Nusa Lembongan Island

CRUISE TO LEMBONGAN :
Info dan Pemesanan
081236702352-082147028881
email : infowisatabali@yahoo.com
BB PIN :273E1B12 atau 2113B810

Nusa Lembongan is the perfect location for a holiday hideaway, with few visitors and pristine unspoilt beaches,
Nusa Lembongan (Nusa = Island) is one of three neighbouring islands of Bali, approximately 12 miles from south east Bali and 20 miles from Lombok. The other two (2) islands are Nusa Penida being the bigger and Nusa Ceningan being the smaller.
Nusa Lembongan is the most popular of the 3 islands across the Badung Strait (the others being Nusa Ceningan and Nusa Penida). The island is popular with surfers for the 3 breaks (Playgrounds, Shipwrecks and Lacerations), day cruise people and overnight tourists. Nusa Lembongan is only 4km long and no wider than 3km wide and takes 3-4 hours to walk around. There are motorbikes for hire in Jungkutbatu. The reefs are enjoyed also by scuba divers and the snorkeling is awesome.
Nusa Lembongan has several thousand locals, engaged in seaweed farming activities as well as serving tourist needs. Similarities to the Bukit Peninsula create a quiet environment, ideal for relaxation.

Nusa Lembongan is a pristine tropical island, its highest point is 50 meters above sea level. Lembongan has an average rainfall of approximately 1000 mm per year. Little temperature variation from 30 degrees Celsius occurs between the only two seasons this island experiences being the wet and the dry. The wet season is from December to February and the dry is from March to November. As it has only three months of rainfall, this island is dry for the remainder of the year. Little cultivation occurs, as almost 2/3 of the island is infertile. Seeding is normally done on the wet season and only corn, cassava and peanuts are farmed. Also found on the island are cashew nuts, mangoes and coconut. Fresh water is limited and most of the supply is derived from wells up to 60 meters deep.

Nusa Lembongan is located on the Wallace line. Sir Alfred Wallace, a historic naturalist who conducted extensive studies of this area, determined the Wallace line. The Wallace line is still recognised as a biological division between Asia and Australia/Pacific. Many species of bird, animal and flora indigenous to Australia are not found West of this line, as the flora and fauna on the west ‘Asian’ side are not found to the east of this line. The ocean currents that funnel their way between these islands are rich in macrobiotic life that support abundant coral and fish life in shallow waters surrounding these islands.

•Getting to Nusa Lembongan:
Public boats from Sanur beach, leaving daily at 8am and 10am (90 minute one-way, 35,000rp). Coming back the boats leave at 7.30am from Jungutbatu.

Perama does a shuttle from Sanur, leaving at 10.30am and returning at 8.30am, for 50,000rp. It is possible to charter a private boat for 300,000rp. For people staying in Kuta, Perama has an office about 50 meters before the bottom end of Jl. Legian. Pop in and ask about their latest schedules and rates.

Several luxury boat lines do day trips to Nusa Lembongan, dropping people of on the beach, giving them a bbq, snorkeling and then back to Benoa harbor. Companies such as Bali Hai have their own accommodation (Tide Huts) which can be booked in a package with the cruise.

The main cruise operators serving Nusa Lembongan are:

Bali Hai
0361)720331

Bounty
(0361)726666

Island Explorer
(0361)728088

Lembongan Island Cruise
(0361)271212

Quicksilver
(0361)729564

Sail Sensations
(0361)725864

Waka Louka
(0361)723629

Call around for the latest deals and specials.

•Accommodation on Nusa Lembongan
Budget accommodation can be found at Jungutbatu, while more luxurious accommodation is located at Mushroom Bay.

•Post & Money on Nusa Lembongan
Nusa Lembongan has no post office but Perama can handle your mail as long as you have stamps. Most places rely on the 3pm-8am locally generated electricity, with high-end places having their own generators. It is advisable to bring plenty of rupiah with you. Perama and Bank Pembangunan Daerah Bali can change currency and travelers checks, though the rates are not so good.

•Medical services on Nusa Lembongan
A local doctor in Jungutbatu will charge you 300,000rp for a consultation. There is a small nurse’s clinic in Jungutbatu also which is cheaper.

•Gear rental on Nusa Lembongan
There should be no shortage of places offering snorkeling, surfing and cycling gear. Negotiate if you want a good price You might try Ketut’s Bungalows and expect to pay something like 35,000rp for a bicycle per day, 30,000-40,000rp for snorkeling gear per day and 40,000rp per hour for motorbikes.

