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Day 1 : Travel to Bali

It has been a long and tough day. We boarded the AK77 at terminal 2 of the HKIA at 11:35. After 3hr 40min, we arrived at the LCCT of Kuala Lumpur. It was a long queue at the immigration hall, thanks to the long holiday. After collecting the baggage, we rushed to the check-in counter for connecting flight to Bali. We had to do a little bit more for enjoying the low air fare (HK$ 1,450 HKG-KL + HK$650 KL-DPS). Normal price of direct flight from HKG to DPS is around $3,400 on Garuda. I am not sure whether it is worthwhile to save $1,300 on spending 6-8 more hours on traveling and waiting. I could have an extra afternoon relaxing in Bali if I traveled with Garuda. Alternately, I might have to make a better plan next time by stopping over KL for a night or two before heading for the next destination. It was nearly 9:00 pm when we arrived at DPS. The only thing we could do for the day was having a good sleep and prepare for the programs of the next day.

Day 2 : Barong Dance and Batur Volcano Tour

It was a great pleasure to wander around the streets nearby the hotel. We walked by a monument with hundreds of names on it. We thought it was erected in memory of the soldiers in World War II. But I was wrong; it was a monument for the people who killed in a terrorist attack in 2002. At 08:30 we met our local guide, Mr. Polos and started the first day in Bali with the Barong and Keris Dance at Batubulan Village, the performance started at 9.30 am and finish at 10.30 am. The Barong play represents an eternal fight between the good and the evil spirit. A Barong (a mythological animal) represents good spirit and Rangda (a mythological monster) represents the evil one. Balinese people also believed that the Barong is a symbol of protector. There are different kind of Barong faces, e.g. Barong cat, Barong Landung, Barong Macan (tiger face) Barong celeng (pig face). The ticket price was 80,000 rupiahs/person.

BARONG DANCE

The second stop was the rice terraces Tegallalang Village, this rice terraces embraced the beautiful view of coconut trees and small river valley. Tegallalang Village was well known of the local handicraft. The painted woodcarving products were made of very light wood and were generally cheap.

TEGALLALANG RICE TERRACE

The third stop was the Batur Mount Volcano Penelokan Village which was the best location to view the Batur Mount and Batur Lake. Batur Mount had erupted several time, the biggest eruption was in 1926 and had destroyed the Batur Village. This village used to locate near the lake and now they are moved up to the top. The volcano is still active and smoke can be seen sometimes. We had our lunch in a restaurant with stunning view overseeing the picturesque Batur Mount and the volcano lake. This attraction is a must see programme for tourist. Entrance ticket costs 5,000 rupiahs/person located in Kintamani District - Bangli Regency.

MOUNT BATUR VOLCANO

The second last stop was the Banjar Hot Spring Pool, Banjar Village, hot springs (air panas) was slightly sulphurous and hot, it was better to swim in early morning or late afternoon. Swimsuit was not allowed in the pool. There were three pools, the first pool located a little bit higher than the main pool, another pool with water pouring from three meter high spouts were meant for back and shoulder massage. It was always crowded on Balinese holidays. The entrance fee was 3,000 rupiahs/person

TEMPLE OF THE HOLY WATER

The last stop of the day was the Fruit Bats and Monkey Forest Kukuh Village west from Taman Ayun Temple, Tabanan regency. Populated of 500 monkeys in this forest, inside of the forest there was an old temple (AlasKedatonTemple). Big fruit bats hanging on high trees during day time and go out for feed in the night time. There was a lots of shops on the way to the forest and the local guides, the shopkeepers would accompany you to see the monkey around and tour you around their shops for souvenirs. Entrance fee was 20,000 rupiahs/person(Alas Kedaton).

