BALI UPDATE #289 - 01 April 2002

Mum's the Word: Nyepi Day - April 13

Island of Bali Marks Annual Day of Absolute Silence Saturday, April 13.

Hari Raya Nyepi marking the start of the Bali-Hindu New Year falls on Saturday, April 13, 2002. This is a day of absolute silence observed throughout the island when no outside activity of any kind is allowed - no traffic is allowed on the streets, and no lights or fires should be lit - a day when all of Bali resembles a ghost town. Even the airport and ferry services that connect Bali to the rest of the world are closed for a day.

From 6 a.m. on the 13^th of April until sunrise the following morning, Bali literally shuts down.

This is a day of introspection for Hindu followers who spend the entire day behind closed doors. Non-Hindu's present on the island on that day are required to show respect with guests confined to hotel grounds where they are generally allowed to enjoy the hotel's facilities and services, but are instructed to keep their curtains drawn, preventing light escaping to the view of those outside the hotel. Essential staff at hotels, hospitals, telephone and similar essential services are temporary housed at their place of employment from the evening of April 12^th until sunrise on April 14^th as the roads are closed preventing people traveling to and from their place of employment.

Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport will be closed with all flights cancelled.

While many Bali hotels are offering Nyepi Packages to local residents seeking refuge in the hotels from their homes where light bulbs, TV's and fires of any kind should not be visible, the Bali Chapter of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) has asked its member hotels to consider the sensibilities of surrounding traditional villages in promoting such packages and in organizing guests activities on April 13. Hotels are asked to avoid activities which disrupt or opening ignore the code of absolute silence of catur brata penyepian rigorously observed in adjoining villages.

Visitors to the island over this day are often impressed at being part of a cultural tradition that is unique to Bali. The night prior to Nyepi on April 12th is equally unique, offering a night of Mardi Gras-like festivities with every village holding lively parades and processions. For weeks prior to this date, the village Banjar or hall is awash with activities as giant paper mache monsters - ogoh ogoh are constructed. Paraded down the streets of orchestras, drums and cymbals - the ogoh-ogoh play their part in rituals to exorcise any lingering evil or ill will that might linger in the community and impugn the purity and serenity of the following day of silence that mark the beginning of a New Year in Bali.

Slow Boat From China

Despite Expectations that the Chinese Tourist Market Would Boom, Government Adopts 'Go Slow' Policy.

While earlier predictions that increasingly friendly relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Indonesia in combination with relaxed tourism procedures would bring upwards of 800,000 Chinese tourist to Indonesia annually, it now appears that the total number of Chinese visitors will be closer to 200,000.

Indonesia's Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mr. I Gede Ardika, while admitting the potential of tourism from the PRC was indeed enormous, recently revealed that the Government was targeting only 200,000 mainland Chinese visitors for the current year. In explaining the Government's "Go Slow Approach," the Culture and Tourism Minister explained, "we will control in a phased manner the total number of Chinese visitors because the airlines (serving this market) are not yet fully connected. Garuda is only now commencing its flights to Shanghai and Ghuang Zhou. So, we will not open the flood gates all at once. If we did so, we would be overwhelmed."

In accordance with rules imposed by the Government, only 46 travel agents are currently licensed to handle Chinese inbound tourists with another 40 expected to be licensed in the next phase of preparations handle the growing Chinese market.

The Government has set a target of 5.4 million visitors to Indonesia for the year 2002.(BISNIS INDONESIA)

balieats.com Names Best Cheap Eats

Bali's On-Line Guide to Food Names 10 Best Cheap Eats.

Bali's only comprehensive Internet guide to dining in its March Newsletter named it's favorite list of 'top 10' Cheap Eats on the island.

What's a Cheap Eat?

According to Balieats.com to qualify for the list a restaurant must be "easy, mains under $4, and wine by the glass!" The authoritative guide on where to dine also stipulates that in order to qualify the winners must have professional kitchens that consistently produce above average food at below average prices.

BALIEATS.COM Top Ten Cheap Eats

balieats.com's, in picking places you can afford to eat at every day, named the following dining places to its list of top ten cheap eats:

1. Antique - Seminyak

2. Bali Pesto - Ubud

3. Darimana - Ubud

4. Hana - Seminyak

5. Kin Khao - Legian

6. Lo's Warung - Legian

7. Mykonos Taverna - Kerobokan

8. Red Rice Warung - Sayan Terrace, Ubud

9. Stiff Chili - Uluwatu

10. Wayan & Friends - Legian

More information: Visit balieats.com

Entry # 13 – Bali Dream Holiday Contest

A Montreal, Canada Reader Shares Her Bali Dream Holiday and Is Now Eligible to Win a Trip to Bali.

