Welcome to Enchanting Journeys

Welcome to Indonesia - a land of fire, a journey of flavours, being one of nature – so many metaphors to describe the country.

Arrive in Bali, an island known for its forested volcanic mountains, iconic rice paddies, beaches & coral reefs

After you exit in the Arrival Hall at Terminal? - Bali Denpasar I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, subsequent to  Immigration & Customs you will be welcomed by The Journeys representative who will ensure your comfort, transfer you to the hotel, help you settle in & also provide you with some useful tips for exploring the area as well as discuss the program for the next few days.

The mere mention of Bali evokes thoughts of a paradise. It is more than a place - a mood, an aspiration, a tropical state of mind.

Island of the Gods | One Island, many Destinations

Bali is an Indonesian island known for its forested volcanic mountains, iconic rice paddies, beaches & coral reefs. The rich & diverse culture of Bali plays out at all levels of life, from the exquisite flower-petal offerings placed everywhere, to the processions of joyfully garbed locals shutting down major roads as they march to one of the myriad temple ceremonies, to the otherworldly traditional music & dance performed island-wide. Almost everything has spiritual meaning. The middle of Bali is dominated by the dramatic volcanoes of the central mountains & hillside temples such as Pura Luhur Batukau (one of the island's estimated 10,000 temples), while the tallest peak, Gunung Agung, is the island's spiritual centre.

On Bali you can lose yourself in the chaos of Kuta or sybaritic pleasures of Seminyak & Kerobokan, surf wild beaches in the south or just hang out on Nusa Lembongan. You can go family-friendly in Sanur or savour a lavish getaway on the Bukit Peninsula. Ubud is the heart of Bali, a place where the culture of the island is most accessible, and it shares the island's most beautiful rice fields & ancient monuments with east & west Bali. North & west Bali are thinly populated but have the kind of diving and surfing that make any journey worthwhile.

Yes, Bali has beaches, surfing, diving & resorts big & small, but it is the essence of Bali - & the Balinese - that makes it so much more than just a fun-in-the-sun retreat. It is possible to take the cliche of the smiling Balinese too far, but in reality, the inhabitants of this small island are indeed a generous, genuinely warm people. There is also a fun, sly sense of humour. Upon seeing a bald tourist, many locals exclaim 'bung ujan', which means today's rain is cancelled - it is their way of saying that the hairless head is like a clear sky.

At the end of the day (which is the start of the day for some visitors), Bali's rich culture, many amazing sights & truly lovely people are what takes Bali's sheer delight to another level. Because Bali is fun, no matter what you want or who you are. Seminyak has shops & designers, Kerobokan has luxe beachside resorts & superb eating, Kuta & Legian have the nightlife, and Canggu wraps it all into one irresistible package. Plunge deep into Bali's spirit while renewing your own in Ubud or catching the perfect wave in Bingin. You name it, it is here.

You will be staying in the town of Ubud on the outskirts of Bali. 

On arrival, Check-in at the hotel.

Ubud, in the cool mountains just an hour's drive north of the airports, in many ways Bali's cultural heart.

This traditional country town is home to home to one of Bali's royal families. You can even visit the majestic palace in the centre of town.

The town in the uplands of Bali, is known as a center for traditional crafts & dance. The surrounding rainforest & the island's most beautiful terraced rice paddies, dotted with Hindu temples & shrines, are among Bali’s most famous landscapes. It is one of those places where a holiday of a few days can easily turn into a stay of weeks, months or even years. The size of the town's expat community attests to this, and so do the many novels & films that have been set here, creative responses to the seductive nature of this most cultured of all Balinese towns. It is also somewhere that is relentlessly on trend - a showcase of sustainable design, mindfulness, culinary inventiveness and the very best that global tourism has to offer.

Ubud is also well known as a flourishing crafts centre. Around Ubud, there are the surrounding villages of Campuhan, Penestanan, Peliatan & Batuan whose communities specialise in crafts & woodcarving which are sold all over the island. There are hundreds of shops selling antiques, woodcarvings, crafts, textiles, paintings & jewellery in Ubud.

