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Friday, September 01, 2006


Thursday, August 31, 2006

HARD ROCK HOTEL





Location
Location is also very convenient, along Kuta Beach, approximately 5 km from the airport and 10 minutes away by car. Nestling against the shores of Kuta's famed surf beach, lies a holiday resort that lays testament to the glories of the past forty years of rock culture.

Description
Bali, island of the gods, is now the final resting place for the legends of the Rock 'n' Roll era. Asia's first Hard Rock Hotel, covering a prime 3 hectares site at the heart of Bali's entertainment and shopping district, features 418 tribute rooms and luxury suites, alongside nine cutting edge food and beverage outlets.

Room Services
As the leading entertainment hotel in Bali, the 418 guestrooms are situated in 6 blocks named after different musical styles: Rock 'n' Roll, Blues, Reggae, Psychedelic, Alternative and Pop.

Hotel Services
Live concerts presenting international as well as Indonesian artistes are held every month at Centerstage and Sand Island in the middle of the largest free form pool in Bali. Our general store and the unique Megastore features the ultimate in Hard Rock collectibles.


Other Services
These Boots were made for Walk-in . Activities and Excursions. The Hard Rock Hotel Bali offers a variety of off-site adventures during your stay. For nature lovers, we can arrange rafting excursions on the spectacular Ayung River, Mountain Cycling or Jungle Trekking, Elephant Safari, amongst many others The Hard Rock Hotel's team of professional Surf Instructors guarantees that they can turn the geekiest computer nerd into an intrepid surfer. Learn the techniques from the masters and you may never want to go back to your day.

HOTEL PADMA





Location

Situated on Legian Beach, just outside Kuta, the magnificent Hotel Padma Bali is romantically set amidst spacious landscaped gardens and provides guests a village-style hideaway with Balinese hospitality, world standard facilities and luxurious accommodations. Away from the hustle and bustle of Kuta, Hotel Padma Bali, is conveniently within walking distance to restaurants and shopping areas. It is just 15 minutes from the airport, 5 minutes to the center of Kuta and 20 minutes to the city of Denpasar.

Description
Elegantly furnished rooms and luxurious suites, all with carefully chosen furniture in Balinese style. There are 1 Presidential Suite, 1 Executive Suite, 6 Deluxe Suites, 4 Studio
Suites, 6 Junior Suites, 216 Deluxe Chalets, 147 Regular Rooms and 24 Family Rooms. Our dining and entertainment caters to everyone's tastes. Room service is available around the clock. Parents who want to indulge in some time along can make use of the new Kiddies Club. The poolside area is the hub of activity during the day.

Room Services
Each rooms and suites are equipped with a private bathroom, individually controlled air conditioned, IDD phone, satellite television, in-house music, mini bar, shaver outlets and adapter, tea/coffee making facilities, bedside control panel and a large private balcony overlooking serene courtyards.

Hotel Services
Large landscaped Swimming Pool, Children's Pool, Bali Padma Spa, Tennis Courts, Squash Courts, Fitness Center, Steam, Sauna and Massage, Snooker Table, Pool and Beach Games, Bars and Restaurants, Open Theater, free Safe Deposit Box, laundry and Dry Cleaning, Children's Playground, Kiddies Club, Conference & Banquet and Secretarial Services.

Other Services
Evening Performances, Doctor on call 24 hours, House Clinic, Baby Sitting Service, Mail and Postage,Foreign Exchange, Gift Shop and Souvenir Shop, Boutique, Gold and Silver Shop, Beauty Salon, Car Park, and Wheelchairs.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006







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INNA KUTA BEACH




Location
Delightfully located on the famous Kuta Beach, It is just 10 minutes drive from the Ngurah Rai International Airport and 20 minutes drive to Denpasar, the capital city of Bali.

Description
150 rooms and bungalows are arranged in the high appreciation to the pure Balinese style, combined with attractive modern comfort facilities. Provides easy access to the array of colorful culture, tourist attraction and destinations.

Room Services
All rooms are individually controlled air conditioning, mini bar, IDD phone, radio music, satellite TV with in house video channels, private bathroom with shower, hot & cold water, sea view balcony surrounded by lush green tropical garden.

Hotel Services
Other facilities are Mentari Grill Beach restaurant, Putri Duyung Coffee Shop, Kedaton bar, Butterfly Swimming Pool completed with Sunset Bar, Udiyana open stage, convention and banquets and Swimming pool.

