Whether it’s a total wind-down for the mind, body and spirit, or simply the desire for some quick-fix serenity, lots of travellers in Bali are spending hours (and sometimes days) being massaged, scrubbed, perfumed, pampered, bathed and blissed-out. A quick rub down on the beach or in a garden, and you’ll be hooked. Here’s your guide to seeking out a bit of aah & aah.


Every upmarket hotel worth its stars has spa facilities (almost always open to non-guests) offering health, beauty and relaxation treatments. Day spas are also common, many of the best booked up days in advance during high season. The cost can be anything from a 20,000Rp beach rub to a multi-hour sybaritic soak for US$100 or more. In general however, the costs are quite low compared with other parts of the world and the Balinese have just the right cultural background and disposition to enhance the serenity.

The Balinese massage techniques of stretching, long strokes, skin rolling and palm and thumb pressure result in a lowering of tension, improved blood flow and circulation, and an all-over feeling of calm. Based on traditional herbal treatments, popular spa options include the mandi rempah (spice bath) and the mandi susu (milk bath). The mandi rempah begins with a massage, followed by a body scrub with a paste made from assorted spices, and ending with a herbal-and-spice hot bath.

Good spas can be found wherever there are tourists. Day spas are particularly common in Ubud, Kuta, Legian and Seminyak. Here are a few of our favourites:

Kuta/Legian
Mandara Spa, Jl Padma - This divine spa, part of the Hotel Padma Bali, is decorated with water features and impressive stone sculptural reliefs. (Aroma Jepun, Jl Nakula) - Treatments as yummy as they sound. Who can resist a Cappucino Body Scrub?

Seminyak
Jari Menari, Jl Raya Seminyak - Its name means ‘dancing fingers’ and your body will be one happy dance floor! (Prana, Jl Kunti) - A palatial Moorish fantasy that is easily the most lavishly decorated spa in Bali

Ubud
Nur Salon, (Jl Hanoman 28) - Set in a traditional Balinese compound filled with labelled medicinal plants Ubud Sari Health Resort - A spa and hotel in one. Enjoy a ‘total tissue cleansing’ with organic and natural ingredients

It’s worth remembering that in a place as relaxing as Bali you don’t necessarily have to visit a spa to be soothed. These low-key resorts make every day an indulgence:

Air Panas Banjar
Hot springs percolating down through a series of pools amidst lush tropical plants; soak in the top pools, or get a pummelling massage from the water as it falls into the lower pools.

Lovina
Relaxed, low-key, low-rise… Lovina is Kuta’s polar opposite. Even the waves are calm… Here, you can get Balinese or Ayurveda treatments in simple, soothing settings.

Nusa Lembongan
What better place to mellow out? Quiet, white-sand beaches; simple rooms right on the beach; incredible sunsets… this is the Bali that many imagine, but rarely find. Find your inner peace amidst the serenity.

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Japanese porn actress Maria Ozawa aka Miyabi will reportedly attend the premiere of film Hantu Tanah Kusir (The Ghost of Tanah Kusir Cemetery) in Jakarta on Nov. 29 next week.

The plan was confirmed by Ody Mulya Hidayat, the film producer of Maxima Pictures.

“Miyabi will be coming to the press conference [for the premiere] on Monday,” Ody was quoted as saying by kompas.com.


“She should have been here today, but she had business back in Tokyo,” Ody said on the sidelines of the limited premiere of the film for press on Wednesday.

Ody said he is currently organizing a necessary permit for Miyabi to come to Jakarta.

“As long as we manage to obtain a permit for her from the Manpower Agency and immigration office, I think it won't be a problem,” he said.

The name of the Japanese adult film star has made the headlines after hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI) protested against the actress starring in a comedy flick, titled Menculik Miyabi (Kidnapping Miyabi). The screening of the controversial film grabbed public attention across the city in August this year with the FPI threatening to raid film theaters playing it.

Miyabi was denied entry to the country by the Culture and Tourism Ministry last year due to the constant protests from the Islam Defenders Front (FPI).

Ody's statement about Miyabi starring in the film as well as her plan to Jakarta was at odds with his previous statement he repeatedly made that Miyabi would not star in the film, sparking rumors that using Miyabi's name was only meant to jack up the film's popularity.

To the press, Ody said that Miyabi even plans to continue her career in Indonesia using a new name, Pauleen.

