"BALI ISLAND IN THE SUN" Bali by DennyP

BALI INDONESIA
Bali is a place that I have wanted to visit for some time and always just seem to be flying over it going somewhere else. Recently when in Darwin doing my best as usual to avoid the southern Australian winter decided to get a flight to Bali..
I was not dissapointed and must say it was good to be back in Asia once again..although the fumes from all those motorbikes are a downer...having heard about the beaches around Kuta decided to chill out at the beach and also visit one of my favourite sites,,,The Hard rock cafe located at Kuta...so dropped in for a few beers and had a look at their R&R memorabilia as I beleive these places are the Museum of Rock..although at the time the venue was under renovations but the cordial staff had a chat over a few beers got my guitar pin and gave a few away to staff that I had also..
with so many things to see and do also with so many markets it certainly is a shoppers paradise if that's what you like, with just about everything here for sale..after a few days of taking it easy decided to get togeather with a few other travellers and hire a cab for the day and go to the Buddhist Temple of Pura Luhur Uluwatu at Uluwatu in the very south of the Island...This was a great day although extremely hot..even by the coast

KRIS DANCE MASK

BATUBALAN
A short drive north east of Denpassar is the town of Batubalan..well known for its stone carved figures of various gods of good and evil...Thre is the most amazing performance I viewed of a "Kris"(large Indonesian double edged knife) The performance was about 40 minutes in duration and is clearly a performance by its players of good versus evil.. and of course the good is triumphant in the end...There are a large group off to the side of musicians that play right through the performance with the beating of drums and clashing of cymbals etc...making the performance quite alive..
The dancing girls(2) are made up in the most colourful way and their costumes are very impressive..
The cost of entry is around ten dollars and is really worth the visit...the time I was there there were at least 100 plus customers seated for the performance...I was really lucky after the show to obtain some lovely photos..

LOVELY BALINESE OUTRIGGER BOAT LOVINA..

LOVINA NORTHERN BALI
Located in the North of the Island on the coast is a lovely little fishing village called Lovina...to get away from the crowds and a lot of the tourists this is the place to do it..there are many good bars and restaurants there is an abundance of cheap accomodation and a nice beach to take it easy ..also many local things to see and do..

• Pros:SUCH A VARIED AND DIVERSIFIED ISLAND
• Cons:NOT ENOUGH TIME HERE...MUST RETURN
• In a nutshell:MORE THAN JUST AN ISLAND