A Daily Tour Tips in Bali: Destinations
Thursday, November 29, 2007
After you notice how to plan your daily tour program, then you are about to plan destinations of your point of interests which will be described below.
Ubud - Tampaksiring - Kintamani [8 hours]
You'll be picked up at 8.30 am and leaving first for Batu Bulan to watch the Barong and Keris dance which will be followed by visit to art center and silver craft workshop in Celuk-Ubud. You'll continue the tour onto Gajah cave in Bedul, take a bunch of photograph in Kintamani, mount Batur, and lake Batur. On the way home, you shall visit the Tirta Empul shrine which located near the Tampaksiring castle.
Sangeh - Bedugul - Tanah Lot [8 hours]
Start the day at 9.00 am for Taman Ayun shrine in Mengwi and the Sangeh forest. Prepare fur nuts and bananas because you're going to meet the monkeys. Take a hike to Bedugul plateau up to Beratan Pura Ulun Danu lake. End the day with a beautiful sunset in tanah lot.
Kintamani - Besakih - Kerthagosa
Just like the first tour, you'll start it with a visit to art center and silver craft workshop in Celuk-Ubud. Find the nature of Bali in Gajah cave, and spend the lunch in Kintamani and lake Batur. Besakih temple will be visited on your way home, and visit the last site in Kerthagosa which is known as the ancient court center in Bali Kingdom.
Singaraja - Lovina Beach
Started on 9.00 am, you'll be driven to Taman Ayun temple wich was built in 1634 in Mengwi, followed by a visit to lake Beratan Bedugul and Gitgit waterfall. Directed north to Singaraja and Lovina beach.
Tohpati village - Besakih Temple - Klungkung
Picked up on 9.00 am, the culture village in Tohpati is a good start for the day to look the batik craft. Bukit Jati temple is the next destination and enjoy the panorama from the plateau of Panglipuran village. Spend the lunch on Bukit Jambul and continue the trip to Besakih temple. The last visit are the Kerthagosa court center.
Labels: bali, traveling-tips
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posted by Daniy @ 10:04 PM,
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A Daily Tour Tips in Bali: Overview
Bali provides various attractions whenever you put your both legs on this island. But have you planned your trip around Bali, yet? You would never want to lose any opportunities you could have during your extended time on holiday. Daily tour is one option for you to discover the island's point of interests. Here you could find some tips whenever you decide to use the daily tour service.
The daily tour service offers you with 9 hours of experience on visiting Bali's places of interest. A mini van would pick up at 8.30 am on your lodging and deliver you to 3 - 5 places which depends to the route program. You may have yourself with another tourist [shared tour] which are the minimum quota of the operator to operate. Or, if you just want to enjoy yourself with your spouse you can hire for a private tour program which would costs you more than the previous one.
Usually, the tour operator provides you with a lunch box or served you on restaurant during the tour. Also the English speaking guide to help understand the related site which you visit.
How do I book for a daily tour?
The information is as simple as you dial 911 [kidding..] by contacting the tourist informations which spreads along the Kuta beach street. Poppies Lane I & II, Legian street, or just ask to your lodging staff where do you stay. Internet provides you bulk of informations. There's nothing wrong for you to look it up there. The main thing that you should consider is the price offer from each tour operators. Is it competitive enough for you to gain?
Daily Tour's: Advantage & Disadvantage
+ If you're not a good driver, it's the best option.
+ In case of chances of taking wrong paths, a local driver would have most knowledge for the destination.
+ Just like friendster, you can meet another person from another country in your car.
- The time is limited on every site. Whenever you feel comfortable on one site, the driver might have asked you to get on the vehicle in order to visit the next destination.
- For the weather causes, some places might be canceled for visit by tour operator.
- Some sites might not accommodate your destinations.
The tips
There are some ways to make your daily tour program become memorable and enjoyable. Also, with competitive edge.
- Ask the details of a daily tour program. Which place will be visit, is there any performances will be held, Kecak, Ngaben, or Barong? Is that all suits your wants?
- Ask for the tariff, does it includes the meals and snacks. If there are several tour operators with same destination but has difference on price, it might have gone that the cheaper one doesn't include the added services such as lunch box and snacks during the trip. Better know the details of the service, than go with the less expensive and get back with dissatisfaction and bad mood.