•Snorkeling & Diving on Nusa Lembongan
World Diving located on Jungutbatu Beach at Pondok Baruna, can do PADI courses and pleasure dives. Contact the website for current prices and deals. You will also find other operators in Jungutbatu Beach. You can join a diving trip with World Diving, if you just want to snorkel, for a fee. This is a smart idea as you have the security of the boat. Other boat operators might charge 40,000rp - 60,000rp per hour. Jungutbatu Beach has good spots for snorkeling off of the beach.

•Telephone & internet access on Nusa Lembongan
There is a wartel (phone office) that also has internet located at Mainski Inn. Bunga Bungalows also has internet access. Connection speeds for Nusa Lembongan are likely to be awful, given the speeds back on the mainland for anywhere outside of Kuta / Seminyak / Ubud.

•Food & Drink on Nusa Lembongan
Most hotel / guest houses have some kind of restaurant attached. The cheaper the accommodation, the cheaper the food. Plenty of options and Jungutbatu is where you’ll find the deals.

Tanah Lot - Land in the Middle of the Sea

TANAH LOT TOUR :
Info dan Pemesanan
081236702352-082147028881
email : infowisatabali@yahoo.com
BB PIN :273E1B12 atau 2113B810
Tanah Lot is a famous rock formation off the Indonesian island of Bali. It is home of a famous pilgrimage temple, the Pura Tanah Lot and a popular picture motiv for tourists.

Tanah Lotis located on the coast of West Bali, at the village of Beraban in the Tabanan Regency.
It is also called Tanah Let which means ancient land and also Tanah Lod, which means the land to the south.

Tanah Lot means "Land in the Middle of the sea" in Balinese language. The temple sits on a huge offshore rock which has been shaped continuously over the years by the ocean tide.

Tanah Lot is said to be the work of the 15th century priest Nirartha. The story goes that during his travels along the south coast he saw the rock-island's beautiful setting and rested there. Some fishermen saw him, and bought him gifts. Nirartha then spent the night on the little island. Later he spoke to the fishermen and told them to build a shrine on the rock for he felt it to be a holy place to worship the Balinese sea gods.














The Tanah Lot temple was then built and has been an important part of Balinese mythological history for centuries. The temple is one of seven sea temples around the Balinese coast. It was said that each of the sea temples was to be within eyesight of the next so that they formed a chain along the south-western coast.

At the base of the rocky island, poisonous sea snakes are believed to guard the temple from evil spirits and intruders. There is said to be one giant snake which also protects the temple. It is believed that this snake was created from Nirartha’s scarf when he established the island.
The temple Pura Tanah Lot, simple in its construction, is dramatic in its ocean-front location and is one of the main temples in the worship of Balinese gods.
Tanah Lot has a long history in the world of tourism.The temple itself is built on a small promontory which is only accessible at low tide.During high water the rock takes on the appearance of a large boat at sea, such is its shape.

Sunset is the best time to visit Tanah lot, when the golden red skies frame the temple and waves crash into the rocks. It is advisable to avoid the tourist crush here as it can be severe.

Accomodation
Le Meridien Nirwana Bali Golf & Spa Resort is located in Tanah Lot - Bali, within easy traveling distance from some of Bali's best known places of interest such as Ubud - a flourishing artist colony, the sacred Sangeh Monkey Forest, Mengwi Temple, Lake Brattan as well as many of Bali's most scenic forest drives.















Set within the 100-hectare, Le Meridien Nirwana Bali Golf & Spa Resort, Tanah Lot - Bali, offers the Resort guests an exhilarating feeling of spaciousness and an affinity with the natural surroundings of rice terraces, lushly landscaped gardens and pools.

The showpiece of the Le Meridien Nirwana Bali Golf & Spa Resort is the beautifully designed and luxuriously appointed 278-rooms the Resort, which opened on November 14th, 1997.

Ideal for romantic getaways, family retreats or peaceful hideaways, Le Meridien Bali Resort offer interconnectng rooms and suites as well as our luxurious one or two bedroom villas, complete with private plunge pools, outdoor showers, personal butler service and private outdoor living pavillion and Balinese garden.














To sleep, perchance to dream in the cool Balinese elegance of marble and wood which characterises the luxurious accomodation at the Le Meridien Nirwana Bali Golf & Spa Resort, will delight.














Spacious deluxe rooms and executive suites at the Le Meridien Nirwana Bali Golf & Spa Resort, offer tasteful repose with connecting en-suite bathroom, each with its own private balcony over-looking the tropical gardens and out onto the Indian Ocean.

Nyepi - a day to make and keep the balance of nature.

Westerners open the New Year in revelry, however, in contrast, the Balinese open their New Year in silence. This is called Nyepi Day, the Balinese day of Silence, which falls on the day following the dark moon of the spring equinox, and opens a new year of the Saka Hindu era which began in 78 A.D.Nyepi is a day to make and keep the balance of nature.