“Pauleen is the name she picked for herself,” Ody claimed. (Source)

It’s almost 40 years since Birute Galdikas established her study site for primates, deep in the heart of Tanjung Puting National Park in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Here, she used to stand waist-deep in swampy forest water, neck craning and eyes straining upwards to record every single move the orang-utans she was observing made. Every night she would return to her pondok, a small wooden shelter, collate information, and pluck off stray leeches that had crept under her clothing, unnoticed during the course of the day.


Orang-utans were unknown entities when her studies commenced in 1971. There were no roads, electricity, telephones or even a mail service in Borneo at that time. Initially set up to document orang-utans in the wild, Camp Leakey served as a rehabilitation site for ex-captive orang-utans as the forests they were surrounded by started to dwindle. Eventually, Birute Galdikas was recognised as the foremost authority on these auburn-coloured primates, and Camp Leakey became inundated with orang-utan orphans, illegally kept as pets before the owners found them too difficult to handle.


Now, the site is open to tourists and it is the closest any of us will come to experiencing these animals in the wild. It’s best to arrange your tour through one of the travel agencies in Pangkalan Bun such as Borneo Holidays, which takes the hassle out of choosing a boat, captain, guide and a cook. If you arrive in the port town of Kumai first, the boats to look out for are the well-maintained Kingfisher and Garuda.

The trip to Camp Leakey itself takes two days on one of these boats. Named a klotok, this is a quaint wooden Indonesian houseboat that comfortably sleeps four people. It’s an unforgettable, magical journey, where you’re cut off from the rest of the world and thrust into what little nature remains of this vast tropical island. This is, importantly, one of the last remaining refuges for orang-utans in the wild.


A guide is necessary for entering the national park. Armed with information, they’ll be able to explain to you the plight of the orang-utans. They are also excellent wildlife spotters, and if you come face to face with a full grown male they’ll tell you what to do. Most of the guides have been working in the forest for years and have insider information into each of the individual orang-utans around the Camp Leakey site. They will also be able to tell the difference between an ex-captive orang-utan and a wild one.

During the quieter parts of the year (avoid August where increased numbers of tourists scatter the wildlife away from the river, and fruiting season drives the orang-utans deep into the forest), you won’t need to travel far before you see trees filled with proboscis monkeys. When you turn into the Sekonyer River, closer towards Camp Leakey, the river becomes narrow and you’ll get a great view of the male monkey’s enormous snout – which is so big they have to move them out of the way to eat.

Silver leaf monkeys and troupes of macaques are also common sightings in this forest. Hornbills swoop before the klotoks, disturbed by the occasional passing speedboat taking workers to the nearby goldmine. On the way to Camp Leakey, two stops are made at feeding sites for rehabilitated and wild orang-utans at Pondok Tanggui and Tanjung Harapan. The feeding platform is not far into the jungle, where birds chatter, mosquitos hum and cicadas buzz like chainsaws, and there is an expectant quiet as the guides call for the orang-utans, who eventually come crashing through the forest. Dominant males with massive cheek pads sit on the feeding platform and scoff bananas for an hour. Mothers and babies comically stuff fruit into their mouths, hands and feet before fleeing into the forest.

Visitors interested in the conservation efforts being made in the National Park can enter the tiny Sekonyer in the heart of the national park, where a library has been set up to educate the local children. Yayorin (www.yayorin.org) is an Indonesian-based conservation project with the mammoth task of teaching its people about conserving the forest and its creatures, with the chief aim being saving existing populations of orang-utans.

As your klotok arrives at the long jetty at Camp Leakey, you’ll usually see several of the site’s more famous characters lurking at the docking station. Siswi, an oversized female, is the offspring of one of Galidikas’ original ex-captives. Tutut is another regular, who has become famous more recently for giving birth to a rare set of twins. Clever Princess was successfully taught how to use sign language, and was also nearly very successful staging her own escape attempt via a docked canoe. The one orang-utan you really don’t want to be lying in wait for the boats to arrive is Tom, the dominant male, once spotted angrily pulling the wooden bench from the jetty’s shelter and hurling it into the river. And this is when your guide will come in handy. They can also shoo away one of the many macaques that are not too shy to steal food directly from the landing klotoks.

Gibbons also call these forests home, and every morning before sunrise you’ll be woken up to their songs. There’s a special species of Bornean gibbon here, and you’ll get to see some of them up close. These gibbons are not scared of people and will brachiate at full speed over your awestruck head. Watching acrobatic gibbons at play is endlessly entertaining; just keep a firm grip on your camera.

