Good News From Indonesia

Wassup guys!

Let’s go back to the Island of Gods, Bali. On Day 4 I showed you a picture of Plebon Ceremony in Bali.

Here’s another picture of Plebon, a traditional ceremony in Bali that you shouldn’t miss!

Regards,
Mad

Check out my travel blog Mad Alkatiri for more cool places and follow me @madalkatiri.

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It’s time to chill, relax…

After a beautifully thrilling and high energy adventure in the past 8 days, it’s now time to catch a breath. I decided to stop by in the north-east coast of Bali, Tulamben, while preparing for another full exciting week.

Enjoying the sunset here after diving with curious foreign tourists around the US Army ship wreck is a nice way to wrap up this week. While wreck diving is the main attraction here, you can still find other interesting stuff to do in Bali. It’s Bali anyway.

I wasn’t lucky enough to find any lost treasure in the wreck though…

Very recommended for: divers, swimmers.

Regards,
Mad

Check out my travel blog Mad Alkatiri for more cool places and follow me @madalkatiri.

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Alright, this was actually from my Bali trip earlier this year, and I’m still enjoying the water of Pulau Kambing. But I think it’s worth sharing, the Plebon Ceremony in Ubud, Bali.

It’s a cremation ceremony for the royal families. Here’s some description from My Bali Info:

In Hindu Bali belief, a cremation ceremony symbolizes the cleansing of the soul of the one who has passed away, by returning the physical remains to the original elements from which living creatures are created and thereby releasing the soul from its worldly bonds. A pelebon or ngaben is not a mournful occasion, but rather a way to soothe the soul of the departed and ensure that it is not disturbed by the sobbing of those left behind.
In Balinese tradition, the body is merely a vessel for the soul. When a person dies, it is believed that his soul, or atman, remains near the body. A person’s body consists of five elements: fire, air, water, earth, and empty space. These five elements must be returned to nature, to be released so they can find the way to heaven and unite with the Creator. The cremation ceremony is a lengthy process, with many steps both before and after the cremation itself.

What’s interesting is that this became a popular tourist attraction. Well, it’s Bali to begin with, so there’s bunch of foreign tourists, and this ceremony shows a strong vibe of Balinese culture.

But of course, there are more fun stuff to do in Bali. And how to go to Bali? Y’all know that already…

See you around!

Regards,
Mad

Check out my travel blog Mad Alkatiri for more cool places and follow me @madalkatiri.

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Take a break from the maddening rat race and head to some of the best getaway places the archipelago has to offer. From picturesque volcanic lakes and mountains, well-preserved traditional tribal villages, a monumental Buddhist temple to otherworldly beaches and gorgeous underwater heavens. There is something for everyone to enjoy!

Bali
Hailed as the “ultimate holiday island” by many globetrotters, Bali’s magnetic charm is still alluring. With many remote beaches popping up on the map, such as Dreamland and Padang Padang, as the new darlings alongside other novel attractions, Bali remains on everyone’s top destinations list.

Also thanks to the Eat, Pray & Love movie for securing Ubud as the artsy little town filled with cool galleries and stylish boutiques, and of course, a haven for spiritual seekers, where people can cleanse their soul with a little yoga and meditation in the rice fields and enjoy amazing spa treatments.

Raja Ampat
Due to the wide media exposure in the past two years, this tiny group of islands situated on the northwest tip of Papuan bird’s head peninsula has been enjoying an increasing number of visitors as the world’s number one diving spot.

Home to more than 75 percent of the earth’s coral species, Raja Ampat is indeed the heart of the Coral Triangle, which also shelters a staggering 1,200 types of fish and 700 mollusk species.

Above on land, watching the Papua’s iconic Birds of Paradise swaging their tiny bodies on high tree branches in the islands’ jungle will complete your visit to Raja Ampat.

Tana Toraja
Step into the mystical land of Tana Toraja where an ancient-old burial tradition has propelled the regency into an international tourist destination. Located around 350 km north of Makassar, the largest city in Southern Sulawesi, Tana Toraja is famed for its legendary seven days Rambu Solo burial ceremony as well as the captivating cemetery sites situated in steep rocky cliffs.

Encounter the deceased in Londa, an old burial ground inside a rock cave, where wooden caskets are neatly placed according to their family tree. Outside, the cave is adorned with tau-tau (traditional Toraja wooden doll) as miniature replicates of the noble people buried inside.

