Bali, Bye Bye Bye (Bye! Bye!)

Our last stop in Bali was Kuta. We would only be there for two days and chose it because it’s near the airport and we wanted to ensure we made our flight to Surabaya on time. Our hotel in Kuta was a guest house which is kind of like a cross between a home stay and a hotel. The room was basic as was the reception/breakfast area, but for $20 a night, it was perfectly fine and was in a great location.

After Phil being down with food-poisoning, we were ready to get out and do some stuff…but what is there to do in Kuta? Kuta is known for its beach, nightlife, and shopping. We’d already done a lot of beaching (though we did walk to the beach and saw the cool statue below), aren’t big on nightlife (a quiet pub is more our speed), and had no need for shopping.

So, after consulting Google maps, we decided to head to the Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) Cultural Park. The park and statues are dedicated to the Hindu God Wisnu (Vishnu) and his mount, Garuda. The highlight is the colossal statue of Vishnu atop Garuda that measures a whopping 121 meters (397 feet) and is nearly 30 meters (98 feet) taller than the Statue of Liberty. The thing is HUGE. We could even see it from the plane when we left Bali!

There are some other, not as huge, but still impressive, statues in the park. In addition to the Vishnu riding Garuda statue, there are also statues of Vishnu and Garuda, separately. Oh, ok.

The park was finished in 2018. It was a bit controversial, with some spiritual leaders feeling its size may disrupt the islands’ spiritual balance and the commercial nature of it is inappropriate. With that being said, the grounds and statues are lovely.

Next, we made our way to the Saka Museum. The museum is located on the grounds of the posh AYANA Resort. I imagine the resort is really something since the museum was beautiful. They had a little coffee bar in the middle of the lobby area, that we of course, took advantage of.

Saka refers to the Hindu-Balinese calendar. The Balinese New Year, Nyepi, is celebrated at the start of every new Saka year. Nyepi, which falls in March or early April, is not only the start of the new year, but also the Balinese day of silence. All businesses are closed. They even close the airport and driving is not allowed. One cannot walk on the streets or go to the beach. This is a day for silent reflection, so one cannot leave their home or hotel. One must not turn the lights one, start a fire, or cook with an open flame. One should not listen to loud music or turn on the TV. I even read that internet and data service is cut off from the island on this day.

If one should find themselves staying at a hotel on Bali for the holiday, you’re basically on your own. Don’t leave your room and buy some sandwiches and snacks ahead of time because you’re not going to find much else. That being said if one is planning a trip for this time of year, the fact that Nyepi falls during your stay should not be a surprise and you should plan accordingly.

I kind of like the idea of starting the new year with a day of silent reflection. With no outside stimulation or entertainment for distraction, one has no choice but to sit with their own thoughts, ponder, reflect, and meditate.

In addition to reflection, I imagine quite a lot of sleeping in and napping happens on Nyepi, especially because the night before Nyepi is Pengerupukan. Pengerupukan is designed to cleanse the community of negative spirits so the island can begin the new year in a state of purity and tranquility. During the lively nighttime Ogoh-Ogoh Parades on Pengerupukan, locals bang pots, set fires, and make as much noise as possible to disorient negative and evil spirits and drive them away from homes. This can go well into the wee hours with drinking and partying (a good way to get as loud as possible I suppose).

In addition to making as much noise as possible during the Ogoh-Ogoh Parade, huge demonic effigies, called Ogoh-Ogoh, are paraded through the streets and set ablaze. We saw both small and full-scale examples of the Ogoh-Ogoh at the Saka Museum. They were really cool.

The Nyepi/Pengerupukan holidays reminded me a bit of Mardi gras/Fat Tuesday/Shrove Tuesday (whatever you want to call it) and Lent. Getting the party in before the fasting and self-denial of lent. Lucky for the Balinese, Nyepi is only one day (as opposed to 40). Seems a better balance in my opinion.

In addition to the large Ogoh-Ogoh, the museum also had mixed media statues depicting well known scenes from Hindu scriptures.

After enjoying the exhibits in the museum, we took in the lovely grounds.

We eventually called a car and headed to dinner. We were craving burgers as we are wont to do, so had the car drop off at a place within walking distance of the hotel that had good burger reviews. What a burger it was! Double-decker with cheese, an egg, coleslaw, tomatoes, pickles, and bacon. As you can imagine, it was quite slide-y and I ended up eating the majority of mine with a knife and fork. Phil is generally just not as sloppy as I am and he managed to keep his in burger form till the very end.

*Side note: Ground beef, burgers specifically, outside of the U.S. always feel softer. I don’t know how else to explain it. They’re more like meatloaf texture than burger texture. I have noticed this in Europe as well, pretty much anywhere outside of the U.S. I don’t know if it’s the meat to fat ratio, the handling of the meat, or what. I imagine it has to do with what the cow is being fed and even though what we are feeding them is almost certainly worse for the cow and consumer than in other countries, I like our ground beef better. Heck, it’s what I am used to and think a burger should feel like, textually. That does not mean we are going to stop seeking out burgers when the craving arises. Burgers are kind of like pizza in that even when they aren’t the best, they are still pretty good.

The next morning, we awoke in time to eat breakfast and grab a quick foot massage before taking the 2-minute ride to the airport where we boarded our flight to Surabaya on the island of Java. We had such a wonderful time exploring Bali and the surrounding islands and were stoked to get to see more of Indonesia.

Next up: Java!