Bali Tour Guide

Pura Tirta Sudamala is located in Bangli regency. It is a place for the Balinese to do a purification ritual or spiritual cleansing.  The Balinese believe that there should be a balance between physical and spiritual body. When the body is dirty, we can wash it with water and soap. When the spirit needs cleansing, the Balinese would perform a ritual called melukat or spiritual cleansing. In this temple, the ritual is started by praying to the God led by a pemangku in a little temple close to the holy spring. Next step is to go down to the river and wash oneself. Finally, going to each of the fountain located just by the river. After being blessed with holy water by the pemangku, the ritual is done. Here the Balinese will wear their dry clothes again and once again go to the main area of the temple to pray. Finally, it is done. They will go home feeling  spiritually cleansed. Here is the map where the Pura Tirta Sudamala is located.

Here is an adventure of Kat, Jack and me to Ubud monkey forest and some other places. Coming from US, Kat and Jack have different expecation  in Bali. Kat wants to visit Mc Donald, KFC or Starbucks and anything available in US. Jack wanted to see the carving of Balinese Hindu temple, the irrigation of the rice terraces and anything cultural. He also would like to visit monkey forests in Ubud. But monkey forests was a real nightmare for Kat. At least at beginning of the trek into the forest. She was scared like hell of the monkeys. Jack and I teased her along the trekking route about how monkeys will kidnap her and make her stay in the forest forever. But, if you ask how I feel about monkey as a tour guide, am I scared to monkeys? The answer is yes. Especially with their teeth showing when trying to scare people. It does make you shiver a little bit. Kat managed to finish the monkey forests, she ended it by saying "I survived".Jack was happy to see the Batuan Templ...

It was a great full day trip. We went to see mount Batur in Kintamani, trying the luwak coffee and visited Tegenungan waterfall. It is really important to feel excited and happy before you start the tour. When you are happy, you will surely enjoy the trip. They were like that. Happy and  and enjoying their trip. "Are you always happy? Have you ever get angry?" I asked, partly joking. "We will be miserable again when we're back to England,". They laughed.

It seems that the answer is yes. I took this video in a small cafe in Tanah Lot temple. The Cafe. The owner has several civet cats in his cafe. I stopped to have a look with my clients. The civets are quite tame and quite comfortable around people. One of the civet played with the lady who visit the shop. But with the owner, he is even more relax. Having a civet as a pet is not common in Bali. So, there is not enough story or detail to tell about how they might behave. One of the common story that people hear in Bali is that civet like to steal little chicks from farm area. If you encounter, domesticated civet in Bali, you can play with them if you like. But it is not enough detail or story that I heard about how they behave as a pet. Not that I know. So, please be careful in handling the civets. They may behave not as we expect.

Tegenungan waterfall is located in Gianyar regency, close to the popular place of Ubud.  Here is my video when I took some clients to the waterfall. The ticket cost at the time of this video is rp 10,000. The road  to the view of the waterfall is quite easy to walk. The locals in this village are serious to build a better road and path that it is easy for the visitors to come. Toilets are available after you walk pass the ticket booth. Some shops that sells souvenirs and cafe  for drink are available. If you just would like to view and to take photo from a far, you can do that from a view point. The view point is actually a cafe/warung just by the road. Walk 2 minutes from the ticket booth, and you will arrive at the view point. If you would like to get closer to the waterfall, then from the view point you can walk down to the river where the waterfall is located. The are steps going down. You will spend about about 5 minutes walking down about 150 steps. Nex...

There are some waterfalls in Gitgit village. If you've been there, probably you have visited the main waterfall where everybody goes. The multi-tiered  waterfall in Gitgit village North Bali, is the less visited waterfall, but it does not mean it is not a great place to visit. Check the video, you will find it quite interesting. Gitgit village is located in north Bali. If you happen to travel to Lovina Beach in North Bali, passing Ulun Danu temple, toward Singaraja, you will pass this village. Maybe you will even stop in this village and stop at one of the waterfall. The multi-tiered waterfall is the second waterfall you will encounter while driving from South Bali. The path is to waterfall is easy to walk on. There are not really any stairs on the path like the other waterfall. So, most of the visitors will find it easy to get there. You will cross a bridge, and then walk on the river bank, and continue to the small open building in the river where you can get the best v...

Gede Prama is the most inspirational teacher in Bali. He teaches about wisdom about how to build family, how to meditate, and how to live base on philosophy acceptance. I had a chance to meet him at Budha monastery in Banjar north Bali. I was taking some clients to the monestery and he was there for an event called Compassion Day. It was a coincidence for us to meet him. I did not know he was there until I was there myself in the monastery. Knowing from the local that he was there, I talked to the comittee of the Compassion Day  about the possibility of bringing my clients meeting him. "Please, say to him, we would like to meet him. These travelers are interested to learn more about meditation." I refered to my clients. But he was busy with preparation and some other people that meeting him at the moment. He could not meet us. So, then we continued walking around the temple, admiring the architecture, talking to the people there, and taking some photos. We were ab...