Bali - Land of surprises

Just last week I went on a holiday to Bali with my wife and her friends. Bali is an island located on the east side of Java in Indonesia. It's an volcanic island with two active volcanoes, namely Mount Bartu (about 1,700m) and Mount Agung (above 3,000m). The trip, though tiring, was spiritually enlightening, and made me wonder how I was able to survive the physically exhausting aspect of it.

We landed at Denpasar Airport, which was newly furnished. It can be comparable to my homeland's Changi Airport - a combination of modern facilities, architecture and efficiency in bringing tourists from the planes to the roads. While leaving the airport, we were greeted by an unique structure.

So actually Bali isn't a Muslim majority place. The locals are mainly Hindi, due to influence from their trade with Malacca and India dated hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of years in the past. Bali has a monarchy, not with any ruling or legislative power, which forms part of the attractions Bali provides as a tourist destination. About 60% of the GDP in Bali comes from tourism.

Tourists can also see many statues around the city. They are mainly located in the middle of major road junctions. Unlikely big cities where traffic lights are commonplace, the roads in Bali are arranged (uniquely) in T or Y-junctions, and the statues mark the center of the junction to help divert how the vehicles should move.

And yes, Bali is a relaxing place. Laid back and chill, worry free, and people sell petrol in bottles~

So we landed on an afternoon and the first day was spent walking around Seminyak where our hotel was located. We stayed at Mutiara Bali Boutique Resort Villa, which was a cosy villa where hotel staff will come to your villa to prepare your breakfast in the morning. Freshly made breakfast with a tingle of Balinese love :)...

A summary of our itinerary for the rest of the trip is as follows:
Day 2 - trek up Mount Bartu, spa at Teksu Spa, visit to coffee plantation, food at Ubud organic farm
Day 3 - spotting dolphins off North coast of Bali, visiting a waterfall, then the UNESCO labelled rice terrace, and a temple by the sea
Day 4 - did water sports in the morning, then off to a strawberry farm and another temple at the twin lakes, followed by a performance accompanied with the sunset at another temple
Day 5 - laze in the villa, collected feelings and last minute shopping before flying back to Singapore

The posts for other days will come later.