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Lombok hotels
Lombok hotels
ranging from luxurious five star to simple
backpacker home stay. Most of the hotels and
resort are
located in Senggigi. The star rate hotels
and boutique resort are nestled in lush
tropical gardens, directly located on the
beach with the tranquil surroundings and a
minutes away from airport or seaport. |
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Let's Go To
Mt. Rinjani
Trekking to the Second Highest Peak in
Indonesia |
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About Bali Indonesia
Bali
Tourism Board Courtesy
As one of the most popular tourist
destinations in the world, again and again Bali awarded as the most
interesting Island by International Travel Magazine. In some cases
however, there are still many people don’t know in deep about the
uniqueness of Balinese culture. Life in Bali is always related to
“Tri Hita Karana” or tri-partite concept that include the spiritual
relationship between human and God, nature and with other human
being.
With the rapid growth of development especially in tourism industry,
has had a big impact and influences to Bali tradition and lifestyle.
Interestingly, Balinese culture is still as what it was in heritage,
grows along with the growth of globalization. And this civilization
what makes Bali different from other tourist destination.
GEOGRAPHY
Among 17,500 islands across the Indonesian archipelago, Bali is one
of the 33 provinces of the Republic of Indonesia, the largest
archipelagic country in the world, made up of 2,000,000 km2 of land
with a chain of islands stretching over 500,000 km from Sumatra to
Papua, and covers territorial waters of more than 5,000,000 km2.
Situated between Java and Lombok, the island of Bali is located 8 to
9 degrees south of the equator with the Java Sea to the north, the
Indian Ocean to the south. Bali’s covers an area of 5,636 km2 or
0.29% of Indonesia, measuring just 90km long the north-south axis
and less than about 140km from west to east.
Divided into three areas of water, the North Bali Sea is about
3,168km2, the East about 3.350km2, and the West about 2,982km2. Bali
Sea covers an area of 9,500km2. The North Bali sea runs along the
coastline of Buleleng, the East Bali Sea runs along the coastline of
Karangasem, Klungkung and Gianyar, and the West Bali Sea include the
coastline of Badung Tabanan and Jembrana.
PEOPLE AND LIFE STYLE
Bali’s population of over 3,000,000 souls spread over the whole
island, including those in the smaller islands of Nusa Penida, Nusa
Ceningan, Nusa Lembongan, Serangan and Menjangan Island. The
overwhelming majority of Balinese are Hindus, with the increasing
number on non-Hindu migrating from the closest neighboring islands
of Java and Lombok.
The coastal areas in the south are the most populous area with over
370,000 people living in various professions in the capital of
Denpasar. Farming has been the primary way of living in Balinese
life. Where else fishing, trading and craftsmanship are also in
fashion from generation to generation. Yet with the fast growing of
tourism since past few decades, young people start to build up a new
touch in their living culture.
Life in Bali is very communal under the organization of villages.
Temple ceremonies, marriage, cremation, farming and even the
creative art festivals are decided by the local community
institution called “Banjar”. The responsibilities in the day-to-day
life are normally administered by both the Banjar and the
government. The local government mostly responsible for schools,
health clinics, hospitals and roads, and Banjar is responsible for
all other aspects of life. There is another association exists in
the Banjar named “Subak” that concerns to the production of rice and
organizes the complex irrigation system. Every family who owns a
rice field must be a member of their local Subak, which then ensures
that every member gets his fair distribution of water. A
Banjar
consists of an average of 50 to 150 family members, owning a meeting
venue called the Bale Banjar, which is used for regular gatherings
and a center for local gamelan orchestras and drama groups.
HOW TO GET TO BALI
With the increasing number of direct flight to Bali from some other
parts of the world, it makes it easier to go to Bali. From Bali,
flight to Jakarta is about 1.5 hours, to Singapore and Perth
(Australia) 2.5 and 3 hours, to Hong Kong about 4.5 hours, and to
Sydney/Melbourne about 5.5 to 6 hours, with various airlines
offering their services. Please check at “airline info” for more
information about flight schedules. Just make sure you look for
“Denpasar (DPS)” instead of "Bali" in airline time tables. It is the
capital of Bali. Or you can check your “Travel Agents” for more
travel arrangements and accommodation.