At Lemo rock cliff, wooden coffins are rested inside man-made holes that had been deeply carved into the steep cliff. Here, the higher resting hole indicates higher social rank of the person buried. The oldest burial site in Toraja is located in Kete’ Ke’su village, where numerous thousand-year-old wooden caskets are placed on steep cliffs without any outer shields or protection.

In Pallawa Village you can witness a number of Toraja’s traditional Tongkonan houses (that look like an old Chinese emperor’s ship) that are hundreds of years old. Adorned with water buffalo horns and rows of boar tusks they are still standing high in mint condition. Tana Toraja is the place to soak in an exceptionally rich cultural heritage the world has gradually come to appreciate.

Komodo National Park
Have a real Jurassic Park vacation by meeting the wild Komodo dragons! Situated between Sumbawa and Flores islands, the Komodo National Park stretches across three major islands, Komodo, Rinca, and Padar, and for the past few years, has been increasingly popular for its unique beaches and numerous stunning dive sites.

After a heart-pumping Komodo safari at Loh Liang, relax on the idyllic Pink Beach with its lovely soft pink sands. Some say microscopic organisms named foraminifera cause the pink-colored effect on the sands. With the protection of Jagawana, the park’s guide, you can lazily sunbathe, swim, snorkel or even dive here, though beware of the rather strong current.

Established in 1980, the park was built as the Komodo dragon conservation site and was quickly initiated as the UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Man and Biosphere Reserve in 1986.

Borobudur Temple
Inscribed in 1991 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this 9th Century Buddhist temple was built by King Samaratungga, a Saliendra descendant, 300 years before Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

The majestic temple located in Muntilan, Central Java, elegantly portrays the philosophy of life of the great Bodhisattva in 1460 beautifully sculptured bas-reliefs (some experts believe it to be the most complete ensemble of Buddhist reliefs in the world) and 504 stupas containing a statue of Buddha.

Recently, Pretty Woman actor and devoted Buddhist Richard Gere, visited the temple to wander through its striking compound and do a quiet morning meditation.

News Source: The Jakarta Post

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A team from UNESCO will visit locations in Bali next month as part of a final assessment for a potential world cultural heritage nomination, a Bali Culture Agency official says.

“The teams are scheduled to be in Bali Oct. 12-17,” agency head Ketut Suastika said on Saturday in Denpasar as quoted by Antara news wire.

Suastika said that three locations had been nominated as potential world cultural heritage sites, namely Pakerisan water catchment area in Gianyar, the rice paddy field area in Jatiluwih, Tabanan and the Taman Ayun temple in Badung.

“We have been intensively renovating those locations, and especially inviting the local community commitment to support the assessment process,” he said.

The results of the visit will be shared and discussed during the UNESCO assembly in June next year.

News Source: The Jakarta Post

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taken from New York Times

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UBUD, INDONESIA — After spending weeks searching the hills of Bali for a home to buy, John Duffield and Rachel Plecas settled on a house that was something of a snake pit.

But even though they found a python slithering through the run-down house during their initial inspection, they fell in love with the overgrown elements of the property, which had once been used as an aviary.

“There was so little to choose from, so we opted to take it and renovate it,” Ms. Plecas said.

Good houses for sale are hard to find in inland Bali, amid the island’s picturesque landscape of jungles and rice paddies. Most new homes are either occupied by the owners or built specifically as rentals.

Older places tend to quickly fall victim to Bali’s severe tropical elements, unless they are painstakingly maintained.

“There is more and more product on the market but not necessarily a lot of good product,” said Zoë Rice, who works for Elite Havens, a Bali property agency.

Demand for inland properties has increased dramatically in recent years, primarily driven by foreigners from Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, local property experts say.

Foreigners cannot own land in Bali, or elsewhere in Indonesia; they either have to lease or to buy through a local surrogate. Last year, the Indonesian government discussed loosening restrictions on foreign ownership, but no action was taken.

“There was not much international investment in Bali inland properties before year 2000,” said Ricky Wirapatria, general manager of the rental company Ranadi Villa and spokesman for the Bali Villa Association. “But I see during the past 10 years, international demand or interest has extremely increased.”

