Many foreigners who visit Bali usually said that Bali is a magical place-a palace or kingdom for goddesses and gods-which has never bored anyone who comes to visit the island. It is even stated as one of the most popular tourist destinations and, not only stopped to those statements; they also remarked Bali is more well-known than Indonesia itself-the country where Bali becomes the part of its region. The island is even awarded as the world best island by The International Travel Magazine!
Bali is divided into nine regencies (eight regencies and one municipality) with its own capital, i.e. Buleleng, Jembrana, Karangasem, Badung, Denpasar, Gianyar, Klungkung, and Bangli. These districts have several places which you would enjoy to visit-and, actually, they have different kind of places to be offered. Some are for traditional thingies and customs (with its Bali Aga-original people in Bali-practice) ‘though they are also some ordinary customs which you can see everywhere in Bali, some others could be done for natural recreation (beaches, mountains, lakes, etc), the modern lifestyles mixture with the conventional living (foreigners love this part), its history (with the temples, statues, and some kingdoms), and so on.
There are actually three miraculous places to visit which always make people feel fascinated of this island-because they are very wonderful! They are the beaches, the temples, and the traditional villages.
I. BEACHES
If you want to visit beaches in Bali, there are some beaches spread at all parts of the island, as follows:
1. In Badung, you could go to Kuta Beach, Suluban Beach, and Nusa Dua Beach. 2. In Denpasar, there are Sanur Beach and Benoa Harbor. 3. For Karangasem District, we have Padang Bai Beach and Jemeluk Beach. 4. For Tabanan District, there is only one beach, Soka Beach. 5. In Jembrana, there are Medewi Beach, Delod Brawah Beach, and Perancak Beach. 6. In Buleleng, there is one beautiful beach, Lovina Beach.
From these beaches, the most favorite based on the votes by the visitors is Lovina Beach in Buleleng, Many people love to see dolphins there, especially when they jump out of the water and spin at the air, usually in the morning. After that, many foreigner people said that they love Kuta Beach-because along the pedestrian road, there are several antique shops which offered some cute stuff with a cheap price (unfortunately, it only happens for Balinese people, because we can bid price to the sellers).
II. TEMPLES
There are some temples which become the favorite places for foreigner, such as:
1. Uluwatu Temple, Taman Ayun Temple, and Pucak Mangu Temple in the District of Badung. 2. Jagatnatha Temple, Maospahit Temple, Petilan Pangerebongan Temple, and Sakenan Temple in Denpasar. 3. Penataran Sasih Temple, Kebo Edan Temple, Pusering Jagat Temple, Mangening Temple, Pengulingan Temple, and Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave) Temple in the District of Gianyar. 4. Kehen Temple and Puncak Penulisan Temple in the District of Bangli. 5. Taman Sari Temple, Watu Klotok Temple, Panti Timbrah Temple, and Goa Lawah Temple in the district of Klungkung. 6. Besakih Temple in the district of Karangasem. 7. Alas Kedaton Temple, Rambut Siwi Temple, and Ulun Danu Beratan Temple in the District of Tabanan. 8. Brahma Vihara-Arama Temple, Meduwe Karang Temple, Beji Temple, Dalem Jagaraga Temple, Pulaki Temple, Ponjok Batu Temple, and Dalem Sangsit Temple in Singaraja.
Those temples have their own myths behind the construction. Yet, most of the people love the myths of Kebo Edan Temple and Rambut Siwi Temple. The myths usually come along with a very deep meaning.
III. TRADITIONAL VILLAGES
There are several amazing villages with its traditional way of life in Bali, such as Mengwi, Batubulan, Mas, Belega and Bona, Sebatu and Pujung, Peliatan, Celuk, Batu Kaang, Thingan, and Kamasan. But my most favorite consisted of only two places id est Trunyan Village and Tenganan Village. At these two villages, the most original people in Bali still live and do their traditions/practices-at these two places, you can find dead body is arranged under trees for the process of decomposing. Unlike people in other places in Bali who do cremation for the dead body, Trunyanese and Tengananese still maintain this tradition adopted from India.
There are some other interesting things in Bali. I know I could not mention all of those things here in my article. Actually, there are also many other websites over the internet which are very useful and could bring you directly into the real atmosphere of Bali. The last but not the least, I wish you will enjoy your days in Bali-at the time you visit it after reading this article.