The contest runs until the end of April and we're stillwaiting for your vision of a perfect dream holiday in Bali and the chance to win 2 tickets on Singapore Airlines, 7 nights at the Four Seasons Private Estates Bali at Jimbaran Bay, tours and transfers from Bali Discovery Tours, rafting and cycling excursions from Sobek, luxurious spa treatments from Mandara Spa, a helicopter tour from Air Bali, and Cooking Lessons from Bumbu Bali/Rumah Bali.

Entries are welcome from everyone in every form, from both veteran travelers to Bali or those who have only dreamed of visiting our tropical paradise.

Carole Sainte-Marie, sainte_marie63@hotmail.com, from Montreal, Canada sent this week’s dream selection:

The Land of the Goddess

Going through my photo album is opening the gate to a different world. Feelings juxtapose themselves to memories, as I lose track of my present surroundings and enter a different dimension.

First, Kuta Beach and its wide-angled, endless sunsets. I arrived at this time of day when the pastel hues of the sky, becoming orange-red, served as backstage to a shadowed Melasti procession.

I travel through the succession of images, and my heart beats faster. Yes, I see and feel as if I was there: gamelan performances by virtuosos, dancers in trance, hot peanut merchants at a cremation, duck keepers, all those who touched my life with an eager smile, while living under the constant scrutiny of the outsider.

I still marvel at the intricate straw and flower or food decorations, from the smallest offering placed on the sidewalk by this old "ibu.” to the gigantic bebanten certainly appealing to the most gargantuan god.

I clearly hear the gong and feel it resonate right into my solar plexus, centering this part of me that feels connected to both earth and the invisible.

Only in a place touched by a Goddess can men move and dance with such grace, wear a flower over their ear and yet look so serene and dignified in their sarong.

Balinese are rich with their way of life and their works of art, of which terraced rice paddies are an extension.

Bedugul, with its tallest meru touching the clouds, has a special place in my heart. To sojourn in Bali, so harmonious and beautiful, is an opportunity for spirituality. Hence, Balinese are not the only souls wanting to reincarnate in this residence of gods . . .

I return from my reverie and gently close my album, realizing that a lotus flower ornates its cover . . .

More information: How to Enter the Bali Dream Holiday Contest

We Get Mail: Fan Mail & Visa Criticism

Readers Write to Wish Bali Update Best and Take Issue with the Tourism Board's Mr. Setyanto Comment in The Local Press.

No Visa Fee

Mike & Shelagh Thompson mikethompson@free.net.nz , of New Zealand wrote to tell us what they thought about the proposed visa fee for Indonesia:

Please NO visa fee! We have been holidaying in BALI now for 12 years, sometimes twice a year. If a visa fee comes into force we will have to seriously think about our holidays in the future. Over the years we have recommended many friends and clients to holiday in Bali and I think this will make them think again.

Taking Issue with Pak Setyanto

Several readers wrote to take strong issue with the comments of Setyanto P. Santosa the Chief of the Indonesian Tourism and Culture Development Board, made to the local press and quoted in last week's Bali Update. Peter Wrycza, pwrycza@telkom.net , a resident in Bali wrote:

Mr. Setyanto's statement "actually, if tourists are charged a visa fee of $50 that is not a problem, providing the quality of the service they receive is excellent" shows that the tourism official knows nothing of the tourist industry and is not listening to the feedback he is receiving from it. A visa on arrival charge added to the departure tax have nothing to do with the quality of service provided, and everything to do with a disregard for the effects on ordinary Balinese families already struggling with the current downturn.

Meanwhile, Dr. Daniel R. Parsignault, Ph.D. tintin@gis.net , also wrote to take spirited issue with Mr. Setyanto;

Good work, Mr. Setyanto P. Santosa! The fact that these two measures, a $50.00/visa and a shortening of its validity period from 60 days to 15 - 30 days, are even discussed in the media indicates that these "rumors" have already been seriously considered by the Board.