Balinese use many different calendar systems. They have adopted the Gregorian calendar for business and government purposes. But for the endless procession of holy days, temple anniversaries, celebrations, sacred dances, building houses, wedding ceremonies, death and cremation processes and other activities that define Balinese life, they have two calendar systems. The first is the Pawukon (from the word Wuku which means week) and Sasih (which is means month. One is Pawukon system, a 210-day cycle that divided into ten separate week system. The other one is Saka Calendar, a lunar calendar that originally from South India and brought to Indonesia around 465 AD. One Saka year has 12 month and each month ends on a new moon. The Saka Year is 78 years behind the Gregorian calendar. The calendar begins on the first day of the 10th lunar month or ends on the new moon of 9th month. It usually falls on March or April on Gregorian Calendar. To mark the New Saka Year, Balinese celebrates a Nyepi Day.

The main purpose of the Nyepi Day ceremonies is to pray to the God (Hyang Widhi Wasa), wish that HE to clean the universe (bhuwana agung) as well as the 'universe" within men (bhuwana alit). Based on the history of its birth of Saka Year, Nyepi Day also means to be a momentum to increase genuine solidarity and tolerance between people, accept the differences and similarity as natural factor of life and put them in a balance proportion so they can be in a positive side of life. We do not to fight each other because our differences.

The lead upto Nyepi day is as follows:

* Melasti or Mekiyis or Melis (three days before Nyepi)
Melasti is meant to clean the pratima or arca or pralingga (statue), with symbols that help to concentrate the mind in order to become closer to God. The ceremony is aimed to clean all nature and its content, and also to take the Amerta (the source for eternal life) from the ocean or other water resources (ie lake, river, etc). Three days before Nyepi, all the effigies of the Gods from all the village temples are taken to the river in long and colourful ceremonies. There, they have are bathed by the Neptune of the Balinese Lord, the God Baruna, before being taken back home to their shrines.
* Tawur Kesanga (the day before Nyepi)
Exactly one day before Nyepi, all villages in Bali hold a large exorcism ceremony at the main village cross road, the meeting place of demons. They usually make Ogoh-ogoh (the fantastic monsters or evil spirits or the Butha Kala made of bamboo) for carnival purposes. The Ogoh-ogoh monsters symbolize the evil spirits surrounding our environment which have to be got rid of from our lives . The carnivals themselves are held all over Bali following sunset. Bleganjur, a Balinese gamelan music accompanies the procession. Some are giants taken from classical Balinese lore. All have fangs, bulging eyes and scary hair and are illuminated by torches.The procession is usually organised by the Seka Teruna, the youth organisation of Banjar. When Ogoh-ogoh is being played by the Seka Teruna, everyone enjoys the carnival. In order to make a harmonic relation between human being and God, human and human, and human and their environments, Tawur Kesanga is performed in every level of society, from the people's house. In the evening, the Hindus celebrating Ngerupuk, start making noises and light burning torches and set fire to the Ogoh-ogoh in order to get the Bhuta Kala, evil spirits, out of our lives.
* Nyepi
On Nyepi day itself, every street is quiet - there are nobody doing their normal daily activities. There is usually Pecalangs (traditional Balinese security man) who controls and checks for street security. Pecalang wear a black uniform and a Udeng or Destar (a Balinese traditional "hat" that is usually used in ceremony). The Pecalangs main task is not only to control the security of the street but also to stop any activities that disturb Nyepi. No traffic is allowed, not only cars but also people, who have to stay in their own houses. Light is kept to a minimum or not at all, the radio or TV is turned down and, of course, no one works. Even love making, this ultimate activity of all leisure times, is not supposed to take place, nor even attempted. The whole day is simply filled with the barking of a few dogs, the shrill of insect and is a simple long quiet day in the calendar of this otherwise hectic island. On Nyepi the world expected to be clean and everything starts anew, with Man showing his symbolic control over himself and the "force" of the World, hence the mandatory religious control.

* Ngembak Geni (the day after Nyepi)
Ngembak is the day when Catur Berata Penyepian is over and Hindus societies usually visit to forgive each other and doing the Dharma Canthi. Dharma Canthi are activities of reading Sloka, Kekidung, Kekawin, etc.(ancient scripts containing songs and lyrics).

From the religious and philosophy point of view, Nyepi is meant to be a day of self introspection to decide on values, eg humanity, love, patience, kindness, etc., that should kept forever. Balinese Hindus have many kind of celebrations (some sacred days) but Nyepi is, perhaps the most important of the island's religious days and the prohibitions are taken seriously, particularly in villages outside of Bali's southern tourist belt. Hotels are exempt from Nyepi's rigorous practices but streets outside will be closed to both pedestrians and vehicles (except for airport shuttles or emergency vehicles) and village wardens (Pecalang) will be posted to keep people off the beach. So wherever you happen to be staying on Nyepi Day in Bali, this will be a good day to spend indoors. Indeed Nyepi day has made Bali a unique island.