CLIMATE
With sunshine shining throughout the year, Bali has a tropical
monsoon climate, with pleasant day temperatures between 20 to 33
degrees Celsius or 68 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit. Rainy season starts
from October to March, when the West monsoon brings heavy showers
and high humidity. June to September is considered the driest
season, with low humidity and it can be fairly cold in the evenings,
the best time for any outdoor activities.
Something unique can be found about climate in Bali. Even when it
rains most times in the most parts of Bali you can often enjoy sunny
days on the "Bukit", the hill south of Jimbaran. On the other hand,
you may expect cloudy skies and drips throughout the year in Ubud
and the mountainous areas. Most interestingly perhaps, the
international weather reports for "Denpasar" or "Bali" mention
showers and rain storms all times of the year. In higher regions
such as in Bedugul or Kintamani you'll expect to wear either a
sweater or jacket when evening falls.
HISTORY
Bali has a long chain of history from the ice-age era (pre-historic
time) to modern, global civilization era. With a dynamic
characteristic indicating selectivity and flexibility, the Balinese
culture initially reflects a configuration of an expressive culture
dominated by religious, solidarity and aesthetic values. Nowadays,
it develops along with the adoption of foreign values especially in
the aspects of the economic, science and technology, as a result of
the global modernization.
In general, the history of Bali is divided into three different eras
including the pre-historic, the Hindu-Buddhist era and the modern
culture.
The pre-historic marked the oldest and simplest way of life, an era
of hunting and food-stuff gathering, verified by the discovery of
several tools and hunting equipments. In the following era there
were also building construction system and a particular
communication system. These were just proofs of the existence and
further development of Balinese culture. The Balinese culture
flourished that nowadays one can indicates a perfect bonds between
religions, tradition and culture to become the identity of the
Balinese community.
The Dutch seamen were the first Europeans to arrive on Bali and
started to introduce western culture in 1597, though they hadn’t
discovered any appealing aspect until 1800s. Around 1846 the Dutch
returned with colonization in their minds, having established a
strong political base as majority of the Indonesian islands were
under their control since the 1700s. The military campaign embarked
from the northern coast of Bali. With the help of Sasak people of
Lombok, by 1911, all Balinese principalities were under the Dutch
control.
The sense of Indonesian nationalism began to grow after the World
War I, with the young generation declaring the national language in
1928, known as Bahasa Indonesia. During the height of World War II
the Japanese arrived, expelling the Dutch and ruled the country for
about 3.5 years, which ended later in 1945 when Indonesia declared
independent led by its very first president, Sukarno. Yet the
new-born nation was only recognized by the international community
as an independent country in 1949
FLORA AND FAUNA
Flora
Just like common tropical islands, in Bali you will find a wide
variety of plants by surprise. Huge banyan trees are everywhere in
the villages by the Bale banjar or pavilion, or temples ground.
Tamarind is also a typical Balinese tree mostly found in the north
coast, as well as clove at the highlands. Meanwhile acacia, flame
tree and mangrove can be found along the south coastlines. Craft and
house use basketries, a dozen species of coconut palms and varieties
of bamboos are also everywhere across the island.
Flowers families are just as surprisingly as the variety of big
plants. The most common are hibiscus, bougainvillea, jasmine, and
water lilies. Magnolia, frangipani, and a variety of orchids are
found in many front yards and gardens, along roads, and in temple
grounds. In the day to day life flowers are routinely used as
decorations in temples, on statues, as offerings for the gods, and
during prayers. Dancers wear blossoms in their crowns, and flowers
are worn behind the ear during ceremony sessions.
Fauna
Like some other parts of Indonesia, Bali was home for big mammals
such as elephant and tiger, although they no longer exist since
early of last century. However, Bali still is rich of wildlife with
the existence of various species of monkeys, civets, barking deer
and mouse deer. There are 300 species of birds occupy the island
including wild fowl, dollar birds, blue kingfishers, sea eagles,
sandpipers, white herons and egrets, cuckoos, wood swallows,
sparrows, and the endangered Bali starlings. The underwater world or
marine life of Bali has been noted as one of the best in the world
with various species such as dolphin, shark and sun fish, and some
smaller inhabitants like colorful coral fish, small reef fish, and
moray eels, as well as crustaceans and sponges.
The existence of these flora and fauna become necessary for the day
to day life of Balinese, where ceremonies and rituals always
flourish.
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