ALAS KEDATON (MONKEY FOREST)

Day 3 : Tanah Lot and West Coast Tour

We started our journey by visiting the Taman Ayun Temple in Mengwi, this huge state temple of Mengwi Kingdom was surrounded by a wide moat, the temple was built in 1634. The outer yard was surrounded by a vast of grass with a meeting hall for dance performance and cockfighting. The middle yard was built with high wood bell (Kulkul), while the inner courtyard was erected with multitiered shrines (Meru) in different heights. Visitors are only allowed to enter the outer courtyard. Entrance fee at 3,000 rupiahs/person

TAMAN AYUN TEMPLE

The second stop was the Temple in the lake (Bratan Lake), which was well known with Ulundanu (Ulun means heart and danu means lake) This temple was dedicated to the Gods of lake or waters (Danu Goddes) and was founded in 17th century by the King of Mengwi. Entrance fee at 10,000 rupiahs/person.

BRATAN LAKE

Then we drove down south to visit the Jatiluwih Rice Terraces. Apart from rice field, plantation of coffee, duran, cocoa, bamboo, avocado were found on the way. Entrance fee at 10,000 rupiahs/person. Tanah Lot Temple was our last stop of the day. This world renowned temple attracted hundreds of thousands of people to see the sunset. This temple was built in 16th century by a Javanese priest Danghyang Nirartha who had built many temples near the sea around the island such as Rambut Siwi Temple in west, Pulaki Temple and Ponjok Batu Temple in North of Bali. Fortunately, we got a little bit of sun after hours of heavy rain. Entrance fee at 10,000 rupiahs/person.

TANAH LOT TEMPLE

Day 4 : Besakih Mother Temple

The Besakih Mother Temple was the only destination of the day. It took nearly 3 hours to travel from Kuta. The Mother Temple of Besakih, or Pura Besakih, in the village of Besakih on the slopes of Mount Agung. The temple probably dates to the fourteenth century. It was built on the south slopes of Mount Agung, the principal volcano of Bali. The temple was actually a complex made up of twenty-two temples that sit on parallel ridges. It has stepped terraces and flights of stairs which ascend to a number of courtyards and brick gateways that lead up to the main spire Meru structure, which is called Pura Penataran Agung. All this is aligned along a single axis and designed to lead the spiritual upward and closer to the mountain which is considered sacred.

BESAKIH MOTHER TEMPLE

Day 5 : Travel to Komodo Island by boat

We took an early flight to the Flores Island at 09:00 with Avia Star. The aircraft landed Labuan Bajo airport at around 10:00. Then transferred to a jetty and boarded a small boat leaving for Komodo Island.

LABUAN BAJO

Before arriving at Komodo Island, we had a chance to pass a small island for snorkeling. We stayed at the beautiful beach for 1 hr. The coral was not very colorful. But I took some nice shots anyway.

The boat buoyed at the east coast of Komodo Island at around six. We got very spectacular sunset view with thousands of fire bats in the sky. We stayed on board overnight. The fresh supply was very limited, it was not possible to take a shower. The best thing to do in the night was to watch millions of stars in the sky and enjoyed a very quite evening.

KOMODO SUNSET

Day 6 : Tracking on the Komodo Island and the Rinca Island

It was a wonderful experience to sleep under the starry sky. But we could not wait to see the first light of the morning in Komodo Island. We saw the sunrise at around 06:15.

KOMODO SUN RISE

The tracking started at 08:00. We need to pay US$15/person for the conservation fee of the island. A ranger led us to walk through the forest to hunt for Komodo dragon.

THE RANGER

Feeding the dragon is not permitted, because the dragons might lose the instinct to hunt for food. We then stopped at a spot with a dead goat hanging on the tree to attract the dragon.

KOMODO DRAGON

Fortunately, we met the first dragon. It was not able to grab the goat which was only used to create the smell of blood to attract them. A baby dragon came afterwards. After taking many shots we move on to other spots to visit the wild animals. We saw the deer, wild boar, some pigeons and parrots.

THE WILD PARROT

The tracking took 2½ hour to finish. The next programme was to bath in the Pantai Merah (Pink Beach). The water was clear seeing from above. But it was turbid down under.