Other Services
Tennis court, Airlines and travel agent offices, Exhibition room, Massage, Money changer and Baby sitter.

Hotel Discovery Kartika Plaza




Located on the shore of South Kuta beach between Bali's International Airport and Kuta beach. Only 10 minutes drive from the airport.

On entering Discovery Kartika Plaza Hotel, you will find yourself in a spacious and airy lobby, designed to reflect the style of Balinese palace and modern architecture. This leads conveniently to facilities such as the shopping arcade travel agent, money changer, post office, drug store & Gift Shop, in-house clinic and business services.

Seen from the lobby as well as all guest rooms are spacious landscape with mature gardens. Nestled in which are a choice of dining facilities offering beautiful views and a restful atmosphere.

The restaurants provide European Meals and Snacks, Italian Pizza and Pasta, Asian Specialties, which will suit every taste. A Swim-up Pool Bar, a Sunset Lounge at the lobby overlooking the pool gardens complete your wining and dining options. Our daily International or Indonesian Theme Buffet Dinners with entertainment will round off your day.

BALI INDONESIA

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Bali pictures

Amed Scuba Dive Center

AMED is located in north-eastern Bali. The area is famous for the traditional production of sea salt and its natural beauty. You will find our dive center here in the heart of Bali’s dive paradise.

From Amed village we go by traditional Jukung (outrigger boat) to the dive site at Jemeluk, where we start diving in a shallow area of 3 to 8m in a wonderful coral garden. You may see turtles, parrotfish and a huge variety of smaller creatures.

A moderate current will guide you in about 10 min to the drop off, that drops to a depth of 30m. It is beautifully grown with soft coral and any possible species of reef fish can be found there. White- and black-tip reef sharks pop in occasionally to patrol their feeding ground. At a depth of 27 m is a sandy field highly populated with blue-spotted stingrays.

On the other side of the bay is another drop off, about 25m deep and just perfect for a second dive. The highlight is a pinnacle, which erects from a depth of 25m forming a scenic swim-through at 20m. At both drop offs the 5 m safety stop is highly entertaining. Both dives are drift dives with a mild current. The following outrigger boats pick the divers up and make both dives very comfortable. The coral garden starts right off the beach in Jemeluk and is one of Bali's best snorkeling areas.

TULAMBEN SHIP WRECK

Anchored off the coast of Lombok, the ship was hit by a Japanese torpedo during World War II. As far as we know, nobody got hurt, but the ship was damaged badly. The American Navy's plan to tow the ship to Singaraja harbor (northern Bali) failed as the harbor was completely occupied, so the ship was intentionally stranded on the rocky beach of Tulamben, where it was unloaded. In 1963 Mt. Agung (Bali’s highest volcano) erupted and the magma flow pressed the ship back into the sea where it presently rests at a depth of 3 to 29 meters. Since then, coral has covered the wreckage completely and turned it into a home for many species of fish and the most famous dive site in Bali. From time to time, a Napoleon fish or a huge barracuda drops by. You may dive or snorkel this wreck comfortably, accessing it directly from the beach. A night dive is a highly recommendable option as well.

TULAMBEN WALL

Tulamben Wall divides into three excellent dive sites - the drop off, the coral garden and shark point. All three dive sites are easily accessible directly from the beach.

The drop off starts at a depth of only 1m and drops straight to70 m. This reef features an amazing coral growth in a magnificent landscape sculpted by many overhanging rocks. The reef is highly populated with a fine selection of beautiful reef fish.
A variety of angelfish, emperor angelfish, blue-banded angelfish and yellow-faced angelfish as well as the duke fish are at home here. Pretty often, huge schools of jack fish invite the diver to join the club. This dive site is suitable for snorkeling.
The coral garden starts at a depth of 2-15m and is wonderfully grown, featuring stone- and soft coral alike. Besides numerous species of reef fish, the beautiful blue-yellow ribbon moray eel has found a home here. This dive site is also a superb snorkeling spot with none to moderate current.

Shark Point can be reached diving close to the wall. The residing sharks are commonly white-tip - and black-tip reef sharks that rest at a depth of 20 to 30m in a sandy area. When currents are present, occasionally gray reef sharks and hammerhead sharks can be seen circling around. This dive site is not suitable for snorkeling.

