Bali Tour Guide

It was late nineties, a restaurant was being built somewhere in Ubud . It stood in a very strategic location over looking the view of rice field. That's a great asset, tourist like rice field view. But there was still one problem, they still did not have a name for the restaurant. Days passed. They could not get any inspiration for the restaurant name. Then one afternoon, from the wet rice fields, came a group of ducks. Those ducks, with their dirty feet, stepped into the restaurant and leave marks of their feet print almost every where on the restaurant floor. And this was the "Aha" moment for the restaurant owner. And so, they named the restaurant, Dirty Duck Dinner. The restaurant, which is located in eastern Ubud and close to monkey forest, specializes on crispy duck. For one package of crispy duck, it comes with a sambal ("delicious mix of spices"), long bean with grated coconut (please don't ask me what the ingredients), rice, and the crispy duck. They...

Below are the places that most photographed in Bali. Not only by the amateurs, but professional photographers will also find these places as great places to capture. 1. Tanah Lot temple : an ancient temple built on a rocky island situated in a beautiful beach. Tourists flock here during the sun set. 2. Kintamani Lake and Volcano : magnificent view of volcano (Mount Batur ) with a lake at its bottom (Lake Batur) 3. Ulun Danu Temple Bratan : it is a temple located by the beautiful Lake Bratan. Maybe you have seen it printed in many postcards in Bali. It’s a photo of two multi tiered shrines built on small islands in Lake Bratan 4. Uluwatu Temple : a 14th century temple which stands on a cliff with great panorama of Indian Ocean and forest. 5. Rice Field Jatiluwih and Tegalalang : Are rice terraces. The terraces have been long become an appealing view to people because its uniqueness and beauty. That is the list. You will find more beautiful places in Bali worth taking picture. These ar...

Would you like to cleanse your body and soul in Bali? There is a place in Bali where people go for a sacred bath. It’s a temple located in Tampaksiring village called Tirtha Empul temple. Tirta Empul is a temple which has spring where water flows constantly through the years from as early as the 10th century or year 960. The temple is divided into several court yards. Walking from outside, you will arrive at outside area where there is a big tree with a shrine under it. Next area is the temple hall, an open pavilion usually served as an area where people work to prepare for festival. Area of waterfalls (Madianing Mandala) Located further to the inner area of the temple are two ponds with many small waterfalls from which the water flow form. The Balinese, wearing sarong, and other religious uniform, and holding offering will walk in the pond to the small waterfalls. Then, they cleanse themselves in a certain manner. They do it not just in one waterfall, but they cleanse themselves in e...

If Kuta and Tanah Lot are so popular with its sunset, Sanur, on the other hand, is known for a great place to see sun rise. To be able to see the sun rise, you will need to go the Sanur Beach. If you stay in a hotel in Sanur which located facing the beach, then it is no problem for you to see the sun rise. All you need to do is waking up a bit earlier, at least at 5.30, and walk out your hotel room and step down to the beach. If you don't stay in Sanur, or don't stay in the hotel facing Sanur beach, and you would like to see the Bali sun rise, at least there are 3 accesses to Sanur beach. (Maybe there are more, but I just talk about access with bigger roads). Jalan Hang Tuah (Hang Tuah Street) Located in northern area of Sanur where hotel Grand Bali Beach is located. The beach is also popular with the local who spend their Sunday afternoon bathing in the beach. But, I am sure it is not crowded at all in the morning. Jalan Segara Ayu (Segara Ayu Street) Moving to the middle Sa...

Mr. Made was very confused because there was an old man came to his house and asked for a medicine to cure his long sickness. Mr. Made explained to the old man that he was neither a doctor nor a healer. But the old man insisted that Mr. Made cure him because he dreamt that Mr. Made could cure him. The old man is so weak and he could not stand. Mr. Made took pity on the old man and let him sit down; he went to the kitchen to take a glass of water for the old man. The old man drank it and felt better. He said that that his sickness is gone and thanked Mr. Made before he left. Mr. Made stood, confused, not knowing what had happened to him. But since then, he was known as Balian Ketakson or a Balinese traditional healer. Okay, before we start, let me tell you a bit about Bali traditional healing. The study of science of healing in Bali is called Usadha, which come from Sanskrit ausadhi meaning herbs. It's true that a lot of the material used for healing comes from various types of p...

Interview with the Uluwatu Monkey: Me: What do you think of the sun set in this place. Monkey: the sun set is always beautiful to see. But don't expect to see it everyday. Mind you, though it beautiful just as people think, we don't really care about it. We just care about food. We like fruits, peanut, sweet potato, cucumber, mineral water, coke and anything tourist bring here. Me: Okay, sounds interesting. So, basically, you are here for the food? Monkey: Of course. We have a lot of food supply as long as tourist coming. Me: Pardon me, is that a sunblock in your hand? Monkey: Yes, it is. Me: That's for blocking the sun shine to get into you eyes, I presume. Monkey: Of course not, you idiot. Pardon my language because we used to use harsh language with other fellow monkeys. That shows our intimacy. Anyway, this sun block I got from snatching a tourist who came here just now. You see, this is how we get our delicious food. We steal people property, but we don't inten...

The day was finally arrived. I had been preparing for the incentive trip for the last 2 months. And here they were, coming, going out from the bus and went into the Tjampuhan hotel. Daniel, the organizer and the senior manager of the company , suddenly went out from the hotel. He was wearing the Balinese sarong (the official uniform for the gala dinner), but he did not wear any clothes. Must be because it was to hot here. "Take me to royal Pita Maha, bring all the trophies and certificate." He said. I asked my friend, Doyok, (his real name is Nyoman, but all his friends called him Doyok) to drive the van to take Daniel to Royal Pita Maha. It was the stage where the gala dinner was to be held. It is 5 minutes drive from the Tjampuhan hotel, where we were. I was waiting with Anom at the lobby of Tjampuhan hotel. Anom was a tour guide whom I asked to assist me in handling this tourists group. My part was being the local organizer who settled almost all the gr...