It was a very nice experience
having climbed up the famous mount Batur. I am sure that you have heard about
this mountain as it is the second highest mountain in Bali. Besides the beautiful mountain, there are
also a lake at the bottom and a temple in another side. Climbing the mountain
is the most wanted activity for the adventurer. Last Saturday, May 3rd
I was dropping off guests to the site. Marike and Stephan were so excited to do
the hike. We were leaving the hotel at 02:30 from Ubud and heading north under
cold atmosphere. It was nice driving early in the morning and there was no
traffic at all. It took us only an hour to get to the spot as the road was so
empty. Arriving at the parking lot of the hike, we saw many tourists how had
been ready to hike up. Marike and Stephan had well prepared and were ready to
hike. They started the hike at around 4.
The weather was very cold there
and the temperature might reach 16 degrees Celsius. The hike took about 1.5 to
2 hours to get to the top of the mountain depending on the speed of your pace.
In the dry season, it is not so hard to climb up as the path is dry. Hiring a
local to guide you up to the top is highly recommended; otherwise, you might
get lost and we are so concerned with your safety. When you arrive at the top
of the mountain, you will see a very nice crater and if the weather is friendly
enough, you will be able to see the sun rise. The sun rises around 05:45 if we
see from the top of the mountain. Mount Batur provides a nice trek for beginner
adventurer as it is not too hard to climb. The whole trip will take about 4 to
5 hours, but for us it was a kind of one day trip. Marike and Stephan were not
so happy with hike because they did not see the sun rise as it was a bit cloudy
up there.
They got back down to the base at
around 09:30 and we left Mount Batur for home. On the way back, we dropped by
in a restaurant near by the lake about 3 kilometers from the mountain to have a
quick breakfast, and then we took a quick look at Penelokan where you can see
the view of Mount Batur. We did not stop there, but just went through it and
decided to drive down to Ubud. We arrived in the hotel at 11:30 and the whole
trip was unforgettable.
Hi there....how are you? Sorry for not giving updates on Go Around Bali Tours activities lately. Now, we would like to share our tour to the north last week. The tour started at 08:00 and we were heading from Ubud to the first destination, Mengwi Royal Palace (Taman Ayun). It was a little early arriving there and there were not too many visitors filling the site. It was very nice there in the
morning (the green yard, the temple, and the river looked so charming).
However, we did not spend much time over there only taking some photos, and
then we went up north to Candi Kuning market. It took about 30 minutes to get
there as the road was not so crowded in the morning. Arriving at the market, we
found that not all shops were open. We stepped out our car and had the first
look to a shop near our car parked. The shop sold lots of interesting things
and they were quite cheap. Our guest, Mr. Orinov decided to buy some for souvenir.
We took a look to another shop and go caught to a fruit shop. Mr. Orinov loves
fruit and he bought some for his breakfast. After shopping and wandering around
for 30 minutes, we decided to continue our trip and drove further north to
Beratan Temple.
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| Go Around Bali Tours |
When we first arrived, there were not many people there. But
after 15 minutes looking around, throng of people were coming in to the temple
together with their arca and other holy attributes for purification purposes. I
(the driver) got no surprise as I understood that on that day most of the
villages in Bali held a purification ceremony. Only In one blink of an eye the
site was filled up with people in white and yellow accompanied with musical
instrument of ‘Beleganjur’. Beratan Lake is common water resource used by
nearby local village to do purification ceremony to welcome the Balinese New
Year (Nyepi holy day). We enjoyed the crowd and witnessed the whole procession
until finished. After spending about 40 minutes there, we moved on to our next
destination. We were then heading up further north to Gitgit Twin Waterfalls.
It took us about 35 minutes to get to the spot and was quite smooth as the road
was not too crowded. When we arrived, local guides were approaching and offered
their service. However, Mr. Orinov decided not hire anyone of them and preferred
going down alone. I highly recommend the visitors once you visit this place to
hire a local guide in order to have complete information about the site. There
are three different waterfalls in Gitgit, so it is a must for you to see all of
those. After spending about an hour there, under heavy downpour we drove
further up north to Lovina. Our tour finished in there and Mr. Orinov checked
in a villa nearby Lovina beach. It was a nice tour, but a little tiring. Book
your tour with us and see all part of Bali in just one day. See you soon.
Last Sunday, March 9th,
2014 was a holy day in Bali. It is called “Banyu Pinaruh”. That was the day
when Go Around Bali Tours had a sightseeing to one of the most famous places
where people do a holy bathing or purification activity; that was the ‘Holy
Spring Water Temple’ in Tampak Siring. Yes, that is right. This place is very
famous among tourists who have been in Bali. Its location is not too far from
Ubud centre, and it’s very easy to get there. Well…that Sunday morning Go
Around Bali Tours picked up guests in the hotel and left at around 09:00. We
visited some places (like watching Barong dance performance, taking a look to
Batik and sliver shops) before heading up to the temple. As what we had
planned, we arrived there at 11:30. When we got on the spot, the first word
coming out was ‘Wooow’. Not because of the stunning site, but throngs of people
and crowd of vehicles around the temple area. Looking at the situation, we had
to carefully guide our guests and led them all the way around. Our planning was
doing a holy bathing, but it seemed it was very difficult as there were lots of
people queuing in the pool. There was almost no space to jump in it. “Oh my
goodness…when do we have a chance to be under the holy fountain? Should we wait
until the sun goes down? Or join the crowd and be in the water until our skin
gets pale?” I was talking to my self. It was a hard choice really. We had a
discussion to each other and decided not to do the bathing, but only took some
photos and took a look to the temple in the main stage. Unfortunately, there
were also many people pay homage in the main temple that made us difficult to
get passed and look around the temple. Therefore, we eventually changed our
plan and spent only a couple of minutes in the temple and decided to leave the
place. I tried to explain this situation to the guests and assure them to come
back again another time, if possible, come a bit early to avoid the crowd.
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| Go Around Bali Tours |
Every holy day in bali, Balinese
like to go to the temple and do self-purification. The Holy Spring Water Temple
seems to be the main choice to do it and people (Balinese) believe that
purifying our selves under the holy fountains of the Spring Water Temple makes
our body and sour fresher and serene. For those who have a strong and deep spiritual
understanding will feel the different and they will have willingness to come
and experience it. Come and plan your tours with us and fell how it is like to
be under the holy fountains. See you there.
