The Geography
The Island of Bali is a tiny island among Indonesian archipelago and exactly situated between Java and Lombok Islands. Its land stretches in 5,632 square kilometers. A tropical island lies between 8 and 9 degrees south of the equator and inhabited by some 3 millions people. Bali has only two seasons, namely wet or rainy season during October-April and dry season during April-October. As an island on tropical zone, the temperature usually varies from 30 º C by day to 22 ºC by night. A range of hills divides the island into northern and southern lands and stretches from west to east points. Among them there some leading mountains such as Mount Agung (3142m) in Karangasem regency, Mount Batur (1717m) in Bangli regency and Mount Batukaru (2275m) in Tabanan regency. The lakes are Batur, Beratan, Buyan and Tamblingan.

The Populations
Most inhabitants are followers of Hinduism. Balinese Hinduism encourages special devotion to its nature, neighbor and its God. This harmonious relationship generates various ritual ceremonies. While diversity in customary and tradition enrich the cultural attraction. You may have the opportunity to see some of this richness on your visit. The Mahabharata and Ramayana epics have inspired widely to their life of art. Ranging from drama, painting, dance, sculpture and shadow play generally take this theme. Bali province is divided into eight regencies (Badung, Bangli, Buleleng, Gianyar, Jembrana, Karangasem, Klungkung and Tabanan) and one mayor city of Denpasar. Every regency has specialty of point of interest. The capital of Bali Province is Denpasar and it is about 10 kilometers from Ngurah Rai International Airport. Most administration offices are located at Renon Civic Center complexes.

Balinese Dances	With over 1000 troupes, dance is at the very center of the Balinese life. On Java dance is the prerogative of the courts, but on Bali it's most prevalent in the villages. The Balinese consider Javanese dancing boring, while Javanese think Balinese dancing noisy and vulgar. Dancers on Bali perform for the pleasure of the gods, prestige, and the entertainment of friends and family. Gambuh, wayang wong and topeng are dance drama, when legong is the classical dance of the princely court. Gambuh is the oldest known dance drama in Bali, it is inspired by the Javanese literature. Very few active village gambuh troupes remain. The wayang wong, is a drama where the dancers play the roles of the shadows puppets of the Javanese Wayang kulit. The players are masked and their movements follow the style of the shadow puppets. See More Balinese Dance
Village administration	Vertically under the sub district there are some villages. In Bali the village administration is divided again into two kinds. First, desa dinas (administrative village) is administration pertaining to government affairs in the level of village. This institution is lead by a Kepala Desa or Bendesa (Village Head) and assisted by some kelian dinas or the chief of sub village. While HANSIP or Pertahanan Sipil (Civilian Defense Unit) handles security affairs. Some affairs that become the tasks of Kepala Desa are population administration, development programs and so on. Secondly, desa adat or desa pekraman (customary village) is the village administration in relation to Hindu religion with management of village assets, village temple, ritual ceremony, controlling population flows, and the use of village graveyard. Its security field is handled by pecalang.
Irrigation Co-operative	In the field of agriculture, Balinese has an exclusive organization called subak. Subak is customary law relating to social, agrarian and Hindu religion that grows and develops to control and maintain irrigation for farming. According to the historical facts that subak has grown in Bali since 1071.One of the facts is Purana Sri Markandeya. It publishes the guidelines of farming, starting making of dam, tunnel, choosing good day for initiating for planting rice seed, controlling disease to its ritual ceremonies. A subak organization is led by a pekaseh and then assisted by a secretary and treasurer. Every subak activity, all members will be informed by juru arah (courier). If the member is in large number it will be divided into some tempek (subdivision) to make it easier to control. All tools that are used in the process of handling the soil in the rice field and some documentation of this unique activity can be seen on the display room of Subak Museum in Tabanan regency.
Temple Festival	Odalan or temple festival is held every year for a temple whose inauguration day falls on purnama or full moon. When the day is chosen based on pawukon year, the festival will fall every six months (210 days) or 7 months of Christ calendar. For certain consideration, villagers will determine the festival in three choices, such as nista (small scale), madya (medium) and utama (large scale). Each scale will later determine the contents, procession and arrangement of the festival. The temple will look so amazing as it is decorated with ceremonial attributes like penjor, umbul-umbul, umbrella and weapon of istadewata. Each has symbolical meaning that generates the bhakti sense among the pilgrims. Penjor is symbol of greatness and umbul-umbul of loyalty. To enter the temple visitors must pay attention to some manners as follows. You must wear sarong and shawl both for male and female. Women who are in her menstruation are prohibited to enter the temple as it is considered to be cuntaka or spiritually dirty.
Cockfighting	Cockfighting has something to do with the ritual ceremony. Actually the cockfighting has two categories. First, tabuh rah (pouring blood). It relates to the ritual ceremony that aims to neutralize the evil spirit or beverage for the guardian. According to an old inscription that tabuh rah is allowed for three sessions only. While the second category is called tajen. The later does not have something to do with the ceremony and usually involved betting between the cockfights. Recently the two terminologies are blurred; people tend to call it tajen since almost every event is involving bet. To grow a good rooster a cockfight should follow some guidelines of Pengayam-ayaman. How to choose a good seedling with special characteristic is completely mentioned in the book. This handbook will also tell you what food to give, when to fight, tell the dos and don'ts and which counterpart to choose. The fighting is usually held in open space or in a wantilan (arena).
Perang Pandan	The villagers of Tenganan at regency of Karangasem has unique attraction called Perang Pandan or Pandanus War by using thorny pandanus leaves. The activity is done in relation to the ritual ceremony of the village. No one gets tempered after completing the attraction. Any scratch on the body of the dancer will be easily recovered by using treatment of coconut oil with other traditional ingredient. As the original Bali's tribe, Tenganan has unlimited uniqueness to offer. The landscape of the village is surrounded by two hills. In terms of security reason it is fully protected against the enemies in the past. The exclusivity of double woven ikat fabrics is only produced here. Such fabric is not only beautiful for your accessories but also will reflect the prestige of who wears it.
Bali, the perfect holiday destination for all ages offers something for everyone. This tropical paradise has a unique blend of modern tourist facilities combined with wonderful shopping and a rich past and heritage. The Balinese people are proud of having preserved their unique Hindu culture against the advance of Islam, the dominantreligion throughout Indonesia. This is still reflected in day to day life and can be seen in the numerous ceremonies, Balinese festivals and magnificenttemples and palaces. Some of the best surfing beaches in the world can be found on the western side of the island whilst conversely the eastern side is a wonderful haven for families, with beautiful white sand beaches and gentle seas.