This is a place where traditional Balinese culture imbues every waking moment, where colourful offerings adorn the streets and where the hypnotic strains of gamelan are an ever-present soundtrack to everyday life. Ancient holy sites include the intricately carved Goa Gajah (“Elephant Cave”) & Gunung Kawi, with its rock-cut shrines. You will also find some of the best art museums in the country here. Along Ubud's main street are dozens of art studios, an excellent local craft market & galleries.

Come here for relaxation, for rejuvenation and to have what may well be the most magical holiday of your life.

Immerse yourself in the colour & sound of a traditional festival, dine on local specialities, snorkel beautiful reefs, watch craftspeople at work, wander through lush rice fields, or just relax & be pampered at a Balinese spa. There is an awful lot to do in paradise & it is not all about the beaches.

Balance of the day is at leisure to relax or explore independently or for optional activities (we are happy to offer suggestions & arrange).

Morning, meet the Tour-guide at 08.00 am in the Lobby & proceed on a 8 hour sightseeing tour to visit the surrounding villages & Bali’s ancient temples, farms & terraced rice fields.

First stop will be the magnificent Tegalalang rice terraces with exquisite hollowing rice fields precisely located on the hill banks involving the subak (traditional Balinese cooperative irrigation system).  

Move on to one of the least visited temple complexes on the island Bali, yet is one of the most beautiful & tranquil -  the 11^th century shines at Gunung Kawi Sebatu Temple within the highland village of Sebatu,  with its impressive holy springs. 

Approaching the temple on the small and winding descent, you can easily have a bird’s eye view of the whole complex & its water gardens.

The temple is a refreshing stopover, profuse with water features & one of the main highlights is the tranquil setting of one of its singular shrines known as the Taman Suci, which is next to a large rectangular pond with a dense green hillside as a backdrop - perfect for photographers to grab that picture-postcard shot. It features ancient shrines surrounded by verdant gardens around crystal clear ponds fed by natural springs & filled with carp & blooming lotuses and

The big clear & clean water source residing in the middle of it is assumed by the local resident to be holy & cure some diseases. There are two walled bathing sections that the Hindu devotees use to purify themselves by means of ritual bathing.  You will be able to see a few animals kept within the complex, such as roaming free packs of tame fowl, juvenile deer & rare chicken breeds, which all add life to the otherwise inanimate statues and towering temple structures.

Enjoy buffet lunch at a jungle restaurant overlooking Kintamani Volcano (Mt Batur) & the e jade-green landscape in the heart of lush rice paddies.

Visit the artisan villages to check out the local handicrafts, including batik in Batubulan, gold and silver jewelry in Celuk & wood sculptures in Mas.

Next stop is the 9^th century Goa Gajaw (Elephant Caves). There are menacing creatures & demons carved into the rock facade. The images of elephants dominate, hence the name of the site. There is one cave which is carved deep into the rock & has rooms where offerings are made each day.

Last stop will be to one of Bali’s renowned Luwak Coffee Plantation located in a lush jungle setting. Take a guided walk around the jungle plantation to learn more about the unusual production process. You will be offered a sampling of 8 teas & coffees for free or 1 cup of Luwak coffee for $5.00 which you can enjoy in a beautiful lounge overlooking the mesmerizing rice fields. Delight in the stimulating array of ‘exotic’ coffee beans on offer at the Plantation, from Robusta, Arabica, Liberica, Excelsa, to the Balinese homegrown Luwak beans.

Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world, selling in New York and London for up to $100.00 a cup! 1kg of roasted civet beans may be sold for more than $600! Luwak coffee is sold at Harrods of London……. at the eye watering price of £200 for 100 grams.

In the early 1700’s, the Indonesian workers on Dutch coffee plantations were forbidden to collect any coffee berries for themselves. So they collected the beans from the civet cat droppings & roasted them to make their own coffee. The civet cat is a nocturnal tree cat in Indonesia which snacks on the ripest coffee beans in the field. The civet cat eats the coffee berry but doesn’t digest the hard stone, which is the coffee bean, which is then excreted in it’s poop.

