“We have coordinated with all relevant authorities, including harbor and airport management, about this closure,” said Bali administration spokesperson Putu Suardhika.

Nyepi is the annual celebration to mark the Hindu New Year. This year, Nyepi will fall on March 16.

Unlike other Hindu celebrations, which are characterized by street parades, colorful offerings, art performances and busy temples, Nyepi is the celebration of silence.

For 24 hours during Nyepi, the Balinese Hindus will follow four main abstinences; Amati Geni (refraining from lighting any fire or light), Amati Karya (refraining from working), Amati Lelungan (refraining from traveling outside the family compound) and Amati Lelanguan (refraining from partaking in any leisure activity). Religious leaders will observe a fifth abstinence of Mona Brata (refraining from talking).

The closure will affect the Ngurah Rai international airport, Padangbai ferry harbor in Karangasem, Gilimanuk ferry harbor in Jembrana, Benoa ferry and shipping port in Denpasar and Celukan Bawang shipping port in Buleleng.

Padangbai connects Bali with West Nusa Tenggara. Gilimanuk connects Bali with Java.

“These points of entry will be closed from 06:00 am on March 16 until 06:00 am on March 17,” Suardhika said.

He asked the island’s residents not to travel outside respective houses during Nyepi.

Roads will be closed and only the Pecalang (traditional guardsmen) will be allowed to patrol the streets.

Only clearly marked ambulances transporting sick people and other emergency responders will be exempted from the rule.

“The ambulance driver has to carry a letter from the leader of the sick person’s village,” Suadhika said.

Only hospitals and hotels will be allowed to turn on their lights during Nyepi’s night.

“We have asked the hotels’ management to reduce the number of electrical lights they would turn on during that night,” Suardhika said.

Hindu scholar Ketut Sumarta said Nyepi was the peak of the Balinese Hindus’ journey to emptiness.

“During Nyepi, *Hindus* do nothing but contemplate the meaning of silence, trying to commune with their true, inner-self.”

Foreign Minister spokesman Soehardjono Sastromihardjo said that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will open the forum.

“Around 100 ministers and 1,200 participants of UN members, environmentalists and activists worldwide will take part in the event,” Soehardjono said in a statement as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Indonesia would raise ocean issues in the week-long talks to follow up the results in the World Ocean Conference, which was held in Manado, North Sulawesi last year, he added.

in comments cited by the Bali Times, village head I Kadek Alit Wirawan said that everyone in te community of Ubud would be pleased to hear the “encouraging news”.

The Conde Nast Traveler’s overall score is compiled from ratings of several categories, including atmosphere, art and culture, accommodation and the friendliness of local people.

Top 5 Best Asia City
1. Ubud, 82.5
2.Bangkok, 82.2
3.Hong Kong, 81.3
4.Chiang Mai, 80.9
5.Kyoto, 80.2

“To all the staff @ the bidadari,

We would like to thank you all for making our stay here in bali, one to remember.

you have all been so kind, friendly and helpfull during our stay, how we wish it could be another week !!.
The food and service from you all is outstanding. we shall be recomending the villas to all our friends bolt in australia and in england.

once again, “thank you”.

with our best wishes

Peter, Noel and Susan ”

Our comment: Thank you for recommending our villas to your friend. hope we meet again next time, our staff will happy to welcome you.

thank you.

overall they give our villa  a good rating.  one of the guest (tripadvisor id: gluk0se), write some review like bellow:

“My girlfriend and I stayed in a one bedroom villa at the Bidadari for four nights in May 2009. As there were absolutely no online reviews on this hotel at the time that we made our reservation, we weren’t really sure what to expect. As soon as we arrived, though, we realized that we had made an excellent choice!!”

you can read more review on our villa at tripadvisor. thanks to our guest for your review.

after-india-bali-getting-ready-for-julia-roberts

A local production company in Bali’s capital Denpasar reportedly held a casting session to pick about 100 local actors for the movie, which lasted two days. Shooting will reportedly be held in Kuta, Ubud, etc., places in Bali from October 15 to November 11.

Based on Pushcart Prize winner Elizabeth Gilbert’s spirituality/travel memoir (played by Roberts), “Eat, Pray, Love” is about her self-discovery and soul-searching after her nasty divorce, exploring through India, Italy, and Indonesia.

After reveling in cuisine in Italy and exploring spirituality in India ashram (hermitage), she will find a balance between worldly pleasures and divine ascendency in Bali where she will study with a ninth-generation medicine man and immerse in a love affair.

Bali; known for its surf, rice terraces, beaches, temple ceremonies, dances, etc.; is one of the 33 provinces of Indonesia and its largest tourist destination. About 93 percent population is Hindu. Gilbert met Wayan, traditional Balinese healer, and Ketut Liyer, medicine man, in Ubud.

Aimed at a release in 2011 and directed by Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck); “Eat, Pray, Love” also stars Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), Viola Davis (Doubt), Billy Crudup (Almost Famous), James Franco (Pineapple Express), Luca Argentero (Lezioni di cioccolato), etc.

