Bali Tour Guide

Today I took picture of Durian, one of the most popular tropical fruit. It is notoriously known for its bad smell among the westeners or tourist. For Balinese or Indonesian people it smells nice. And it tastes delicious as well. You can find people selling Durian in the local markets, by the streets of Denpasar, and in many villages in Middle and North Bali (Bestala Village). Related Post: The Fruit That Smells Like Hell But Tastes Likes Heaven

Today I went to Tanjung Benoa (a tourist area in Bali island) with my fellow driver, to pick up two tourists to go on a tour in Denpasar. It took me half an hour to arrive in Tanjung Benoa from Denpasar where I live. And yes, they were waiting for us at the Club Mirage lobby, the hotel they stayed. The tourists/clients that I went tour today were from California , from such and such county. It took them nineteen hours to travel to Bali .( I can’t remember the name of the county). The day was bright and not so hot. Well, this morning was quite a surprise for me, and I think for many Balinese. It rained! For so many months, starting from October, we have been expecting some rain to pour on our beloved island, but it rained only today. This morning, at five. It was like listening to our favourite music. Any way, the rain did not last for long. But that’s okay, because it’s all we need. And, fortunately, the day turned bright as I went touring. As we drove, I explained to them ab

You probably have heard the not nice experience of exchanging money in some unauthorized money exchangers. People get less of what they should have got from exchanging their money in these so-called money exchangers. I have not met tourist or my clients who have been ripped off by money changers, but still I am going to pose here some tips on how to exchange money safely when you travel to Bali. Well, the first thing to do is to ask for recommendation from people whom you trust, you can ask the hotel staff where you are staying, or your tour guide, or travel representative. They know, and will tell you where the good place to change your money. Maybe you also have friends or relatives that has traveled to Bali before, you can ask them. Next, make sure that you go to the authorized money changer. How do you know that a money changer is authorized? It is not that easy, because all money changers, both good and bad, have "Authorized" sign in their sign board. So? Well, go to th

Almost every time I met tourist from UK, US or Australia, I asked them the question, "What do you like best about Bali?" And although I got various answers like: the weather, the food, or the Bintang beer (you definitely should try this), the surf, and the shopping, but most of the time the answer I got is " the Balinese people ". Why I asked? This time I got similar answers from them. Because the Balinese people are so friendly, always smiling and always happy. That's the answer I got. Maybe you have question in your mind, where ever you go in Bali you will always meet friendly and happy Balinese, how can it be? This is the next question that I got from them. I am going to try to answer this question from an "insider" point of view, as a Balinese myself. Hold on a sec! Here is a disclaimer: I am talking about the Balinese people in general. There are always exception, you'll meet some "not nice" Balinese, especially when we drive car or

In the next two days, the Balinese Hindu will celebrate a joyous holy day called Galungan. The Holy Day of Galungan which happen every 210 days, is anticipated eagerly by all the Balinese Hindu. This is the time where people go to the temple, people who live in the city will return to their village to pray in their family temple. Children will wear their best clothes in this special Holy Day. The Galungan Holy Day is celebrated to commemorate the victory of Dharma (good) against A-Dharma (evil). Though I myself don't fully grasp the idea of what victory are we talking about. Many Balinese I ask don't really understand what is the Dharma in this context is about. Some people will say it is connected with the story of Maya Denawa, the evil king who once ruled Bali who is defeated by Lord Indra. To remember this victory the Galungan day is celebrated. However, despite our lack of understanding of Galungan, this is the grandest Holy Day in Bali. You can see in front of every

Traveling to east Bali is another exciting experience. You will have to get prepared, you should be fit and take sarong with you. You're going to hike to the biggest and oldest temple in Bali: The Mother Temple of Besakih. Before we go to Besakih, it is worth also to visit Klungkung. There are monument of Puputan Klungkung (as a remembrance of fight until death between the local kingdom of Klungkung against the colinialist Dutch), Hall of Justice or Kerta Gosa and the Museum. The Hall of Justice served like a court in the early 1900. It is a small hall of approximately 4x4 meters with wooden chairs in the middle of the hall. These were the seat of king, priest, and Dutch controller who decided what would be the punishment for the convict? On the hall ceiling you will see many Balinese traditional painting with Kamasan style. The theme of paintings are mostly life after death (especially scene of hell with many types of punihsment given to the sinful souls according to the bad t

Do you know Bali well enough that you've tried this food before? The food that I am talking about here is called lawar. It is made of mixture of spices and sliced and minced pork. But there is another special ingredient that is going to blow your mind; it is raw pig blood. Lawar is a special food for Balinese. People make lawar on special occasion like holy day or temple festival. (There is a Holy Day coming next week called Galungan, I will write about it in a few days). It can also be found at wedding feast, or tooth filling ceremony. You can buy lawar at food stall all over Bali, especially those selling suckling pig. Is it really raw blood? Before we go on to that discussion, let see what are the ingredients needed to make lawar. First, we need a complete combination of spices (called Basa genep ). The Basa Genep consists of onion, garlic, pepper, turmeric, chili, salt, ketumbar (I'll have to check the English translation later), fried onion, shrimp paste, and ginge