Welcome to Bali. Uluwatu, Kecak Dance and Jimbaran Beach
January 9
After divine Malaysia, it was time for Indonesia, specifically Bali. I had 10 days ahead of me on this paradise island.
We decided to spend the first two nights at Jimbaran Beach. We arrived in Bali around 10 PM, so there wasn't much to see or do that day. A pre-arranged driver picked us up from the airport and took us to the hotel. It's a good thing Bali is so small; half an hour later we were at the Sari Segara Hotel. It was a cheap, three-star hotel with a nice pool, but the bathroom, in particular, left much to be desired. It was okay for two nights, but I definitely wouldn't want to spend more time there.
I chose Jimbaran Beach for several reasons. Located in southern Bali, the town is famous for its charming and vibrant beachfront restaurants. I prefer sightseeing to sunbathing, but the friend I was traveling with turned out to be a die-hard beach fan. So we compromised: the beach in the morning, Uluwatu and Kecak dance in the evening.
Uluwatu This temple is best visited in the afternoon to catch the sunset. It was built in the 11th century by the Javanese priest Empu Kuturan and expanded in the 16th century by another Javanese, Danghyang Nirarth. The temple sits on a 100-meter cliff overlooking the ocean, and today it is one of the most important and frequently visited sites in Bali. It still serves a religious purpose, and at 6 p.m. every day, a performance called the Kecak dance takes place here, which I will describe in more detail later in this post.
You need at least an hour to explore the site. I started my tour at the viewpoint, which you reach by following the path in the opposite direction of the temple. You can encounter cute and mischievous macaques there. I saw one hardcore thug whose baseball cap was stolen by a monkey. The caps aren't worth anything, but what a disgrace it is to let a monkey flex a mountain of muscles. The musclehead decided to take the cap back. It was hilarious! The guy started to fight the monkey, so he got punched. It ended up with the old woman selling souvenirs there getting the cap back for him. Instead of using her muscles, she bribed the monkey. She offered it some fruit, and after analyzing the situation, the monkey decided it would be more beneficial to eat the fruit than to buy a cap made in China. By the way, it's clear that such thefts are common; the lady had a "ransom" ready. Apart from this humorous touch, you can also meet people practicing yoga here, and it is also a great place to take photos of the cliffs and the temple.
Entrance fee to the temple: 20,000 IDR
The Kecak dance began at 6:00 PM. Tickets had to be purchased separately, preferably a little in advance. It's also worth arriving at least 15 minutes before the start to secure a good seat. I managed to get a seat in the front row, a little to the side, but the view was good.
A few words about what Kecak actually is. It's a combination of Balinese dance and theatrical performance, created in the 1930s. Previously, it was a trance ritual accompanied by a male choir. It's thanks to the European, German Walter Spies, who became fascinated by it while living in Bali, that we can admire Kecak in its present form. He adapted it as a performance based on the Ramayana, a Sanskrit epic consisting of 24,000 verses grouped into seven books. It is also known as the "monkey dance.".
I had no idea what to expect from this performance; I quickly read the pamphlet I was given before entering. And so I learned that the story begins with the arrival of Prince Rama, his wife Sita, and his brother Laksmana in the Dandaka forest. The three were being watched by the demon Rahwan, who has his eye on the beautiful Sita and tricks her into his palace. Rama and Laksmana set out to search for the princess, but Rahwan's son, Tualen, stands in their way. Fortunately, their struggles were observed by Garuda, the king of all birds and a friend of King Dasarata, who freed them. They were then able to continue their search for Sita, further strengthened by Sugriva, the king of monkeys, and his monkey army. The performance concludes with a battle between the monkeys and Meganada and his demon army. The monkeys prevail!
The performance began promptly. After a short introduction, several dozen men dressed only in black and white checkered sarongs ran onto the stage. They began to utter the following sounds: Cak ke-cak ke-cak ke-cak ke-cak ke-cak. That's when I understood where the dance's name came from :). After a while, the men were joined by colorful characters who played their roles to the rhythm of this singing-hissing sound. Interestingly, there's no music in the performance, and the actors don't speak; they play their roles with body and eye movements. The men in the background had a truly difficult task. Let's try to produce such strange sounds for over an hour; I got tired after a minute.
I have to brag that I made it through my first public performance. Towards the end of the performance, the actors decided to add a humorous touch, and the graceful Hanoman monkey began jumping among the audience, chose a man as its "victim," and began to tease him. A moment later, unidentified individuals flew up to me and began dragging me to the front. In the meantime, they also put a funny wig on me. I don't like performing in public, especially in front of strangers, but they left me no choice. I had to dance in the middle of the stage, watched by several hundred people! Fortunately, I wasn't booed, and even received applause. A complete success!
The day culminated with dinner on Jimbaran Beach. According to the guidebooks, the place is bustling in the evenings. Indeed, there are quite a few restaurants, all with tables on the beach, but there weren't many customers. Perhaps it was because I was there during the rainy season. As it turned out, I was incredibly lucky; it didn't rain once during my 10 days in Bali! Funnily enough, it only started pouring on the last day after I was in the car, 10 minutes from the airport. It was as if Bali was screaming at me for leaving, or maybe it was wet with joy.