These measures show a TOTAL disconnect from reality on the part of the people in charge of the so-called Tourism and Culture Development Board. A more appropriate name for this Board should be the Tourism and Culture Wrecking Board.

What better way to discourage tourism to Indonesia in general, and to Bali in particular, than to charge a fee for entering the place, and reducing the amount of time a tourist can stay?

Obviously, an additional $50.00/visa may sound trivial for a single person, but for families, the additional $200 - $300 is considerable, and as such, becomes a real value point in determining whether or not to include Indonesia on one's vacation itinerary.

The shortening of the period of stay is even more serious. Bali is the main destination for foreign tourists, but Indonesia, as a whole, is one of the greatest tourist destinations in the world. Indonesia has tried for years to develop its tourist industry outside Bali, all over its huge territory, from Sumatra to Papua. A sixty-day visa is already short for anybody wanting to visit some of Indonesia's treasures and experience its cultural and ethnic diversity . Doing so in any meaningful way requires time, and cutting so drastically the time available would obviously stop a large number of would-be visitors.

The visa situation in Burma was for many years the single greatest barrier to its tourism development. It went from a ridiculous 24-hour stay visa, to a one-week visa, and to the present month-long visa. The obvious result is a flourishing tourist industry, in spite of a deplorable type of government. The remarkable beauty, history and culture of Burma are now available for everybody to see and enjoy. Such an obvious policy is apparently not so obvious to Mr. Santosa. Maybe he should start traveling abroad more often, and see how the other half of the world lives, and welcomes its foreign visitors.

Finally, what does Mr. Santosa mean by his statement, "actually, if tourists are charged a visa fee of $50 that is not a problem, providing the quality of the service they receive is excellent?" All I request from the Indonesian Immigration Office at the border is an agent (smiling, if possible) to stamp my passport, at the same time refraining from asking me if I have a "present" for him. The rest of the services I require come from private enterprises, and I fail to see how an additional $50.00/visa going in the Government's pocket will somehow improve the quality of their services.

One More Comment for Mr. Steyanto

Clive Matthews clivevm@ozemail.com.au , of Australia joins the almost unanimous flood of letters giving "thumbs down" to the proposed changes in the visa policy.

I have had the pleasure of visiting Bali on 6 occasions so far and have already booked my 7^th trip. Each time my stay has increased to the extent that this visit will be for 26 days and at the same time will be taking my family (adult) and grandchildren with us.

I am dismayed that Mr. Setyanto is even contemplating shortening the length of stay and imposing a tourist tax because of the potential damage rash decisions can do. Bear in mind that we have already seen departure tax double over the past 2 years and that places like Singapore, Malaysia Vietnam and Thailand not only do not restrict tourism, but also openly welcome tourists and now have cheaper hotels. Balinese hotels are now becoming quite expensive.

The danger I foresee is that Indonesia will price itself out of the market and it will find it very hard to regain its place at the top where it should be. I will always regard Bali as a second home and could spend 3 months at a time when I retire - to that end I now study Indonesian at night school, which is a major task as I have not studied for at least 35 years. If prices keep increasing and further taxes are imposed then my family and I will certainly be reviewing our future holiday and semi-residential plans.

May I suggest that all such responses be forwarded to Mr. Setyanto so he can see for himself that there a lot of opposition to the proposals based upon sound reasoning.

A Belated Birthday Bouquet

Mr. Anak Agung Gede Rai fantasfr@indosat.net.id , a Balinese reader and luminary in local tourism circles, sent the following belated birthday bouquet to Bali Update:

Dear Brother Jack, I am extremely sorry for not remembering the birthday of our beloved BALI UPDATE.

However, although belated, please accept my sincere good wishes on the 4^th Anniversary of Bali Update that I adore so much.

Long Live Bali Update!!!

A Singapore Smile

Mr. Jimmy Sim jimmy.sim@pandotravel.com.sg , of P&O Travel in Singapore wrote:

I would like to congratulate you and your team on the great work and effort you all have spent in putting together the news from beautiful island of Bali. Each time I read your newsletter, makes me want to get on the next flight out and take a vacation there again. Keep on sending these great updates and news. Perhaps, you could include which are the hoteliers that have moved or just arrived in Bali. That's useful too for tour operators like us.

More information: Share your comments with balidiscovery.com

Indonesia Wins Award at ITB

Runner Up for Best Booth Awarded to Indonesia at Major Travel Event.

