Coming back with the second leg of our Bali tour, I would like to talk about the highlight of the trip – the Uluwatu temple. Before I proceed with the description about Uluwatu, I happened to visit another local temple which had some amazing carvings and architecture.
After visiting the temple, we took a quick pit stop at the coffee plantation. This plantation is famous for the original Balinese coffee called Kopi Luwak, which has a very unique way of preparation. The coffee beans from the plantation are fed to the forest cat called Luwak. The cat excretes have a hard cover which are peeled off and the interiors are then roasted and crushed to form the coffee powder. The coffee plantations area was teamed with the famous Bali swing and other photogenic spots
Coming to the most famous spot of Bali, the Uluwatu temple, it is the south western tip of Bali. Ulu means land’s end and watu meaning rock, this temple is located on the edge of a cliff that opens up to the view of the magnificent Indian Ocean. Temple visit is usually teamed up with the sunset tour which includes a traditional dance performance called the Kecak dance which depicts the story of Ramayan.
The specialty of the Kecak dance is that it is performed without using any musical instrument, instead it uses the choir of around 70 men making the sound “Chak Chak”. The origin of this dance is from the sacred dance (Sang Hyang) wherein one of the dancers is possessed by spirits and communicated with the Gods or ancestors.
Following are some if the shots that I captured during the Kecak dance
While the Kecak dance was extremely gripping and had our eyeballs focussed, mother nature was busy showing off the beauty of the setting sun by filling the horizon with its vibrance.
Our final stop for the trip was the Nusa Penida island. Accessibility to the Nusa Penida island is only through and hour long ferry from Sanur Harbour which is also almost and hour from Kuta. Travelling to this island takes up an entire day which include fun activities like water sports and visits to the scenic beaches. There is also an option of stay available on the island with some amazing resorts and beach houses. Nusa Penida lies to the south west of Bali, yet during the ferry ride, you are bound to spot Mount Agung at a far sight.
We got down at the Crystal Bay at Nusa Penida and started our journey towards Angel Billabong beach
Next up was the Broken beach
And the last and the final stop of the trip was kind of the reason why this whole trip was planned and that is the Kelingking beach or the T-Rex beach.
We happened to cover all these places at the time when summer was at its peak which made it exhausting at times to travel around. The month of December is also known for the advent of monsoon making it the best season to travel.
There were many other places that I wished to visit, but due to time constraint, it wasn’t possible. More than the scenic beaches and some beautiful mountain ranges with various volcanoes on the geography, its history made it one of the most beautiful places I have travelled to. For everyone who is ever willing to travel to Bali, it is my humble request to not limit yourself to places like Seminyak and the beach resorts and end up partying but also explore the entire city of Bali and get to know more about their culture and heritage.
Well this was one of my most memorable trips and I do have some more places to write about which I will be coming back with soon enough. Till then please let me know about your experiences and thoughts about this blog