With villas hard to find, many foreigners opt to lease land and build new homes, said Jared Collins, a senior advisor with Ubud Property, a property company. Since 2005, the price for buildable land has nearly tripled in the Ubud region, fueled in large part by interest from foreigners, he said. Recently, the region has received a lot of publicity as one of the locations in Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling book “Eat, Pray, Love” and the 2010 movie starring Julia Roberts.

In Ubud, buying a one-are, or 100-square-meter, plot of buildable land in a rice field costs about 90 million to 180 million rupiah, or about $10,000 to $20,000, which is not the bargain some shoppers expect to find on the island.

To lease a property near Ubud generally costs about 1.1 million to 2.9 million rupiah per are a year, or $125 to $325, Mr. Collins said. Leases typically run for 20 to 25 years and are renewable for as long as 70 years.

“A lot of people who come here have the idea of prices from five to 10 years ago,” Mr. Collins said.

To Jonathan Pye, the scarcity of suitable homes was one of the Briton’s main reasons for buying a house near Ubud last year, a transaction he made through a surrogate. He said he viewed the purchase as a good investment, adding, “It didn’t seem feasible that prices would go down.”

After years living in Singapore, Mr. Pye and his wife, Louise, decided to settle on Bali to enroll their two daughters in the Green School, an environmentally focused private school primarily catering to expatriates, co-founded by the jeweler John Hardy.

Working with Mr. Collins, they paid the equivalent of about $350,000 for a five-bedroom home. “A lawyer in London wouldn’t want me to sign,” Mr. Pye said. “But this is the way it works, and you get as much protection as you can get.”

After buying the property, Mr. Pye learned there were other local customs he needed to follow. They had to meet the banjar, the leader of the local community, and arrange a series of blessings. “If it has been cursed, you can’t get staff to work on the house,” Mr. Pye said.

Ms. Plecas and Mr. Duffield were already experienced in the nuances of the Bali property market when they started shopping. In 2000, they had built Villa Bukit Naga, a seven-bedroom house in a river valley outside Ubud, which they now rent to travelers for $1,650 a night during peak season.

They later decided they wanted to be closer to Ubud and, after finding the run-down house, just a short walk from the town center, they paid the equivalent of $80,000 for the remaining four years on the lease. They spent four months, and another $80,000, to renovate.

The result is an open-style house with one large master bedroom set in a sprawling terraced garden. A small pool is steps from the living room. The aviary has been restored, and they are using it to rehabilitate injured birds.

“What really struck us, and continues to fill us with joy and wonder, are the beauty of the gardens and the sense that the property is a Garden of Eden,” Ms. Plecas said.

News Source : New York Times

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Indonesia and Singapore have agreed to jointly develop cruise ship tourism in the neighbors’ latest move to boost bilateral economic ties.

Singapore is enjoying a cruise tourism boom and they need areas that the cruises can visit; one of them being Bali. From Bali they can explore eastern Indonesia, which has many potential marine tourist sites.

Cruise ship tourism was one of six sectors Indonesia and Singapore wished to develop together.

Other targets of bilateral cooperations include civil aviation, manpower, agribusiness, investments, and cooperation in the special economic zones of Batam, Bintan and Karimun; three Indonesian regions bordering with the city state.

On the agribusiness sector, the two countries had agreed that Indonesia would increase its vegetable and fruits exports to Singapore by 20 percent each year.

Source: Kompas

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According to smarttravelasia, Bali is placed second of the top 10 holiday destinations list. It is because Bali has a lot of places which can be visited by tourists. By the way, there are several resorts in Bali that have achieved awards from various best traveling sites in the world. None of these sites are Indonesian site, so you will see that many Balinese resorts have passed international requirements to be the best resorts in the world. You might want to consider staying at these hotels to spend your holiday in Bali.

1. Alila Ubud and Alila Manggis, Bali, Indonesia (2nd on the list)

These two Alila Group eco resorts featured in Agoda’s Top 10 Eco-Friendly Asian Resorts for 2007. Alila Ubud was built in the style of an Indonesian hillside village while the Alila Manggis combines traditional Balinese architecture with contemporary design. Both resorts have policies to reduce their impact on the environment and each promotes Earth-friendly activities such as trekking, cycling and Balinese cooking lessons.