Practical Info for visitors
To witness the Melasti procession, it is best to be around the beach either in Kuta, Seminyak, Nusa Dua, Sanur and others. Ask people at your hotel which part of the beach that usually use for the Melasti near by your hotel and when they usually held the procession. If you happen already on the road and see people dress in white and yellow on a parade, just follow them. Please dress properly with sarong, sash and shirt. Should you are on the beach sunbathing with your bikini and the procession pass by you please kindly change your bikini with proper cloth or stay away for a while. It is just too much contrast, you with your bikini sunbathing, and one meter away Balinese with traditional cloth perform a serious religious ceremony.

Most likely each village will make at least one Ogoh-ogoh, the giant doll, and this particular thing will amazed you a lot. Do drive around in the morning of the day before Nyepi when the Ogoh-Ogoh will usually placed side of the road. It is a great picture time for the scary face of the Ogoh-Ogoh. The actual procession of the Ogoh-Ogoh will be held around sunset so make sure you come back with your vehicle before that if you do not want to get stuck behind the procession. It is wiser and easier to witness the procession near by your hotel by foot. In some main town like Sanur, Kuta, Denpasar, Ubud and others, there are contest for the best Ogoh-Ogoh. .

Should you be in Bali or first arrive in Bali on the juncture of Nyepi Day, you must take the subsequent orders into account:
The silence begins at 5 a.m. of March 21st and the next 24 hours.The airport will be totally closed on March 21st, so there will be neither arrival nor departure in the airport on that day. All connecting airports around the globe have been informed about it in advance. If you take surface trip, you should not plan your arrival in Bali on March 21st, there is no activity in the bus terminal and most importantly there will be no traffic on that day in the whole Bali Island.

You should stay inside your house/hotel. Do not go out of the house/hotel. Should you need food or anything to buy, do it on the previous day because on Nyepi Day all shops do not open. Since all activities throughout the island are paused during the Nyepi Day, put your plan before or ahead. Should you want to make a light or play the music, keep it minimum, no light and sounds are allowed.Don't make any noise while you are at home/hotel.

There will be local officer on duty to ensure everybody including visitors obey the prohibitions. Some exceptional are made only for hospital, emergency situation and family with very young babies. If you experience any emergency situation please report to the hotel staff or manager on duty to obtain proper permission.

Tumpek Kandang - Animal Walfare

Tumpek Kandang, also called Tumpek Andang, falls on Saturday of Uye, the 22nd week of the pawukon cycle. The name Tumpek Kandang is derived from two words, “Tumpek” that means Saturday that coincide with Kliwon (name of a day based on Pancawara*) and “Kandang” refers to Balinese word for pen, symbolizing the domesticated animals that Balinese Hindu highly honor. They include cows, pigs, chickens, ducks, dogs and birds.

Tumpek Kandang is dedicated to Sang Hyang Rare Angon, the god of all cattle and livestock. On this day Balinese show their appreciation and thankfulness to all domesticated animals that help them in everyday life.

On this holiday day, domesticated animals in Bali receive a great attention; the cows are washed in the river and dressed-up like human beings, with special cone-shaped spiral of coconut leaf placed on their horns. The pigs are decorated, with their bellies wrapped with a white or yellow cloth. The domesticated animals are fed with the best food.

A special offering is made for Sang Hyang Rare Angon, the god of all cattle and livestock, prayer is offered to the God for the welfare of the domesticated these animals. Holy water and rice are sprinkled to the head of these animals at the end of the ceremony.

This ritual certainly not an animal worship ritual, The Balinese consider the animal as a friend of life and fellow brother created by God as a living creature. Human life is much assisted by animals, especially in satisfying the needs of food, the labor force, religious ceremony and economy. For the sake of preservation and prosperity of such animals, the Balinese plead for God as the Greatest Source.

Tumpek Kandang has more meaning on the showing of evidence that Balinese is a community that is aware of animal welfare. This means, there is an awareness of owing “merits” to the animals, since such creatures are the preserver of the equilibrium of the ecosystem. Without animals on earth, the life cycle does not work, and even interrupts.
Tumpek Kandang, sometimes called Tumpek Andang, falls five weeks later on Saturday of Uye, the 22d week of the Pawukon cycle. The name comes from kandang, the Balinese word for the household animal pen, because this is the day to honour domestic animals, especially cows and pigs, which are highly valued by the Balinese.
The cows are washed, kambens are thrown over their backs and special cone-shaped spirals of coconut leaf are placed on their horns. The pigs are usually just decorated by wrapping a white cloth about their bellies. The animals are given special foods, prayers are offered, and they are sprinkled with rice and holy water.