THE EYE NEEDS TO TRAVEL
BALI, INDONESIA
Produced by miRRa
Edited by Vince Dilley
It must be said that there is something magical about BALI; an island located east of Java Island and west of Lombok Island, in Indonesia. The smells of the sesajen (some ritual offerings offered to God and it can be flowers or foods) is everywhere, even inside taxis and stores. That’s because the majority of people in Bali are Hindu. What I salute most about the people of Bali is that almost all, still hold their own traditions and values, while remaining friendly and helpful to tourists.
When visiting Bali, it feels like you are on one long stretched out holiday…a testament to that fact that so many tourists extend their stay for weeks and maybe months at a time. The relatively low cost of living there certainly helps in that regard too.
The eye picked some sights when it travel to Bali.
The first place visited was ‘Tanah Lot’, located in Tabanan, Bali. One of the many Hindu Temples, and which is located on the large rock just offshore.
Tanah Lot is claimed to be the work of the 16th-century Dang Hyang Nirartha. The temple is one of seven sea temples around the Balinese coast. Each of the sea temples was established within eyesight of the next to form a chain along the south-western coast. In addition to Balinese mythology, the temple was significantly influenced by Hinduism.
As “the eye” walked along footpath steps in the opposite direction, another breathtaking view came into sight: Pura Batu Bolong. Pura Batu Bolong (in English “Hole Stone Temple”), because there is literally a hole in the stone carved out by the natural wave action over hundreds of years.
Another travel destination that was visited was in Mandala Suci Menara Wana, otherwise known as ‘Monkey Forest’ of Ubud. It is the sanctuary and natural habitat of the Balinese Monkeys which are located in Padang Tegal Ubud. Watching how they interact with each other and visitors was very interesting. Just like humans they display many similar characteristics like family feeding, helping each other, joking around, and hugging each other. Sometimes mammals such as these can teach us humans how to be a better person towards each other.
Accordingly, the Monkey Forest has a philosophical goal of creating peace and harmony for visitors from all over the world. It also seeks to conserve rare plants and animals for use in Hindu rituals and to provide a natural laboratory for educational institutions, with a particular emphasis on research into the social interaction of the park's monkeys with one another and their interaction with the park's natural environment.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubud_Monkey_Forest)
After some extended strolling around exploring more sights of Bali, we decide to have some dinner in Jimbaran, Bali. This beach offers lots of cafes and restaurants with dining tables and white table cloths on the sand in front of the crashing waves. A choice of fish that were available to be cooked by the chefs were on display for us near the grill. We chose for the chefs to cook ours, versus cooking ourselves.
The next and last destination for the “Eye” to see was another sacred and holy Hindu temple called ‘Pura Ulun Danu Beratan’ or Beratan Temple. Located on the shores of Lake Beratan in the mountains near Bedugul, it took quite a while to get there because of the winding road and the heavy traffic. Boats for rent were available to tourists if they wished to see the temple from the lake.
Built in 1633, this temple is used for offerings ceremony to the Balinese water, lake and river goddess Dewi Danu, due to the importance of Lake Bratan as a main source of irrigation in central Bali.
This temple is also called as Bali temple on the lake because it looks like it is floating when the Bratan river water rises.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pura_Ulun_Danu_Bratan)
There are many other places that one can explore in Bali. Whatever you are into...your eye will love Bali!