- Compare for prices and services between similar tour operators. Take the best offer.
- Make sure the number of passengers on a shared tour program, also the condition of the vehicle, does it air conditioned? You'll never want to get yourself inside a tin can, will you?
- Ask the information from your hotel/lodging. They usually have special tour offer for their guests.
- Consider for several days book. There might be a price discount for the special bookings.
There are many tour operators which spreads around Bali, but I'll give you some of them. Worth to try.
Adventure Indonesia
Ruko Wana Segara No. 17 Kuta Bali
Phone 0361 766851, 7447814
Email : advindobali@cbn.net.id
http://www.baliindonesiatours.com/tour_daily.htm
Santa Bali Tours & Travel
Jl. Bay Pass I Gusti Ngurah Rai No. 70 D
Sanur - Denpasar - Bali - Indonesia
Tel: (62-361) 286 826 * Fax: (62-361) 286 825
Email: sedanartha@denpasar.wasantara.net.id
http://www.indo.com/travel_agents/santa/daily.html
Bali Travel Plan
Jl. Paku sari IV/7 Denpasar, Bali
Phone : 0361 8555588, 8506060
Email: info@balihotelplan.com
http://www.balihotelplan.com/balitours.html
Bali Bagus Tours
Jl. P Batanta Gg. V No. 1 Denpasar – Bali
Phone : 0361 7802419, 8422074, 0812 3982375
Email : balibagustur@yahoo.co.id
Trio Bali International Tour, Ltd.
Jl. Hayam Wuruk 9, P.O. Box 3131, Denpasar - Bali - Indonesia
Phone: (62-361) 226830 * Fax: (62-361) 234120
Email: triobali@denpasar.wasantara.net.id http://www.indo.com/travel_agents/trio_bali/daily.html
Kristal Holidays
Jln. Raya Sesetan No. 294 C Denpasar
Phone 0361 7400800, 7424900, 0812 3692775, Fax 0361 255520
Email : balibestdeal@yahoo.co.id
Labels: bali, traveling-tips
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posted by Daniy @ 7:21 AM,
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Ultimat Beaches of Phuket: Christmas Holiday Vacation Spot
Monday, November 26, 2007
Christmas is coming and you better decide where to spend the holiday this year in Asia. Preferably, you might want to have sunbath on one of famous beach on the largest island in Thailand: Phuket. This island is blessed with astonishing coves and bays; magnificent accomodations and seafood, delightful Sino-Portuguese architecture, numbers of leisure places, which all combined into a truly unforgetable holidays. You can do all water activities like sailing, diving, & snorkeling, also a trip with submarine to discover underwater life. For accomodations, Phuket is available from standard bungalow resorts onto 5 star rated hotels.
Phuket which is located in the Andaman Sea, 862 kilometers south of Bangkok, is a hilly terrained as seen for afar. Thus, the name Phuket is apparently derived from Malayan word bukit which means hill or mountains. 70% of the island is all covered by forest. The western coast has several sandy beaches, while on the east coast beaches are often muddy.
Beaches of Phuket
The island of Phuket has several beaches with every characteristic. Patong beach is one of the most popular beaches in central western coast. The name derived from Thai language which means “the forest filled with banana leaves”. It is the busiest beach since the site could be easily accessed. Thus the area has become developed and turn into most of Phuket’s nightlife and cheap shoppings.
Another beach are located on the south of Patong, and one by one they named as Karon beach, Kata beach, Kata Noi beach, Kamala beach, and around the southern tip of the island Bang Tao beach and Nai Harn beach. The latest beach are among the less developed, thus they were often sought out by family, groups, or individuals who needs less crowd environs for the vacation.
Labels: Thailand
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posted by Daniy @ 12:05 AM,
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Kuta Beach in Lombok
Thursday, November 22, 2007
If I asked by someone, “do you know about Kuta beach?” then I’ll say doubtlessly, “Yes, I know that beach in Bali island”. I’m sure you would answer exactly just the same as I did. But, have you ever wonder that there is another place which has the same name and also the same stunning scenery instead.
