. Bust the budget in style at the pick of Ubud's best resorts. Take a trip upstate (well, 5 minutes from Ubud centre) to the Ayung River and Alila (T: 0361 975 963, alilahotels ). Contemporary styled spacious villas and rooms, luxurious massage treatments at Spa Alila, world class dining in-house and a very attractive infinity pool make Alila a top spot for those wishing to detach from civilisation for a spell. White water rafting, cycling tours and quad biking are all at your disposal should days spent lounging around the pool not appeal. Daily shuttle buses to Ubud ferry guests into the heart of cultural action. Villas are US $450 per night published rate.

Keep on trucking up the road from Alila and after another ten minutes of winding hillside roads you will find Ubud Hanging Gardens (T: 0361 982 700, Ubudhanginggardens ) signposted off to the left in tiny rural Buahan Village also overlooking the Ayung river. There's a choice of five villas all nestling in a very natural environment linked by the inclinator that ferries guests around the resort. The Beduur Restaurant, terraced into the hillside serves a medley of French Asian inspired cuisine in classic fine dining surrounds. Rates start from an extremely affordable high season US $330 for the Valley View deluxe Pool Villa.
Back towards town the Royal Pita Maha (T: 0361 980 022, royalpitamaha-bali ) is set in another gorgeous Ubud location, this time towering over the rivers of Tjampuhan (Balinese for 'the meeting of two rivers') with a quaint and very spiritual atmosphere surrounding the villa environment. Expect to find traditional design methods, an extensive collection of artwork and an overwhelming sense of peace and harmony whilst staying here. Each villa has its own private pool and garden. Rates from US $400 per night for the Pool Villa to $1500 for the Royal House.

The Viceroy (T: 0361 971777, theviceroybali ) is perfectly situated just five minutes from all the action in Ubud central and far enough away to escape into total tranquillity in luxury surrounds. Set dramatically over the Petanu valley near the tiny village of Nagi the resort transfixes the visitor from the moment you enter the lobby and peer out over the jungle slopes of the river gorge. We elected to stay in one of the terrace Villas with a simply huge bedroom opening out dramatically onto your own veranda, perch view over the valley and private Bale (a perfect spot for breakfast) with adjoining plunge pool. The high alang-alang roofing of the villa, tasteful, traditional Balinese architecture both inside and outside the room and the sheer decadence of the bathroom to the rear make for a perfect combination of style, function and grace. It seems a shame, almost, to have to spend anytime outside in the real world and you may find it difficult if not impossible to muster up the energy to leave the premises after a couple of hours lounging in your Bale, sipping one of the unsurpassable Viceroy cocktails and soaking up the valley vibe.

Dinner at Cascades after a quick detour to The Lembah Spa yields a delightful foray into haute cuisine redefined. The Le Broc au Lit (broccoli cappuccino), freshly baked bread, Tartare of Tuna with butter-fried chips and Grand Marnier Souffle all perfectly compliment the atmosphere of the restaurant, chic sophistication of the cool valley climes matched effortlessly with one of Bali's most extensive wine cellars.


Waking up the next morning and fighting through a large stack of fresh croissants in the Bale it's time to dig out the maps and plan the morning's activities. The ever-enigmatic Victor Mason leads the charge up in Ubud when it comes to cavorting around the countryside with binoculars in search of birds, bees, butterflies and the flora and fauna of the spectacular rolling hills. What Victor and his assistant Sue don't know about the natural environment up here isn't worth consideration. We joined them at Bali Birdwalks (T: 0361 975 009, 0812 391 3801 (Sue), E: su_birdwalk@yahoo.com) for an amble through the undergrowth, foraging for new species on a crystal clear Friday morning spying all manner of beautiful swooping Egrets, White-breasted Waterhens and of course, the resident Java Kingfisher in all its iridescent beauty.

It's amazing how much you miss in Bali when you don't slow the pace down to a saunter and actually take time to appreciate the real world that lives and breathes behind the shop fronts and advertising billboards. Victor, who is a stalwart old-school 'birder' and his four-legged scout Nimrod lead you into a world largely unknown every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Starting at Beggar's Bush (just over the Tjampuhan bridge, opposite Antonio Blanco museum) at 9am the walk lasts around three hours culminating in a well-earned lunch and celebratory beer at Murni's open air restaurant to 'recapitulate the morning's discoveries' and to indulge in a little of Victors encyclopaedic ornithological knowledge. Walks are priced at US$33 including lunch and are a very rewarding and entertaining morning's excursion.