The story is that the process “lowers the bitterness of the coffee imparting a musky smoothness”. The poop is collected, the beans are washed, roasted & then ground up. Apparently it has a smooth & distinctive taste which made it very popular. The Dutch followed suit & started making it themselves.

Despite or because of this undeniably unappealing production method, kopi luwak remains among the most expensive coffees on the planet.

But collecting the droppings from wild cats is time-consuming & costly, contributing to making it the most expensive coffee in the world. Whether it is the novelty or whether the coffee is truly superior, this coffee caught on & now commands very high prices.

In their greed to harvest as many beans as possible, many if not most have trapped civet cats, caged the poor animals in abysmal conditions & feed it only coffee beans, which is not its complete diet. But there are some companies that are ethically collecting the beans by paying villagers to collect the droppings in the wild.  The farmers collect the droppings & bring them in while they are still fresh.  At this stage, it is possible to distinguish between the poop of wild & caged civets.  Any farmer caught trying to pass off caged animal poop is dropped from their list. 

One more stop for you to enjoy before returning to the hotel.

Stop at Mandala Suci Wenara Wana or better known as Monkey Forest, a sanctuary or natural habitat of Balinese long tailed Monkey. Located within the village of Padangtegal, whose villages own the Monkey Forest. The village's residents view the Monkey Forest as an important spiritual, economic, educational, & conservation center for the village and it currently holds 749 macaques. You can also see 186 species of trees in the 12.5 hectares of forest.

Return to the hotel.

Balance of the evening is at leisure to relax or walk around (we would be happy to offer suggestions).

Morning, Check-out & meet the Journeys Driver at 07.00 am in the Lobby depart for the seaside town Candidasa in eastern Bali. But enroute, you would be stopping at many ethnic villages.

Start the tour with a visit to Bona Village the center of the bamboo home furniture industry.

Next, move on to Goa Lawah (bat cave) Temple where thousands of bats are hanging on the rim of the cave. The 11^th century Pura Goa Lawah established by Mpu Kuturan, a Hindu Priest, is a popular beach temple located in the eastern region of Bali, loved by both locals & foreigners and for good reason.

One of Bali’s most important & distinctive temples as it is a built around a natural cave opening that is inhabited by nectar bats. The numerous bats fly past your head, so if this is something that you would be scared by, then it is best to skip this temple. However, if this is something you would like to see, come past at dusk as you will be able to witness the spectacle of the thousands of bats flying out of the caves.

Continue on to Tenganan, an isolated native Balinese village where people still live largely undisturbed by outside influence for centuries - a perfect adventure to get a glimpse of life into old Bali.

Tenganan is one of the only villages left in Bali where you can catch a glimpse of the island's original people - the Bali Aga - still carrying out their lives and traditions in the same way that they did hundreds of years ago. This fascinating village was isolated from the rest of Bali until the 1970s & so life there continued as it had for hundreds of years without external influences.

Tenganan is now open for visitors to explore, but the original traditions remain & it is a well-preserved example of a living museum & the culture, architecture, arts & crafts make for an interesting peek into traditional Balinese life.

It is famous for its arts & crafts, particularly the Double Ikat woven cloth which is produced nowhere else in Indonesia, and can take years to complete. These beautiful fabrics are not cheap but certainly make for an attractive souvenir of your trip. If an original Double Ikat textile is out of your budget, Tenganan is also a great place to buy traditional maps, calendars & lontar (artworks made from palm leaves). And visitors love being entertained by the brightly dyed roosters in shades of neon pink & yellow that can be found in bamboo cages around the village. These multi-colored roosters are unique to Tenganan!

Last stop will be Tirta Gangga - a former royal palace of the Raja of Karangasem, noted for its water palace with its tranquil & ancient bathing pools of the king.