At the site is an information centre which contains a fascinating insight into Galdikas’ history at Camp Leaky, including the National Geographic feature she wrote that catapulted her and her primates to an international level in 1975. Learn about the generations of orang-utans who have passed through this camp, as well as other forest creatures. Don’t miss the documentary Kusasi, From Orphan to King, about the campsite’s most famous inhabitant. However interesting all these features are, the best part of Camp Leakey is the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sit in a forest and share space with these semi-wild orang-utans.

You can also go bushwalking on one of the many trails in the surrounding forests – just watch out for leeches. There are still things to look forward to along the way back: Proboscis monkeys, kingfishers, hornbills and crocodiles, plus you should also not be surprised to see wild orang-utans lurking on the riverbanks, or idly watching klotoks pass from the forest canopy. Towards the end of the journey, the forest shrinks and is gradually replaced by tall reeds. When night falls, thousands of fireflies light up these river reeds like Christmas trees, making this a truly fairytale end to a very special journey. (Source)

Surely i am sure that you are familiar with this unique racing (If you are Indonesian, haha), karapan sapi (literally cow racing). Karapan sapi is local tradition of Madura people. Being held every August until September, the event is held in every village at Madura and become their famous tropical vacation destination. In this event the visitors not only see a racing but they also can watch a unique local tradition before the competition. So if you want to know about this unique tradition you must put Madura Island as one of your tropical vacation destination plan.


At this traditional racing, one cart will be pulled by two cows with a man as the rider. It will take 100 – 180 meter distance in one track. Karapan sapi is not only about the racing but also about man honored. The man who wins the race will have famous and glorious in all but if they lose, they will be loss their honored. This makes all of participants will always be trying hard to be a winner. Therefore, the visitors can see many rituals which are done by the participants to make their cow winning the race.


Karapan sapi is done in track field which you can find in every city in Madura. To see this race is very easy. The visitors only have to go to Madura which can reach from East Java Province Capital, Surabaya. From Surabaya you can go to Madura Island through the longest bride in Indonesia, Suramadu. At Madura you can find this ceremony in every village every August and September.

Just pack your bag and feel your great tropical vacation when you watch karapan sapi at Madura Island. See you!!!! (Source)

Soeharto was the second President of Indonesia, having held the office for 32 years from 1967 following Sukarno's removal until his resignation in 1998.

Soeharto was born in a small village near Yogyakarta in 8 June 1921, during the Dutch colonial era. His Javanese peasant parents divorced not long after his birth, and he was passed between foster parents for much of his childhood. During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, Suharto served in Japanese-organised Indonesian security forces.

Indonesia's independence struggle saw him joining the newly formed Indonesian army. Soeharto rose to the rank of Major General following Indonesian independence. An attempted coup on 30 September 1965 was countered by Soeharto-led troops and was blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party.The army subsequently led an anti-communist purge, and Suharto wrested power from Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno.

He was appointed acting president in 1967 and President the following year. Support for Soeharto's presidency eroded following the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis. He was forced to resign from the presidency in May 1998 and he died in 2008.

In Bali there are frequent ceremonies that celebrate the Hindu faith. Every day, according to the Balinese lunar calendar, has some significance that requires prayer and offerings to appease the Gods. Through religion and belief, the Balinese are bound to the ritual traditions that are an intrinsic part of their heritage. It is this fascinating culture that has drawn so many travellers’ to Bali’s shores.

On Saturday, 16th September, the Balinese will celebrate Saraswati Day. Saraswati is the Balinese Goddess of knowledge, wisdom and the arts. She is one of most revered deities that Balinese Hindu’s worship and is depicted as a very beautiful woman with four arms carrying symbols related to science and the arts. Huge stone sculptures and images of the Goddess Saraswati at the front entrance of many Balinese schools and universities is evidence of the level of local respect towards education.

Saraswati Day honours the knowledge that is bestowed on mankind. It is believed that without science and art it is impossible to create anything new on this earth. Many Balinese try to refrain from reading or writing on this special ceremonial day.

In schools and institutes of education all around the island students gather early in the morning dressed in their ceremonial finery for a session of communal prayer. Resource books are piled high and blessed with offering of fruit, flowers and a sprinkling of holy water. Students take this opportunity to pray for guidance with future studies and to lead a harmonious life that adheres to the basic guidelines of Hinduism.

On the morning that follows Saraswati Day worshippers go to the sea to bathe and purify themselves in a cleansing ritual. This marks the conclusion of this particular religious occasion where local Hindu’s demonstrate their eternal gratitude to God Almighty who is personified by the ethereal Goddess Saraswati.