For more wildlife of a different kind head to Jl Monkey Forest where visitors can expect to stumble across plenty of Balinese long tail Macaques monkeys, three very holy temples dating back to mid 14th century during the Pejeng or early Gelgel Dynasty and two graveyards. Monkey Forest is a well up kept tourist attraction, tickets are IDR 10,000, bananas optional. Back onto the main Jl Raya Ubud and just opposite the Royal Palace is one of the real legends of Ubud. A vegetarian's nightmare realised on the shady streets of just to the side of the wantilan (local meeting hall) Ibu Oka's is an island phenomenon, a veritable pork fest on an unimaginable scale. There's no menu, no fussing around choosing dishes a la Padang cuisine, you walk in, chance your luck finding a stoop on the floor (it can get frighteningly crowded in here) and take what you're given, which is basically a woven basket full of piggy goodness with lawar (a mixture of shredded vegetables, coconut, chillies and if you're around during ceremonial times congealed pig's blood to transform the usual green colour to a disturbing brown red appearance), steamed white rice, some sausage (best not to look to closely whilst savouring this), a wedge of kulit (pig skin crackling) and the main ingredient, pork.

It's the quality of this succulent, tender, lean meat that has earned Oka's such praise on the island and into Java. The pigs are brought down the hill every morning and spit roasted to perfection over a wood fire whilst constantly being braised in coconut oil. The recipe is perfection and every plate I've ever consumed at Oka's has been packed full of local Balinese goodness and flavour, you really don't find Babi Guling like this anywhere else on the island.

Take a look around your lunch companions when dining here and you will see a mix and match of Chinese Javanese and local Balinese with the odd westerner thrown into the melting pot of classes and cultures. If you're lucky and are visiting Ubud in the build-up to a particularly large ceremony the location for Oka's may shift from next door to the wantilan to across the street and up a tiny lane to the right and Ibu Oka's home where a traditional garden setting, caged birds and a staff largely comprising of her family members will invite you to dine authentically in a Balinese setting.

You can't spend a short break in Ubud without partaking in some realignment of the body and soul and that means some spa attention. Recently my Chakras seem to have fallen out of sync with the rest of my genetic make up so I checked into rehab at Bali Botanica Day Spa on Jl Sanggingan (T: 0361 289 901, www.balibotanica.com) for an afternoon Ayurvedic treatment with one of their specially trained spiritual therapists. The Ayurvedic Chakra Dhara Massage was prescribed to channel my energies more effectively around my physical form, this is done with the aid of warm herbal oil dripped onto my chakra points, lower back, belly button and to conclude, third eye although this is the last stage after some serious massaging sent me drifting off to sleep punctuated by trips to the shower to spruce up between rub downs. The Botanica Spa is a tiny little affair tucked off Jl Sanggingan, just next to Mozaic specialising in many treatments from Ayurvedic massages to manicures, facials, tropical spa lunches and even yoga retreats for five nights at the newly opened Zen Bali Retreat. It's a highly recommended sign off for a trip to Ubud and will leave you completely at ease with the world as you descend the hill back to the south of the island. Ayurvedic treatment is priced at IDR 450,000 for two and a half hours.

Heading back up to Jl Raya Ubud at dusk we stop at Ary's Warung (T: 0361 975 053) - the perfect street side eatery for contemporary Asian cuisine and sundown cocktails overlooking Ubud's main street and all its lively happenings. The menu is designed as a six course tasting menu priced at IDR 200,000 with such delectable offerings as coconut king prawns, roasted goat cheese, tomato, kemangi terrine and a tataki of venison loin. People watch to your heart's content here and expect to play witness to regular ceremonial processions whilst you savour the sleek, minimal setting of the revamped warung. The perfect after dinner entertainment is to check out the traditional Balinese dances that take place every day of the week in a variety of locations in Ubud starting around 7pm, tickets average at IDR 50,000 per performance. More information available from the tourist information centre on Jl Ubud Raya. Every Full and New Moon is the Kecak Dance at Arma Resort & Museum, Jl Raya Pengosekan, tickets IDR 100,000.
If you've still got the energy then head back up to Sanggingan to Naughty Nuris for a nightcap and a late supper of their famous ribs then pass by Ozigo, one of the few places to remain open later than the 10.30pm Ubud curfew.