Agoda is Asia’s leading online hotel reservations company which recognizes resorts for their innovative environmental policies and practices. Agoda’s selection criteria for the list ensures the green policies at these top-rated eco-friendly hotels go beyond simply encouraging guests to reuse their linen or take shorter showers. Hotels are given extra credit for reducing their carbon footprint, empowering local communities and implementing green policies specific to their locations.

The next three resorts are taken from holidayswithkids.co.au. Holidays with Kids, Australia’s leading family travel and lifestyle magazine and website, helps parents to plan the family holiday of a lifetime, wherever you want to go in the world. these resorts are put in the list of top 10 family resorts in Asia. are you interested in visiting Bali with the whole family? these are the best places to stay!

1. Club Med Bali (1st)

Club Med Bali’s attention to detail, family-friendly atmosphere and its all-inclusive format make it a winner with Holidays with Kids readers. Located between a sandy beach and rice paddies, this property captures all the charm and serenity of Bali, with lotus ponds, Balinese-style bungalows and a palm-lined beach. Activities including trapeze lessons, dance and cooking classes also score highly with Australian families looking for a cultural experience in a beautiful, exotic location.

2. Bali Dynasty Resort (2nd)

Consistently popular with Australians, this beachfront property at South Kuta offers great value for money as well as a friendly, family-oriented atmosphere. The property has recently undergone a multi-million dollar renovation, and now offers six restaurants, an adults-only pool and a great kids’ pool complete with waterslide. Family suites are available as well as special Kids’ Suites complete with bunk beds; and children under 12 are free when sharing a room with their parents.

3. The Westin Resort, Nusa Dua (10th)

Combining the gentle hospitality of Bali with the highest standard of comfort, the Westin Resort in Bali is an enticing oasis. Popular with families is the Family Suite that provides two interconnecting bedrooms, with board games and PlayStation 2 a favourite with the kids. The children get to play in their own pool, complete with waterfall, while the Westin Kids’ Club will keep them busy all day long.

The last resort is Elephant Safari Lodge Park. Hotelscombined.com, the biggest hotel search engine in the world, has put this resort in the top 10 quirkiest hotels worldwide. This unusual hotel is the only Asian hotel on the list.

Situated directly in an elephant sanctuary, this safari-style lodge offers travelers an opportunity to interact, feed, ride, observe, learn, play and stay with 29 beautiful Sumatran elephants. Guests also enjoy elephant chauffeur pick up from rooms and free safari park access.

Elephant Safari Park Lodge Bali is a unique resort on the island of Bali set within 3.5 hectares of the multi award winning Elephant Safari Park, Taro. The Elephant Safari Park Lodge is located just 20 minutes north from the islands cultural and artistic centre of Ubud and 75 minutes north of Ngurah Rai Airport in the historic village of Taro.

anyway, there are still a lot of resorts in Bali that passed the requirements of best hotels in the world. here are the names of the hotel which listed in several polls in Smart Travel Asia,  the region’s only dedicated online travel magazine with over one million readers worldwide.

Top 25 Spa Hotels & Resorts

• 3. Bulgari Resort Bali
• 4. Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay
• 6. AYANA Resort and Spa, Bali
• 9. Grand Hyatt Bali
• 16. The Royal Pita Maha, Bali
• 17. InterContinental Bali Resort
• 19. COMO Shambhala Estate at Begawan Giri, Bali
• 21. Hotel Tugu Bali.

Top 25 Leisure Hotels & Resorts

• 4. Bulgari Resort Bali
• 4. Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay
• 5. Grand Hyatt Bali
• 5. The Legian Bali
• 7. Amandari, Bali
• 7. Amankila, Bali
• 12. Amanusa, Bali
• 19. InterContinental Bali Resort
• 21. The Chedi Club at Tanah Gajah, Ubud
• 22. Conrad Bali
• 23. Alila Ubud, Bali
• 25. The Oberoi, Bali

News Sources: Travel Guide to Koh Samui, Agoda, Holiday With Kids, Hotels Combined, Smart Travel Asia

Photo Sources: Hotel Hhatter, Global Easy Tour, ocbc.com.sg, Balistarisland.com, Bali-Indonesia.com, Triasbali.com

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The floors of New York City’s music halls attain various states of cleanliness. Few ensembles are in a better position to observe them up close than the Balinese ensemble Gamelan Dharma Swara.

In an October performance at a West Village club, its musicians sat cross-legged behind an array of glittering bronze percussion instruments on the black basement floor, a linoleum surface one suspects began as some other color.