Tirta Gangga literally means water from the Ganges and it is a site of some reverence for the Hindu Balinese. However, the name is widely used to refer to the general area which includes the water palace & the lush rural areas around noted for its rice paddy terraces.  The water palace is a maze of pools & fountains surrounded by a lush garden. The centrepiece of the palace is an eleven tiered fountain amidst the beautiful stone carvings & statues adorning the gardens. The one hectare complex built in 1946 but was destroyed almost entirely by the eruption of nearby Mount Agung in 1963. It has been lovingly re-built & restored and has an air of authentic royal magnificence.

Continue driving to Candidasa & Check-in at the hotel.

Candidasa is one of the most popular seaside town that rests on the edge of a fresh water lagoon, named Candi Dasa Lagoon in eastern Bali.

Officially known as Segkidu Village but called Candidasa for tourism purposes, this east coast settlement is heavily developed with hotels. The beach here was pretty well destroyed in the 1970s, when its offshore reef was mined for lime to make cement & other construction materials, so those seeking to swim, snorkel or dive in the sea should steer clear.

However, the hinterland is attractive, the picturesque lagoon in the centre of town is full of water lilies that bloom in the morning & many of the local hotels have gorgeous beachside infinity pools where guests can laze their days away. There are a host of good shops, bars & restaurants in between. The beach itself features a sequence of sandy shores & breakwaters.

From Candidasa, one can travel uphill towards Tenganan to discover one of Bali’s oldest villages, where ancient arts & traditions live on. It also serves as a good base for exploring some of Bali’s important historical sites, such as the Taman Ujung water palace & the Tirta Gangga royal water gardens.

Balance of the evening is at leisure to relax or walk around (we would be happy to offer suggestions).

Morning, Check-out & meet the Journeys Driver in the Lobby at 06.00 am & depart for your hotel in the north of Bali.

Enroute, you would be stopping at many ethnic villages & temples.

Stop at Besakih, the biggest temple in Bali perched nearly 1000m up the side of Gunung Agung, mountains. The precise origins of the temple complex are not totally clear, but it almost certainly dates from prehistoric times. The stone bases of Pura Penataran Agung & several other temples resemble megalithic stepped pyramids & date back at least 2000 years. 

Pura Besakih is the most important Hindu temple encompassing 23 separate but related temples, with the largest & most important being Pura Penataran Agung, built on six levels terraced up the slope with an imposing candi bentar (split gateway); The Pura Besakih complex hosts frequent ceremonies, but the recent eruptions of the volcano have kept both worshipper & visitor numbers down (tourists are not allowed inside).

Drive on to enjoy the magnificent panorama of beautiful Kintamani volcano & the Batur Lake amidst the serenity of the waterfalls surrounded by lush green valleys.

You can also visit the historical ancient monument & temple there & be amazed at the sacred holy spring still used by devout Hindus for their cleansing & purifying ceremony.  Sit in a cafe & watch the traditional process of coffee making while enjoying lunch (not included - direct payment) with the spectacularly beautiful view of the volcano & some of the most beautiful rice terraces in the island.

Drive to Singaraja (which means 'Lion King'), Bali's second-largest city & the former capital of Bali,

The port town of Singaraja was the centre of Dutch power in Bali & remained the administrative centre for the Lesser Sunda Islands (Bali through to Timor) until 1953. It is one of the few places in Bali where there are visible traces of the Dutch period, as well as Chinese & Islamic influences. Today, Singaraja is a major educational & cultural centre, with several university campuses.

It is known for its Dutch colonial era warehouses on the charming sleepy waterfront  & its tree-lined streets, surviving Dutch colonial buildings. The Gedong Kirtya Library houses ancient palm-leaf manuscripts (lontar).  Museum Buleleng displays stone coffins & ceremonial masks. Pictures of Buleleng kings adorn the 1600s royal palace Puri Agung.

After spending an hour, continue to the village of Sangsit, just outside the town to see Pura Beji Sangsit - a Balinese temple.    

