Bali
Bali is an amazingly beautiful island in the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. Its attractions attract millions of tourists every year.
The island is quite large, with an area of 5,780 km2. The average annual temperature of air and water in the ocean is kept at around 26 °C. Bali's climate clearly distinguishes 2 seasons: dry (from June to October) and wet (from November to March), rain during the wet season mostly passes at night in a couple of hours, and the sun is shining during the day.
Bali is a volcanic island, among which the most active are Gunung Agung (3142 m) and Gunung Batur (1717 m). A mountain plateau divides the island into northern and southern parts. There are only two rivers in the northern part and a dry climate favorable for coffee cultivation. There are a lot of rivers with rich flora and fauna in the southern part. There are many rare plants and animals on the island that can be found everywhere, the most valuable areas of the island are protected by the state, such as Bali Barat National Park. Almost the entire territory of the park (90%) is closed to the public. There are a lot of banana palms on the island, as it is considered a sacred tree. Palm leaves are dried, pressed and used to write sacred texts, and bouquets are also made from them, which are brought to the temple as a ritual offering.
Bali has a lot of temples, there are about 20,000 in total. The most famous of them are Pura Tanakh Lot, Oolong Danu, Pura Besaki, Goa Gadja, Taman Ayun. The inhabitants of the island strictly honor their traditions, so tourists should be very careful. Most of the inhabitants profess Hinduism, which in Bali has adopted the traditions of local peoples, as well as other religions: indigenous beliefs, Buddhism and the teachings of Shiva, Buddhism in the form of Mahayana. The Balinese also have mountains of great importance, in their opinion, the gods live in the mountains.
The whole culture of Bali, one way or another, is connected with religion and the struggle of good against evil. Balinese dancing is very spectacular. The barong (lion dance) symbolizes the struggle between good and evil. During the performance, the actors wear scary masks with a lion's face. The legong Keraton dance is performed by young girls impersonating nymphs. This dance can often be seen in restaurants. The kalonarang dance depicts the tale of the witch Rangda. The dance has a lot of plot development options, so it's hard to see the dance always performed in different ways. Balinese dances are very spectacular due to their mass character. Up to 250 artists can participate in the dance at the same time. One of these dances is the "kechak". He can be seen at the Uluwatu Temple at sunset. About 150 artists participate in the dance, and the kecak itself illustrates an episode from the epic Ramayana, in which monkeys try to save Sita from the hands of the giant Ravana.
For a long time, tourism on the island was poorly developed, and only after the military coup in the country did the new leadership decide to change its image and make the country attractive to tourists. For this purpose, 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 equip beaches. Religious holidays, festivals, dancing, music - all this was used to attract tourists. Today, tourists from all over the world come here to relax. Diving, surfing, beach and eco-tourism are especially developed here.
