Bali
Bali is an amazingly beautiful island of the Small Zond Islands in Indonesia. Its attractions attract millions of tourists annually.
The island is quite large, its area is 5780 km2. The average annual temperature of air and water in the ocean is at around 26 ° C. The climate in Bali brightly sets aside 2 seasons: dry ( from June to October ) and wet ( from November to March ), rain during the wet season mainly runs at night in a couple of hours, and in the afternoon the sun shines with might and main.
Bali is a volcanic island, among which the most active Gunung-Agung ( 3142 m ) and Gunung-Batur ( 1717 m ). The mountain plateau divides the island into the northern and southern parts. In the northern part there are only two rivers and a dry climate conducive to growing coffee. In the southern part there are a lot of rivers with rich flora and fauna. On the island there are many rare plants and animals that can be found everywhere, the most valuable sections of the island are protected by the state, such as the Bali-Barat National Park. Almost the entire territory of the park ( 90% ) is closed for visits. There are a lot of banana palm trees on the island, as it is considered a sacred tree. The palm leaves are dried, pressed and used to write sacred texts, and bouquets are also added from them, which are carried to the temple as a ritual offering.
There are a lot of temples in Bali, there are about 20,000 in total. The most famous of them are Pura Tanah Lot, Ulun Danu, Pura Besaki, Goa Gaja, Taman Ayun. Residents of the island strictly honor their traditions, so tourists should be very careful. Most residents profess Hinduism, which in Bali adopted the traditions of local peoples, as well as other religions: native beliefs, Buddhism and the teachings of Shiva, Buddhism in the form of Mahayana. Also, the Balinese are of great importance, in their opinion, the gods live in the mountains.
Bali’s whole culture, one way or another, is connected with religion and the struggle of good with evil. Balinese dances are very spectacular. The barong ( the dance of the lion ) symbolizes the struggle of good and evil. During the presentation, the actors put on scary masks with a lion's face. The dance of "legong keraton" is performed by young girls who personify nymphs. This dance can often be seen in restaurants. In the dance, a Kalonarang depicts a fairy tale about the sorceress of Rangda. The dance has a lot of options for developing the plot, so it's hard to see the dance always performed differently. Balinese dances are very spectacular due to their mass. Up to 250 artists can participate in the dance at the same time. One of these dances is "kechak". It can be seen at the Uluvata Temple at sunset. About 150 artists participate in the dance, and the Quechak himself illustrates an episode from the Ramayan epic in which the monkeys try to save Sita from the hands of the giant Ravana.
For a long time, tourism on the island was poorly developed, only after a military coup in the country did the new leadership decide to change its image and make the country attractive to tourists. For this, a tourism development project was drawn up, for the implementation of which it was necessary to reconstruct the airport, build new hotels for tourists, and beaches are equipped. Religious holidays, festivals, dances, music - all this was used to attract tourists. Today they come here from all over the world to relax. Diving, surfing, beach and environmental tourism are especially developed here.