An excellent example of the colourful architectural style of north Bali is the Pura Beji Sangsit - a Balinese temple for the subak (village association of rice-growers), dedicated to the goddess Dewi Sri, who looks after irrigated rice fields. The over-the-top sculptured panels along the front wall feature cartoonlike demons & amazing naga (mythical snakelike creatures). The inside also has a variety of sculptures covering every available space.

Finally, reach the nearby town of Lovina.

Check-in at the hotel.

'Relaxed' is how people most often describe Lovina & aside from the pushy touts, they are correct.

Lovina, a sun-drenched resort area on the north coast of Bali, with patches of shade from palm trees, is known for its black sand beaches, coral reefs & dolphins. This low-key, low-rise, low-priced beach resort town is a far cry from Kuta. The sea water is very calm with coconut trees planted throughout the beach.

The Lovina tourist area stretches over 8km & consists of a string of coastal villages - Kaliasem, Kalibukbuk, Anturan & Tukad Mungga & more - collectively known as Lovina.

From the village of Temoekoes, a trail leads to Singsing Waterfall & a Dutch war monument. The Banjar Hot Springs have warm water pools and tropical gardens. The Brahmavihara-Arama Buddhist monastery is home to a miniature replica of the huge Javanese archaeological site Borobudur.

But the highlight is spending an afternoon at fishing villages such as Anturan watching prahu (traditional outrigger canoes) being prepared for the night's fishing; as sunset reddens the sky, the lights of the fishing boats appear as bright dots across the horizon. And the spectacular of Dolphin Watching on the calm seawater. The beautiful panorama with the trees along the coastal area makes it as the ideal place to stay & use traditional outrigger boat to see Dolphin in the middle of sea.

Balance of the evening is at leisure to relax or walk around (we would be happy to offer suggestions).

Very early morning, meet the Journeys Rep at 03.30 am & proceed to Lovina Beach for a 2 hour Dolphin Watching Tour. Don't forget to bring your camera for are opportunity to see the dolphins in the wild (the possibility to see the dolphins is around 85%).

Board the traditional outrigger boat & go deep into the sea where the boats wait till the dolphins come to the surface & you are ready to quickly take pictures.

After watching dolphin in their natural habitat with sunrise views, disembark from the boat & drive back to the hotel in time for breakfast.

Shortly after, get ready to go to Bali Banjar Hot Water Spring. Drive through quaint Balinese villages with their unique culture.

Situated close to Wihara (Buda Temple), the natural wellspring of hot mineral water contains brimstone & is believed to heal skin disease.  

The Hot Water Spring source has existed for hundreds of year. When the Japanese colonized Indonesia, they channeled the waters & developed it into a complex of three pools that can be used for bathing. The Hot Springs complex is surrounded by tropical gardens offering pools & showers encircled by unique rural nature, plus an eatery & a spa. This public bath built by Japanese is now popular with the locals & tourists who can swim in hot pools.

Enjoy bathing here & after, you can also visit Gitgit Waterfall situated nearby in the jungle with a beautiful panorama of rice terrace around it. Set at 300 meters above sea level, waterfall produces clear water where swimming is allowed.

Come back to the hotel by late afternoon to Check-out & depart for Munduk.

Reach the hotel in Munduk & Check-in.

The simple village of Munduk is one of Bali's most appealing mountain retreats with a cool misty ambience set among lush hillsides covered with jungle, rice fields, fruit trees &  pretty much anything else that grows on the island. Waterfalls tumble off precipices by the dozen. There are hikes & treks galore and a number of really nice places to stay, from old Dutch colonial summer homes to retreats where you can plunge full-on into local culture.

Archaeological evidence suggests there was a developed community in the Munduk region between the 10^th & 14^th centuries.

When the Dutch took control of north Bali in the 1890s, the colonists used to stay in Munduk to escape the heat of Singaraja, Bali's second largest city & the centre of the island's colonial past.

The Dutch built an assortment of rest houses for those wanting a break from the city & experimented with commercial crops, establishing plantations for coffee, vanilla, cloves & cocoa.