Pantai Merah

We headed for the Rinca Island after lunch. It took 3 hour to travel to Rinca Island. After arriving there we started another tracking straight away. It was a 1 hour walk. After registration at the office, a ranger took us to see a group of dragons near the kitchen of the guest house. The dragons tended to gather near the kitchen because the smell of food. We saw more dragons on this island (estimated no of dragons : 1100 on the island). There were less dragons than those in the Komodo Island (estimated no of dragons : 1300). Because this island is smaller than the Komodo, the chance to see them is better. We then went up to the top of the island to catch the panoramic view before leaving the island. When we returned to the kitchen, we saw more dragons and we saw something unforgettable, three dragons move swiftly to attack a male which was attempting to mate with another female.

KOMODO DRAGONS IN RINCA ISLAND

We then boarded our boat and sailed to a bay on the west of the island and prepare for bathing in Pantai Bidadari the next morning.

Day 7 : Return to the Flores Island

The sunrise was about 06:00. But we saw something more interesting before that, hundreds of thousands of fire bats returned home across the sky.

THE FIRE BATS

We then bathed at the bay. I snorkeled near the beach but I did not see any coral. However, there were more fish then other snorkeling points. It was a good idea to feed them because I wanted to film them.

Pantai Bidadari

We returned to Labuan Bajo at around 11:00 by car. It took 4 hours to arrive Ruteng. So on the way we stopped to get some nice shots for the rice terrace, the most special one was the spider web rice terrace only 30 mins drive from Ruteng.

SPIDER WEB RICE TERRACES

Our hotel, or guest house was a sisters’hotel, run by a Catholic church. The sunset of Ruteng was magnificent.

RUTENG SUNSET

We had our dinner in a local Chinese restaurant. The starry sky attracted me to picture it, it was amazing!

WISMA SUSTER MARIA BERDUKACITA

Day 8 : Excursion in Ruteng

Ruteng is a small hill town. We set off at around 05:30 to see the sunrise.

RUTENG SUN RISE

But it was a bit disappointing that the view was blocked by trees. So we wait for the first light on the rice terrace.

SUN RISE OF RICE TERRACE

After breakfast, we moved towards Liang Bua to see the site which the ancient human fossils were found. Before reaching the site we stopped at a lake and took some shots. The site was just an ordinary limestone cave.

LIANG BUA

After lunch we returned to Labuan Bajo and see the sunset on the harbour before returning to the so called hotel.

LABUAN BAJO HARBOUR

CHEZ FELIX HOTEL

Day 9 : Return to Bali and the GWK Tour

We enjoyed a pleasant walk along the coast of the harbour. Fish men were selling their catches along the road.

MORNING MARKET IN LABUAN BAJO

But we had a small problem with our room. The room key was left inside and the door locked. So when we got back, we asked for the spare key. It was amazing that there was only one key for each room. It took an hour for the man to open the door. But he could only try the last resort, smashed the glass. I was asked to pay 150,000 RP which was equivalent to about HK$150 for repair. But we got no choice and paid. It was not merely our fault. It is not common that the hotel keeps only one key for each room. Our flight was scheduled at 11:00. After settling down at Barong hotel, we started another trip to the GWK at 15:00. The first stop was the GWK where the status of and Garuda were located.

GARUDA WISNU KENCANA

We then headed for the Uluwato temple. The temple was famous of the landscape with rough sea wave and the temple on the cliff. We enjoyed the magnificent view of Indian Ocean.

ULUWATU TEMPLE

Before leaving for the next stop we enjoyed one of the most renowned Bali Dance, the Kecak dance. It is difficult to describe how special it was in words, so see my video.

KECAK DANCE

Our last destination of the day was a special seafood dinner at the Jimbaran beach. It was very enjoyable to hear the sound of wave and to watch the cultural performance.

JIMBARAN

Day 10 : Returning Home

We left for Kulua Lumpor at 06:00. After three hours flight, we arrived at LCCT at 09:00. It was leisure to wait for 7 hours to connect the flight back home.