Why
you should visit Bali?
Bali
is definitely one of the most popular of thousand islands of
Indonesia. If so many people are attracted to Bali there has to be
the reason for that. Of course so many turists in one place is also
one of the biggest drawbacks. However even if you are not the type of
person, who enjoys spending holiday in such touristic destinations,
there are plenty of ways to experience the Indonesian culture in
Bali. This small island is one of those places, where nature has
given people almost anything to fully enjoy their life. Long beaches,
marvelous landscapes, tropical forests, rice terraces, Hindu temples,
traditional food and drinks all for reasonable prices make travelers
coming back for more. A unique culture is a mixture of Hinduism and
traditional local beliefs. Most tourists come to Bali for its famous
beaches, but to be honest in my opinion it is not the best feature.
So what is the reason why would I recommend visiting this island?
1.
Diving
Dive
sides in Bali are highly praised for the beauty and diversity of its
marine life. There are more than 2 000 species of reef fish in Bali's
waters. There are vertical walls and sand slopes, steel and wooden
ship wrecks, peacefull bays and ripping currents, deep coral-covered
slops and shallow seagrass beds. You can find it all in one place.
There are two especially unique sides Manta Point the Giant Mant
cleaning station and Cristal Bay, which is definitely the best place
to see Sunfish (Mola-Mola). If you are not a diver there is also a
few places, which are nice for snorkeling.
2.
Surfing
Surrfing
is also very popular in Bali. There are people with surfboards on
every cornner. You can easily find a school and learn it too. It's a part of turistic culture. The best conditions for surfing are in the
southern part of the island. Waves there might be up to 3 meters.
However in high season it gets really crowded there.
3.
Culture
The Balinese are helpful, friendly and of course a really religious nation.
Each day begins and ends with the sacrifice to the spirits and
demons. These gifts can be found everywhere: at the entrance to the
house, in a rickshaw, taxi, on the street outside the shop. Mostly
these are little boxes with leaves, a few grains of rice and flowers.
There is also enormous number of religious ceremonies (in a year there are nearly 200 events to celebrate) and numerous beautiful, sometimes
extremely old temples. What's easy to notice is the other side of this
religion. On the island is plenty of houseless dogs. Is because
balinese believes that people, who lived badly are born as dogs in
their next life. It's form of punishment.
4.
Nature
Apart
from underwater life, which I already mentioned, it's worth to going for
a tip to the middle part of Bali. Stopping along the way in
traditional villages. Admiring tropical forests growing on the slopes
of volcanoes and beautiful rice terraces in valles. Everywhere you
can find dozens of exotic animal species and plants, which in Europe
can be seen only in a ZOO or growing in pots.
5.
Cuisine
It
my opinion it's a little bit boring. It is easy to guess that rice is the main ingredient of all meals. It is eaten even 3 times a day, all year round. Balinese people claim that they know thousands of ways to
prepare it. Usually a meal contains rice with different kinds of meat
(beef, chicken, fish) eggs and vegetables. After two weeks of eating
it I was dreaming of "schabowy". However it was very instructive
experience.
At
the end please look at the short movie, which in my opinion is
accurate summary of Bali's tourism.
QUESTIONS:
Have
you ever been to Bali? If yes what did you like the most?
Have
you ever visted other exotic places? What are your expirinces? What would you recommend?
Is
there any place you you really want to visit in future?
Comments
I can't say I've been to any exotic places. Actually I have never been outside of Europe, so there. However I come from and have returned to many times to Sicily and in my opinion the deep south of Italy can be really exotic too :P You would be surprised at the customs they have there.
Is there a place I really want to visit? I don't know really. I guess it would be fun to go to Japan. Also I wouldn't mind going to china to see the country side and villages. In Japan I would be much more interested in the city life. However the truth is anywhere is fine by me, as long as I have good company!
I certainly prefer colder areas, with mountains and wild forests (and by wild I don't mean there're wild spiders or sneaks living there), mostly uninhabited, with old architecture - something like this.
Maybe in the future I'll have more time/money to go somewhere nice. Maybe Egypt or Easter Island. The kind of place which have this ancient feeling, not the classic one as Greece or Italy
- Aleksander Towcik
Cheers
My tip is to not plan you first diving hollidays basing on diving, because you might not like it. Just try it first additionally. There are diving companies, which offer 5 meters dive with an instructor holding your hand all the time, when you do not have any certificate. That is good way to check how do you feel under the water. You can also try it in Warsaw in swimmingpool, but it's not the same.