Absorption of Playing Canoe on Pandawa Beach

Canoeing on Sanur Beach has been a commonplace. But, what about canoeing on Pandawa Beach? Wow ... it’s fun and very enjoyable. Although it is in the ocean, the water ripples are excellent for canoeing. View of the beach is very beautiful. And for spiritualists, they will feel comfortable of being on the beach. Pandawa Beach is a tourist attraction located at Kutuh village, South Kuta, Badung. The white sandy beach is crowded by travelers with daily average of 10,000 people. And at the end of 2014 and welcoming the year 2015, it hosted the Pandawa Beach Festival and could draw abundant tourist arrivals.
Most visitors consisted of domestic travelers. In addition to enjoying the view of high seas, travelers also took advantage of the Pandawa’s statue (Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadewa) situated in the cave as the backdrop of their photograph. The activity of seaweed farmers, blue water to high cliffs fortifying the coast could also become the background of their picture.
However, from the existing tourist attractions, canoeing is the most favorite. Within a day, tourists can rent a canoe for hours, due to having fun. On that account, of the 66 canoe business owners, each have an average of 2 to 6 pieces of canoe and are always busy serving customers. “Playing canoe becomes a favorite tourist attraction on Pandawa Beach,” said Nyoman Camang, secretary of Kutuh village, accompanied by coordinator of beach lifeguard, Made Letera.
Camang said the rental of canoe board was IDR 20,000 per hour. Other than canoe board, the renter also got paddle and safety jacket, so that players would be safe and feel more comfortable. A regular-size canoe could carry two or more persons. “Pandawa Beach does not provide banana boat or jet ski attraction because it tends to be risky and generate marine pollution to local seaweed farming,” he said.
Made Letera added that other than canoe, his party also rented long chair having high demand. A total of 200 pieces of long chair were provided and it was always fully booked. A long chair was offered at IDR 50,000 per hour. In addition to putting their belongings, it was also used to sit back while enjoying the beauty of the sea. “There is also a tourist attraction of sailing by traditional boat, but it has a little demand,” he said.

Cremation in India, `Ngaben` in Bali

From behind a fence of blackened sticks at the Ganges riverbank in the ancient city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, northern India, I watched the body of a deceased older woman being burned down to almost nothing.

As the heat of the scorching fire filled the air, I lifted a corner of my shirt to my nose against the smoke, wincing.

Hair white and whisked, lips pursed and dry, eyes closed and perfectly still, the body smoldered down to a blackened pelvis, prodded with the fire tender’s pole.

“The men burn all the way down to rib cages, while the women burn all the way down to pelvises. In the end, those things are all that's left,” a trying guide had tempted me with details.

“The river bed is full of them – pelvises and rib cages,” he added.

In the same month, I witnessed another cremation being held eight thousands kilometers away on the island of Bali in Indonesia.

Love f Hotel by fashiontv provides an affordable luxury concept for the glitz and glam

 

The first fashiontv hotel officially opened last weekend on Jl. Legian, Bali.

“Bali is one of the most popular tourism destinations in the world. Various worldwide brands like Bvlgari andHard Rock have their own hotel business in Bali, Our Love f Hotel will bring the fashiontv brand closer to the tourists in the area” Jonathan Dowling chief marketing officer of Budsan, the operator of the hotel, said at a press conference.

Located in the center of Jl. Legian, Bali, Love f Hotel offers the luxurious fashiontv brand experience at a very affordable price. The rooms start from Rp 1.1 million (US$90) for a one-night stay.

“We want to offer something high class but affordable. Fashion is usually stereotyped for the upper class. But now we want to emphasize that it is also for the middle class,” Dowling added.

You can see the fashiontv brand everywhere in the hotel lobby. It also has the so-called Sunset catwalk, where guests can feel the experience of walking on a fashion-show runway.

There are two types of rooms, the Slim & Fit and the 11 Fashion Suites.

The Love f Bar and Love f Store will become a hub for the fashionable crowd to gather.

The Love f Hotel in Legian is just a start to the fashiontv hotel business in Bali. Two properties have been listed as the next fashiontv hotels in Bali.

Early next year the Biz f Hotel in Renon, Denpasar and FTV Hotel & Resorts Jimbaran, will begin construction.

The founder and also the president of fashiontv International Michel Adams, Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika and Deputy Governor Sudikerta joined the grand launch celebration from last Friday to Sunday.

At the grand launch, numerous international models strutted their way along the catwalk presenting the latest collections from top-10 Indonesian designers including Tex Saverio, Rinaldy A. Yunardy, Sebastian Gunawan, Era Soekamto, Hian Tjen and Peggy Hartanto.

Various international artists were also listed at the event, such as DJ Antoine, Kazaky, GORE Ibiza Dancers, DJ Tiara Eve, Aline Adita, and Jamie Aditya.

Gili Trawangan the most affordable island destination in Southeast Asia

Gili Trawangan offers the best value of all Southeast Asian island getaways, according to a cost comparison report released last week by TripAdvisor.

The results are taken from the second annual TripIndexIsland Sun report, which compares the cost of a day out and an overnight stay for two in 16 popular island destinations across Southeast Asia.

The list of islands was compiled using data from TripAdvisor on the most searched-for islands in the region in the past year, as well as input from local experts.

The study takes into account the combined costs for two people to enjoy a one-night stay in a four-star hotel, a two-course meal with coconut juice, beers, a massage and rental of bicycles and kayaks.

According to the report, the most affordable island for Indonesian travelers is Gili Trawangan, with a total TripIndex cost of Rp 2,677,194 (US$220).

At the other end of the spectrum, a trip to Sentosa Island in Singapore will cost three times more at Rp 9,499,234.

“This year’s results show that, despite their popularity, Indonesia and Thailand are still home to some of the most affordable island getaways in Southeast Asia, with Gili Trawangan, Bali and Koh Samui topping the list,” said TripAdvisor spokesperson Jean Ow-Yeong in a press release last week.

This year’s results show that travelers heading to islands in Indonesia can expect to save the most, with Gili Trawangan, Bali and Lombok ranked at number one, two and four, respectively, in the top five most affordable islands.

Gili Trawangan and Bali were also listed among the top ten islands in Asia, ranking fifth and second, respectively, in the 2014 Travelers’ Choice Islands Award, while Bali’s Nusa Dua Beach was awarded thirteenth place in the 2014 Travelers’ Choice Beaches Awards.

TripIndexIsland Sun (total cost from most to least affordable)
1. Gili Trawangan, Indonesia: Rp 2,677,194
2. Bali, Indonesia: Rp 3,086,446
3. Koh Samui, Thailand: Rp 3,289,854
4. Lombok, Indonesia: Rp 3,313,408
5. Cebu, Philippines: Rp 3,732,697
6. Phuket, Thailand: Rp 3,841,964
7. PhuQuoc, Vietnam: Rp 4,033,301
8. Boracay, Philippines: Rp 4,037,519
9. Penang, Malaysia: Rp 4,364,523
10. Koh Phi Phi Don, Thailand: Rp 4,817,578
11. Pulau Rendang, Malaysia: Rp 5,262,878
12. Pulau Tioman, Malaysia: Rp 5,546,234
13. Langkawi, Malaysia: Rp 5,852,804
14. Palawan, Philippines: Rp 6,154,142
15. Bintan, Indonesia: Rp 6,561,569

16. Sentosa, Singapore: Rp 9,499,234