Not many people who know that on the south coast of Lombok island, lies a beautiful coast which is also called Kuta. This coast has its own attractive scenery which beseted by hilly terrain, and covered with white sand. Alternatively, it is another place for your vacation spot. Hence, it would not be difficult to find yourself as a lone visitor who come to this astonishing beach, especially when it’s workday.
Lodgings and Transportations
It’s suggested for visitors to take lodgings on Senggigi area, considering for more hotel choice, food markets, and easy access to downtown Mataram. The nearest hotel from Kuta beach is Novotel Coralia Lombok which resides about 1 km from the coast. Whenever you decide to check in to this luxury hotel, you are readily served for another water recreation facility such as jet ski, speedboat, banana boat, etc.
If you lodge in Senggigi or Mataram, the easiest way to reach the site is by taxis which operates majorly throughout Mataram. Rent them for a full day service, then you can omit the transport issue from your list.
You’ll need 2,5 hours to make trip from Senggigi to Kuta passing Mataram city, and vice versa. Better plan first your departure, including the place where you'd lunch. If required, consult also with the hotel staff or taxi driver, about another place which are possible to visit at the same time.
As aforementioned, this beach is far from crowd, therefore you may find few visitors and some souvenir sellers proposing their merchandises. Just take aware at these sellers. Sometimes they seem to force us to buy. Mainly, they driven by lack of economic background, since the beach is poor of visitor.
On the drive home, don’t forget to visit the weave center which located 1 hour trip from Mataram city. You can see how the traditional cloth weave are made by locals, as well as you can buy assorted type and pattern.
Another features about this place can be found in here
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posted by Daniy @ 10:57 PM,
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Underwater Kingdom of Bunaken
Friday, November 09, 2007
On the north of Sulawesi, lies a beautiful and astonishing Indonesian tourism spot: Bunaken. Formerly established in 1991, it is among the first of Indonesia’s growing marine parks. For scuba divers, it is an undeniable spot to get involved with. Generally, Bunaken is an island which large 8.08 square kilometers in Manado Bay. Around the Bunaken island, an area of 75,265 hectares large, is the Bunaken National Marine Park which consists five islands: Manado Tua, Bunaken, Siladen, Mantehage, and Naen. Instead of the large occupied area of the park, the diving spots are only found around the coasts which surrounds each island.
Fish, Corals, Clams: It’s All Here!
Talk about its biodiversities, you can count to Bunaken’s collection of corals, fish, echinoderms or sponges - and the number of families. Then you can conclude that genera or species around is bound to be remarkably high. Don’t you know that 7 of the 8 species of giant clams that occur in the world, occur in Bunaken? Also, it has around 70 genera of corals, which you can compare this to a mere 10 in Hawaii. Acc
ording to the statistics, nearly 70% (about 2,500 species) of all fish species which are known to the Indo-western Pacific, are found around Bunaken. It’s slightly higher than in the Philippines.Well, if you wonder why Bunaken National Marine Park is such a treasure trove of biodiversity, the Oceanic currents may explain. Northeasternly currents generally sweep through the park but abundant counter currents and gyros related to lunar cycles are believed to be a trap for free swimming larvae. This is particularly true on the south side of the crescent-shaped Bunaken Island, lying in the heart of the park. A snorkler or diver in the vicinity of Lekuan or Fukui may spot over 33 species of butterfly fish and numerous types of groupers, damsels, wrasses and gobies. The gobies, smallish fish with bulging eyes and modified fins that allow them to attach to hard surfaces, are the most diverse but least known group of fish in the park.
The abundance of hard corals is crucial in maintaining the high levels of diversity in the park. Hard corals are the architects of the reefs, without them, numerous marine organisms would be homeless and hungry. Many species of fish are closely associated with particular types of corals (folious, branching, massives, etc.) for shelter and egg-laying. Others, like the enormous Bumphead Parrotfish, Balbometopon muricatum, are "coralivores" and depend on hard corals for their sustenance. Bony mouth parts fused into an impressive "beak" allow these gregarious fish to crunch corals like roasted peanuts.
Dive.. Dive.. Dive..!!
Back to the business. It is not hard to find and get yourself underwater. A lot of dive centers is operating from the mainland around Manado and directly from Bunaken Island. Talk about satisfying underwater adventure, a more few dollars are better expensed for safe and experienced operators than just choose the cheapest one. Tank fillings can be a problem. Some operators may saves money on filters which may gives you headaches after each dive.