You can still see evidence of these colonial-style buildings today, some having survived by being converted into guest houses. The buildings hold a hidden secret: behind them are the region's prime spots for watching sunrises on one side and sunsets on the other.

Although Munduk village itself looks unassuming, when you travel towards it on the single main road, dotted with villages along the scenic drive of twists & turns between Lake Buyan at the west of Bedugul to Seririt on Bali's northern coast, it offers Million dollar views for a few thousand Rupiah per night.

Trekking is the big call card here & you can see why, with the myriad of trails through the forested hills to hidden villages, the two main waterfalls and the coffee & cocoa plantations. Patience is essential for navigating the often maze-like tracks. Brush-up on your basic Balinese & ask the locals for help whenever you can.

Balance of the evening is at leisure to relax or walk around (we would be happy to offer suggestions).

Morning, meet the Journeys Driver in the Lobby at 07.00 am & depart for Seminyak.

Enroute, you would be stopping at many ethnic villages & temples.

Drive to Pura Ulun Danu Beratan (Pura Bratan) - a famous picturesque landmark & a significant Shaivite water temple complex located on the shores of Lake Bratan in the mountains near Bedugul, with beautiful views  of the hills as a backdrop.

An iconic image of Bali, depicted on the 50,000Rp note, this important Hindu-Buddhist temple was founded in the 17^th century, dedicated to Dewi Danu, the goddess of the waters & built on small islands. Pilgrimages & ceremonies are held here to ensure that there is a supply of water for farmers all over Bali as part of the UNESCO Heritage listed Subak irrigation system. The tableau includes classical Hindu thatch-roofed meru (multi-tiered shrines) reflected in the water & silhouetted against the often cloudy mountain backdrop.

Ulun Danu Beratan, literally ‘the source temple of Lake Beratan’, is easily the island’s most iconic sanctuary sharing the scenic qualities with the seaside temples of Uluwatu & Tanah Lot. The smooth reflective surface of the lake surrounding most of the temple’s base creates a unique floating impression, while the mountain range of the Bedugul region encircling the lake provides the temple with a scenic backdrop.

On leaving from there, stop by at a local market where fresh vegetables & fruits are sold.

Visit Bali Bedugal Botanical Garden which is a place for botanical research, conservations, recreation, & educations and it provide a place where you can relax in beautiful & peaceful surrounds while learning about the function of plants in the daily life of Balinese as well as some interesting rain forest plantations & birdlife.

Bali Botanical Garden was originally established as collection of species of coniters (non-lowering seeds plants or gymnosperma) from throughout the world and as a place for recreation, It was also equipped for scientific, cultural & technical activities. Development stopped around 1965 because of the insecurity of the period & it was not until 1970 that the garden began to be gradually rehabilitated.  

Move to the beautiful Jatiluwih Rice Terraces. Along the drive, you will pass cafes with tables overlooking the terraces, which make the perfect place to enjoy magnificent sceneries.

Travelling in the highlands of Bali, you cannot but be amazed by the beauty of the thousands of hectares of lush green paddy fields that cascade in terraces from the upper reaches of volcanoes down to the deep valleys below as if sculpted from the mountain side. Among the many fields that stretch almost all across the island, the Jatiluwih Rice Terraces in the heart of Tabanan Regency is the best example of Bali's outstanding picturesque rice fields & represent the Subak system as Bali's Cultural Landscape which has been inscribed a UNESCO's World Heritage Site..

Jatiluwih, in the Balinese language translated means Beautiful Teak. Here, one can marvel at the vast expanses of terraced, green rice paddies stepped along an entire mountain, from its peak to where its foot meets the sea. Aside from its agricultural development, this panoramic landscape has also established itself as a tourist destination & is among the top 10 visited places on the island.

The fields that make up this area are inseparable from the traditional Subak irrigation system - a traditional method preserved for centuries & passed down through generations. Here is local water year round to irrigate this most important staple. Nonetheless, irrigation rice fields would not be successful unless man also has a hand in it. Uniquely, Bali's complex irrigation system has its roots not by order of kings, but its management is very much in the hands of the villagers through village cooperatives.