As global crisis, Europe market and America market aren’t potential again, therefore they will optimize Asia market and local market where Australian market still favorite to them.  Mr. Ismoyo also said that villa business in Bali is still have good prospect, and many travelers has choice Bali villas as their holiday accommodation as they need more private holiday.

As per Mr. Ismoyo prediction, in 2009 villa business will be decrease , but he hope it will decrease not more than 10 percent. From record of BVA, villas visitor in Bali until 2008 is 90 percent foreign and 10 percent is domestic.  Be sides doing promotion, Bali Villa Association will evaluate and analize this condition for first three months.

as Radar Bali reported

Ni Komang Erviani ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Badung   |  Tue, 04/14/2009 2:56 PM  |  Bali

The Bali provincial administration has allocated Rp 46.9 billion (US$4.2 million) from the provincial budget to revitalize 2,345 subak traditional agriculture and irrigation associations on the island.

Currently there are 1,546 subak yeh managing rice fields and another 799 subak abian managing farms.

Ida Bagus Sedhawa, head of the Bali Cultural Agency, said each subak would receive Rp 20 million (US$1,800) to revitalize and maintain the subak system.

“This financial assistance is expected to encourage local farmers to maintain its subak organization and to prevent farmers from selling their lands to outsiders.”

Bali is facing problems with decreasing agricultural lands being converted for various development projects, especially those related to the tourism and hospitality industries.

Annually, Bali loses at least 600 hectares of fertile land to make way for the construction of hotels, villas, shops and other properties.

Currently, the province has only 1,008 hectares of rice fields and 1,456 hectares of farms.

“The drastic changes in Bali’s land use have threatened the centuries-old subak system, the backbone of the island’s agricultural system,” Sedhawa said.

The traditional organization deals not only with technical agricultural methods such as irrigation and plantation.

Subak also incorporates social, cultural and religious concepts.

“If all farmers sell their rice paddies and plantations, subak will also die accordingly,” said Sedhawa.

“This means one of the island’s important cultural aspects will vanish.”

Made Nuada, head of a subak organization in Kapal village in Badung regency, said he was thrilled to receive the financial support.

“We will use the money to finance various religious ceremonies. The money will also be used to renovate a subak temple and to construct footpaths along the rice paddies.”

Nuada admitted many farmers preferred to sell their paddies because the harvest yields were not adequate to support their families.

The village’s rice fields have decreased from 240 hectares to 219 hectares in 2009.

Many farmers sold their rice paddies to developers who built housing complexes and business sites.

Pacific Blue has announced it will increase Australia-Bali flights from June 1 with the launch of direct services from both Melbourne and Sydney.

Pacific Blue now offers Bali flights from five Australian cities

The announcement of direct Melbourne and Sydney flights comes just three months after the successful launch of Bali services from Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth.

Virgin Blue Group CEO Brett Godfrey said the strong connecting traffic from Melbourne and Sydney was the main reason for the expansion of services to Bali.

“Bali has traditionally been a popular destination for Australians and we have seen strong connecting traffic from Melbourne and Sydney so the next obvious step was to put on direct services,” he said.

“We are pleased to be offering more convenient flying options from other key capital city destinations and providing another airline choice for people to fly to Bali on.Once we launch the new flights, Pacific Blue will offer direct flights from more Australian cities than any other airline.”

Godfrey also said Adelaide will also benefit at the same time, with services set to be ramped up from twice- to thrice-weekly.

The increased flights to Bali will keep Australian arrivals to the island climbing. Recent statistics showed Australian travellers recorded the highest number of visitor numbers for the month of January, edging out Japan and Korea.

In January, Australia recorded 27,873 visitors arriving in Bali, ahead of 25,324 for visitors from Japan, according to the Bali Government Tourism Office.

Godfrey said the current holiday package prices are the lowest they have been for two decades and to further stimulate mini-breaks, the airline was currently offering flights for $299 each way on the internet from both Melbourne and Sydney.

“Indonesia was Pacific Blue’s first foray in to the Asian region and its close proximity to Australia is a big drawcard for people keen to take a mini-break without breaking the bank,” he said.

“Holiday package prices are at the lowest they have been for two decades so it is providing ideal opportunities for some great deals, not just in the air but also on arrival in Bali.”

The  number of tourists from other western countries also increased by an average of 20 percent, Ida Komang Wisnu, Head of the  Bali Central Bureau of Statistics said here Monday.

Komang Wisnu said the number of foreign tourists to Bali reached 1,664,854  last year. And their number increased further this year.

A total of 1,298,130 tourists came to Bali from January to August 2008, which was a 20 percent increase compared to the   1,079,751 people in the same period last year.

Americans from January to August 2008 coming to Bali reached 46,923, up by 30 percent from 36,092 compared to the same period in 2007 whereas the number of French tourists increased  23 percent from 42,281 to 52,080.

The Germans coming to the ‘Island of Gods‘ reached  50,676, a 18 percent increase from 42,802, or a 20 percent increase from 44,406 to 53,567 tourists. ( ant )