20 diving spots vary in depth, from 2 meters down to 1,344 meters deep. 12 of them are found around Bunaken island, lies from southeast to northwest of the island. On this area, you can find the underwater great walls (which also called hanging walls) which stands vertically and bended upwards. The walls have been the source of food of surrounding fishes around Bunaken Island.
How Do I Get There?
The public boats from Manado to Bunaken are leaving daily around 2 p.m (depending on tide), except Sundays, from Pasar Jengki near Manado harbour. Back from Bunaken to Manado usually early in the morning, around 7-8 a.m. Even on Sundays there might be boats, just go to the harbour and ask people there. To charter a boat is about Rp. 150,000 - 200,000 OW. If you want to go to Siladen it is better to inquire first at the harbour, but usually there are several boats as well. The fare to Siladen is also Rp. 15 000.
A number of homestays are available on the island which rates around Rp 50,000.00 per day per person. But you may displeased by some things like the water in the bathroom is left unfilled or dissatisfying breakfast. If you want a better service, some dive operatorions offer more upmarket accomodation which will please you with running water (Living Colours) and hot showers (Cha Cha Nature Resort).
You can look for another reference on the link below:
Sulawesi Info , Sulawesi North Diving
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posted by Daniy @ 5:28 AM,
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Tanjung Puting: Home of Primates
Friday, November 02, 2007
Between the green and the humid of Kalimantan jungle, Tanjung Puting National Park is the home of many tropical biosphere diversities. It was designed by Indonesian government as biosphere reserve in 1977 and declared as national park in 1982. Tanjung Puting is known to have a large diversity of forest ecosystems, including lowland forest, tropical heat forest which is called "kerangas", mangrove forest, peat swamp forest, freshwater swamp forest, and coastal forest, which is covering a total area of 415,040 hectares.
The area is dominated with lowland forest vegetations sucha as jelutung (Dyera costulata), ramin (Gonystylus bancanus), meranti (Shorea sp.), keruing (Dipterocarpus sp.), and rattan. Preserved faunas such as sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), sambar deer (Cervus unicolor), mouse deer (Tragulus javanicus klossii) and wild pig (Sus barbatus). Clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), and leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis borneoensis) are not hard to find as its become the haven of their life.
Over the years, Tanjung Puting has functioned as a rehabilitation centre for orangutans. There are three other rehabilitation centres for orangutan in this area, namely Tanjung Harapan, Pondok Tanggui, and Camp Leakey. Tanjung Puting is rich in wildlife and among these, the best known species that makes this area internationally very famous, is the orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus). This area is popular for biological/ecological scientific research, particularly for the study of primatology. Tanjung Puting Biosphere Reserve also plays an important role in eco-tourism and recreation of which a number of activities can be explored.
In Pondok Tanggui, orangutans are preserved on distances and less contact with humans. Camp Leakey was build on 1971, which is located on primary forest, is the homeland of newborn orangutans. Another site which nearly interesting is Natai Lengkuas. This station observes the proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) other faunas through the river current. For those who like to watch birds, Sungai Buluh and Danau Burung are the best spot to discover.
Interested to discover?
Located on the south coast of the Borneo peninsula in the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan and districts of Kotawaringin Barat and Seruyan, Tanjung Puting National Park can be reached by several transportations. From Jakarta – Pangkalan Bun [Central Kalimantan] with airplane, or Semarang [Central Java] – Pangkalan Bun with ship. From Pangkalan Bun you should head to Kumai which is 20 minutes of trip. You can choose an ordinary boat/”klothok” or speed boat to continue the journey to your destinations.
Kumai - Tanjung Harapan = 1,5 - 2 hours [ordinary boat/”klothok”]
Kumai - Natai Lengkuas = 4 - 5 hours [ordinary boat/”klothok”]
Kumai - Tanjung Harapan = 0,5 - 1 hours [speed boat]
Kumai - Camp Leakey = 1,5 - 2 hours [speed boat]
Kumai - Natai Lengkuas = 1,5 - 2 hours [speed boat]
Labels: Indonesia, Kalimantan [Borneo]
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posted by Daniy @ 10:39 PM,
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