The Indonesian Booth at the International Tourism Bourse (ITB) held in Berlin March 16-20, 2002, won runner-up honors in the Asia-Pacific category at what is arguably the largest international travel exposition held anywhere.

Mr. Dieter Lotze of www.roundshot360.de has kindly provided a photo of the Indonesian delegation receiving the awarded which is posted with this story at www.balidiscovery.com

Local Artists in A Festival of Peace

Bali Artists United in Performance for Peace April 6-8 Celebrating Diversity.

A large contingent of local and international artists will join forces in Bali's first Art Festival for Peace to be held April 6-8 at Denpasar's Art Center. The event will include dance, music, theatre, puppet performances, seminars, and workshops.

The Art Festival for Peace is intended to serve as a forum of focus for a shared vision of peace among people who care about art and peace, for religious groups that have a vision for peace, and for governments and private institutes with concern for developing arts and peace. The event will represent an opportunity for artists of different faiths and background to join forces in creating a positive force within the art community to show that existing differences within the community need not create problems.

An opening ceremony and dinner on April 6^th will feature collaborations on the Legong Jobong dance. The next day, Sunday, is dedicated to family activities with a children's painting competition and performances for and by the community's young folk. On Sunday evening, a Chinese Barong Sai lion dance will be performed with ritual songs offered and shared by Christian Protestants, Catholics, Moslems, Buddhists and Hindus. On the final day of the festival, April 8, workshops and seminars will be held including the presentation of new dances and a puppet performance.

For further details, contact The Bali Art Festival for Peace Secretariat at ++62 - (0)361) - 751-660 or use the e-mail link provided.

More information: E-mail to Bali Arts Festival For Peace

Hotels & Restaurants 3rd Largest Economic Sector

Hotel & Restaurant Chairman Emphasizes Potential & Challenges of Tourism Industry.

The Chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), Mrs. Yanti Sukamdani Hardjoprakoso, recently announced that the sector of the economy represented by her organization generated revenues of US$ 2.5 billion in 2001, making it the third largest national moneymaker after gas & oil and the textile industries.

The PHRI leader emphasized that this figure will grow in the current year as the economy recovers from the aftershocks of the WTC 9-11 incident. Mrs. Sukamdani warned, however, "further improvements will take place only if three important pre-conditions are maintained, specifically the security situation, public order and political stability."

In reflecting over the past four years, the PHRI Chairman, spoke of the bitter experience of seeing some 160,000 of the nation’s supply of 250,000 hotel rooms remain idle.

Nationwide the association represents more than 5,762 separate hotels and 1,733 hotels.

Bali's PR Professionals Elect Their Leader

Bali Hyatt's PR Director Leads Local Public Relations Association.

The Bali Public Relations Association (HHPB) have appointed their new Chairman and Vice Chairman, during their March 20, 2002, meeting held at the Bali Dynasty Hotel.

Chosen to lead the grouping of PR professionals as its Chairman was Anastasia Lijadi, the PR Manager of the Bali Hyatt and Deddy Sasmita, the PR Manager of the Discovery Kartika Plaza Hotel as the organization's new Vice-Chairman. They replace out-going Chairman Mercya Evers, Market and Communications Manager of the Hard Rock Hotel, and Levie Martin, Public Relations Manager of the Sheraton Nusa Indah, who now join Putu Indrawati, Director of Public Relations for the Four Seasons Resorts Bali, as advisors to HHPB.

The HHPB is an organization established three years ago by media and public relation professionals in Bali to promote and enhance professional standards among its members while promoting Bali to the outside world. 28 members from 27 hotels in Bali are currently members of the association.

For more information on HHPB or to send your congratulations, contact its newly elected Chairman via the e-mail link below.

balidiscovery.com photo shows left to right, Mercya Evers, Levie Martin, Putu Indrawati, Deddy Sasmita, and Anastasia Lijadi.

More information: Contact HPPB's Anastasia Lijadi

balidiscovery.com Expanded Hotel Service

It's Now Easier than Ever to Book Bali's Best Hotel Deals on Line.

balidiscovery.com has recently reconstructed its on-line hotel booking services making it easier for Internet travel shoppers to compare and purchase hotel bookings when planning a Bali holiday.

The new facilities allow Internet shoppers to:

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balidiscovery.com continues to be the best way to secure the widest selection and the most competitive accommodation prices for visitors to Bali.

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