Pool-playing patrons sat next to more sober listeners on beer-stained sofas.

It might seem far from Bali in spirit, but the music’s spectacular brightness attracted a rogue dog, something you might encounter in any temple courtyard.

Home for Dharma Swara is not Indonesia itself, but rather its consulate in New York.

That converted town house has a basketball court’s worth of hardwood on which to rehearse. Membership in the group is open to anyone.

The set of instruments — gongs, xylophones, drums and flutes — accommodates about 20 players.

Some are Balinese, but most are not.

The ensemble serves both to promote Balinese music and dance and, in a practical sense, to support diplomatic events.

The performers are roving diplomats themselves.

In addition to sundry clubs and concert halls, they have performed on the carpets of the United Nations, in the lobbies of museums, at college auditoriums and in the gardens of private patrons.

A flurry of dates last year helped raise money for a summer tour of Bali.

Last Sunday the group celebrated the release of its first album, a double CD set titled “Gamelan Dharma Swara,” with a concert in Greenwich Village.

An offering dance, a traditional form of temple worship performed with a nimble trio of women, honored the audience in a shower of flower petals.

The program also featured Pan Wandres’s Kebyar Legong (1914), a 30-minute tour de force with such explosive shifts of mood and tempo that few groups try to perform it — even in Bali.

The sound of gamelan ensembles, which have distinct Javanese and Balinese forms, became known to Western classical music connoisseurs through Debussy, Ravel and other composers who found its tonalities novel and inspiring.

In the 1930s, a young Canadian named Colin McPhee (1900-64) began drawing on gamelan’s interlocking melodic patterns in his own music, and his works and a later book of research became reference points for Balinese music in the West.

“In some ways Colin McPhee had the wrong impression of Balinese music,” said Pak I Nyoman Saptanyana, Dharma Swara’s artistic director since 2001.

“He preserved the older forms at the expense of all the new 20th-century styles. He didn’t see this as a living tradition that should continue to evolve.”

As in McPhee’s time, Balinese music continues to be swept up in romantic fantasies of the primitive and exotic, which Westerners frequently confuse with authenticity.

“Bali still serves as an icon of the mysterious premodern East,” said Andrew McGraw, the executive director of Dharma Swara.

“It satisfies a neo-liberal nostalgia for community and spirituality.

“Gamelan in the US is as much, if not more, a story about us than an accurate representation of Indonesian culture.”

It’s a story told by scores of gamelan ensembles across North America, many of which trace their roots to Mantle Hood, a pioneering ethnomusicologist who believed that scholars should learn to perform the traditions that they study.

In 1958 he started the first US-based gamelan at the University of California, Los Angeles, and trained the leaders of a hundred more.

At least that many ensembles exist today, on college campuses and as community groups like Dharma Swara.

Although the roster changes from year to year, Dharma Swara tends to include both emerging and established talents on the new music scene.

Recent members include the bagpiper Matt Welch (Blarvuster), the trombonist and instrument builder Richard Marriott (Club Foot Orchestra) and the percussionist Michael Lipsey (Talujon), who starts his own gamelan ensemble at Queens College in January.

“The learning process makes you use your brain in a completely different way,” said flutist Jessica Schmitz, co-director of the Asphalt Orchestra.

New pieces are taught by rote without notation, which requires deep understanding of musical structure as well as attention to detail. Because multiple parts combine to create a single melody, players depend on one another to rehearse as well as perform.

Saptanyana also notes that half the members are composers, some of whom have contributed to Dharma Swara’s repertory.

During Dharma Swara’s Balinese tour, audiences applauded wildly for an original work by McGraw, “Sikut Sanga,” which appropriates swaths of melody from “New York, New York” and “A Night in Tunisia.”

Next week one work will be a world premiere, by Saptanyana’s 18-year-old son, Putu, who performs on multiple instruments.

“I brainstormed using all the music I’ve ever heard and picked some ideas that I liked,” said Putu Saptanyana, who has spent as much time around New York City as in his Balinese village, Ubud.

As the audience ponders its intricately layered pulse and shimmer, few would suspect that the young composer does his most intensive listening to gamelan while he plays his Xbox 360.

News Source : The New York Time, The Jakarta Globe

Photo Source : dharmaswara.org

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