Since the farmers depend on the successful irrigation of the fields, the different Subaks form an inseparable bond that unites into a single system. At the lowest level, each farmer is a member of a subak, whose rice fields are fed from a single dam. The head of the Subak, called the Klian Subak is elected by its members. In the larger Subak that are fed by a canal, the lowest level is called the tempek. The Subaks, in turn are linked to mountain temples or Pura Masceti, which come under the sway of one of two lake temples, these are the Pura Batu Kau which coordinates irrigation in West Bali & Pura Ulun Danu on Lake Beratan, which coordinates the north, east & south of Bali. 

At the nearby Gunungsari Orchard, located near the coast at an altitude of 640 meters above sea level, the cool mountain air merges with the warm sea breeze. From atop the hill, visitors can take in the fresh air, appreciate the scenic views & embrace its peaceful atmosphere. Each of Jatiluwih's carefully carved terraces can be seen from here together with the intricate system of irrigation paths that run in between them.

Located on the southern slope of Mount Batukaru, Bali's second-highest volcano, Pura Luhur Batu kau was the spiritual Hindu state temple when Tabanan was an independent kingdom & is one of nine kayangan jagat meant to protect Bali from evil spirits.

Still functional, it has a seven-roofed meru (multi-roofed shrine) dedicated to Maha Dewa, the mountain’s guardian spirit, as well as shrines for Bratan, Buyan & Tamblingan lakes.

The main meru in the inner courtyard have little doors shielding small ceremonial items. Outside the compound, the temple is surrounded by forest & the atmosphere is cool & misty; the chants of priests are backed by birds singing.

Facing the temple, take a short walk around to the left to see a small white-water stream where the air resonates with tumbling water. Note the unusual fertility shrine.

From here, you will proceed to Pura Tanah Lot - a historical Hindu temple & iconic pilgrimage site built on a dramatic rock formation in the sea.

A hugely popular tourist destination, it does have cultural significance to the Balinese, but this can be hard to discern amid the crowds, clamour & chaos - especially for the overhyped sunsets. It is the most visited & photographed temple in Bali; however, it has all the authenticity of a stage set - even the tower of rock that the temple sits upon is an artful reconstruction (the entire structure was crumbling) & more than one-third of the rock is artificial.

For the Balinese, Pura Tanah Lot is one of the most important & venerated sea temples. Like Pura Luhur Ulu Watu, at the tip of the southern Bukit Peninsula & Pura Rambu Siwi to the west, it is closely associated with the Majapahit priest Nirartha. It is said that each of the sea temples was intended to be within sight of the next, so they formed a chain along Bali’s southwestern coast - from Pura Tanah Lot you can usually see the clifftop site of Pura Ulu Watu far to the south & the long sweep of sea shore west to Perancak, near Negara.

And finally, it is time to go home.

Reach the hotel in Seminyak & Check-in.

Balance of the evening is at leisure to relax or walk around (we would be happy to offer suggestions).

Fabulous Seminyak is a beach resort town at the southern end of Bali and is the centre of life for hordes of the island's expats, many of whom own boutiques, design clothes, surf, or do seemingly nothing at all. Seminyak feels almost like it is on another island. It is a dynamic place, home to scores of restaurants, clubs and a wealth of creative, designer shops & galleries Sleek bars & clubs with busy sunset scenes line Seminyak & Petitenget beaches, which are wide, west-facing stretches of Indian Ocean shoreline with gray sand & good surfing conditions.

Today is at leisure for you to do as you wish (we would be happy to offer suggestions & make any arrangements).

Finally, the experience comes to an end and it is time to say good-bye to the region’s warm hospitality & heritage.

Check-out of the hotel by 12:00 noon (if the departure time is later in the evening, you are allowed to use the hotel facilities and leave the luggage at the Bell Desk). 

In time, you will be met by a Journeys Rep, who will ensure your comfort & transfer you to Terminal? -  Bali Denpasar I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, for your onward journey.  B

***        End of Services      ***