On the way back down the hill be sure to pay a visit to Horizon Glassworks (T: 0361 780 4014) on the main road from Sayan to catch local glass blower Ron Seivertson and his highly trained team create incredibly beautiful pieces of art. The viewing gallery in the hot shop allows visitors the chance to get right into the action whilst the adjoining gift shop features a selection of the artist's most creative pieces.

Expat artists in Bali today

Looking at Kerry Pendergrast's soft pastel landscapes you would imagine that she had been drawing and painting all her life, but her rich colourful artwork is the result of many years of disciplined practise that didn't begin until she was 30 years old.

Originally from Perth, Australia, Kerry first came to Bali 1992 and met Javanese artist, Pranoto, who became her husband. She is probably best known for her enchanting soft pastels on sandpaper, depicting landscapes that stretch from farming areas southwest of Sydney, to Freemantle near Perth, and on to Borobodur in Java. She has painted the gorgeous wild flowers of Western Australia and the beautiful rice fields, temples, mountains, lakes and beaches of Bali. She prefers to create her pictures while she's actually at the place because, "I get so immersed in the scene, I notice things while I'm sitting there, such as little tricks in the light that I wouldn't if see if I merely took a photograph or did a quick sketch." Kerry Pendergrast has had dozens of solo and group exhibitions in both Bali and Australia, and her artwork is permanently exhibited at Pranoto's Art Gallery. -

Linda Buller has been painting all her life; her work reflects her travels and her exploration of diverse cultures and countries, absorbing the different philosophies of each society and its quest for spirituality. Her contemporary abstracts range from figurative forms and idealised animals, including fish, roosters and dogs, to images that are grounded in scenery. At other times, her paintings give visual form to something inherently non-visual, such as an emotion or a sensation. Her mediums include sand, plaster, concrete, bitumen, paper, pencil, oils, acrylics, pastels, wood shavings, "Anything that I can find; anything that speaks to me". She says, "People can't understand the concepts of abstraction until they have experienced life in every way; if you haven't had much experience of life then the art-piece won't touch your soul. Paintings are music, they talk to your soul; if something resonates then it is because your soul is seeing or hearing the painting. When your hair stands on end and when you get goose pimples… well, that's your soul! I'm so lucky because my soul goes into my paintings; I can paint my soul into my work." She currently has an exhibition entitled ‘Running with Walls' at Koi Restaurant Gallery, Kemang, Jakarta - lindabuller

Neal Adams moved to Ubud from London about five years ago. He loves to paint nature, and his atmospheric realism style is imbued with emotion, expression and ethereal qualities. His combines acrylic with gold and silver leaf – as a medium of depth and a conductor of light – to create effects that are sometimes very dramatic and sometimes very soft. After one application of leaf, he works over the top with acrylic and then adds more leaf as needed to create the illusion of radiance, shining, for example, through the foliage of a tree so that it becomes part of the light within the painting. The metallic leaf is applied in very thin layers between multiple layers of lacquer, and Neal works over it again and again until it builds up into exactly the surface and texture that he needs to produce the effect that he wants. He reveals, "I would possibly have never discovered this technique while living in England but, motivated by the light in Bali, it just developed on its own as a very natural process."

A high percentage of Neal's work is now exported and sold in the United States. He has work at Tony Raka Gallery, and shows his paintings regularly at Oracle, Ubud. E-mail: nealbali03@yahoo.co.uk


Dutch born Nico Vrielink lives in Sanur. With a focus on traditional artwork, his styles have embraced numerous movements from neoclassical to representational figurative imagery, from realism to linear poster and pop art. His themes, meanwhile, have ranged from political satire to symbolism. Much of his work has been influenced by his travels; spectacular skylines and gold leaf backgrounds, the mysterious ambience, exotic architecture and distinctive motifs of places such as Istanbul, Borobodur, and of course Bali.

Nico has always painted portraits and his wife, Jeane, is his greatest source of inspiration. While the themes and styles have varied considerably, his wife's beautiful face has appeared time and again in over 5000 paintings, numerous art books and an ongoing series of annual calendars. In fact, the artist has endowed his model with such a familiar countenance that she been recognised – on the street – from Singapore to New York City! He claims that the perfect likeness has been "achieved through years of practice"; sometimes his wife's features are exaggerated, while at other times her image is executed with photographic accuracy. He exhibits at galleries all over the world, including those in Bali. Nicovrielink