BATU KELEBIT

From Amed we travel by boat to the North and enjoy a beautiful view of Mt. Agung. After about one hour we reach Batu Kelebit, a rock off the lava coast not far from the Emerald Hotel. We start diving from Batu Kelebit and let us drift with the current along an amazing variety of soft corals, sea fans, coral bushes and sponges. There is a good chance to see reef sharks and bump head parrotfish. The deeper we dive the better the marine life. A depth of 40m and more is great fun for experienced divers.

The second dive starts right in front of Emerald Hotel, where we may have a look at the car wreck planted there in order to attract the growth of corals some years ago. Both dives are drift dives and are usually most enjoyable, as is the little sailing tour to Batu Kelebit and back.

SHARK POINT AT GILI TEPEKONG

Certified divers should visit the sharks point at the huge rock Gili Tepekong. At the open seaside of this rock, a slope drops to a depth of several hundred meters. The slope is covered with beautiful stone- and soft coral, which remain small but sturdy because of the permanently present current.
Because of the rock's exposed position facing the open sea it offers a fair chance for big fish encounters including gray-, white-and black tip reef sharks which sometimes can be observed while asleep in a cave. The rock side facing the beach slopes in 45 degrees to a depth of 60 m. Here you may find nurse sharks and black-banded sea snakes.

Your adrenaline level may quite well increase by being surrounded by 20 or more sharks of various sizes -but it is a fantastic adventure and a very memorable experience.

Both dives are drift dives with an attentive boat crew following the divers. Because of it's exposed position in the open sea and occasionally strong currents, Tepekong is an outstanding dive site for experienced divers only.

BLUE LAGOON

The Blue Lagoon is at Padang Bai, the harbor serving ferries traveling between Bali and Lombok. The blue lagoon is a perfect spot to start your diving trip in Bali, because the relaxed environment supports rusty divers to get used to diving again and train buoyancy and equipment checks. The lagoon is an excellent site for snorkeling, too.

Discover scuba diving, swimming and sunbathing only 5 boat minutes away from Padang Bai. The southern part of the reef drops vertically to 20 m and is covered by stone- and soft coral. The landscape is dominated by up to 4 m high growing soft coral where large spiny lobsters feel at home. Large schools of batfish are usually hanging around and accompany the divers.

On the northern side we have the option to dive an interesting slope that drops to 30m offering the sight of plenty 'fan' worms and feather stars, or we dive the sandy area while drifting between beautiful soft coral piles. At a short distance a large stag horn coral field stretches 8m of depth, providing a colorful home to oriental sweet lips, bassets and schools of glass fish. At the end the sandy area changes to a stone coral field. Due to an increased current at the outer reef border, white tip reef sharks are frequently observed hunting.

NUSA PENIDA & NUSA LEMBONGAN

Nusa Penida & Lembongan Ceningan are excellent dive sides due to their unharmed environment. Nusa Penida & Lembongan island are located more or less in between Bali and Lombok and are populated by a few inhabitants only. The major “industry” on these islands is based on the collection of sea grass (to be exported to Japan) and a growing tourism. Still there is hardly any pollution and this fact keeps the marine life in an exceptional condition. Therefore, this is a beautiful spot for divers but kind of expensive due to its location and the required boat trip. We make your trip to Penida & Lembongan island a most enjoyable tour on board of our 18m traditional sailing vessel CONDOR.

The reef characteristics are the same for both islands with the exception that Penida's reef drops steeper than the Lembongan reef

Monday, August 28, 2006

Indonesia expects 5.5 million tourists this year

Indonesia expects the number of tourists from those countries to reach more than two million, which is more than 38 percent of the projected 5.5 million visitors for the year, the director general of marketing of the ministry of tourism and culture, Thamrin B Bachri, said here.
He said the second largest number of foreign tourists was expected to come from Asia, followed by Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada.

He said the ministry predicted the number of foreign tourists to the country would continue to increase and had set a target of 6.6 million for next year.

He said the number was expected to continue to rise to 8.18 million in 2008 and above 10 million in 2009.

He said Bali`s Ngurah Rai airport had remained the entry gate for most of foreign tourists coming to the country this year recording 115,502 foreign tourist arrivals in June, followed by Jakarta`s Soekarno-Hatta airport recording 106,987 foreign tourist arrivals that month.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

SOUTH ASIA

INDONESIA MAP

KOMODO NATIONAL PARK

Although famous for its unique land-dwelling Komodo dragons, Komodo National Park features one of the world's most biologically diverse marine environments. Coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass beds provide habitat for more than 1,000 species of fish, dolphins, dugongs, and sea turtles.

Established as a national park in 1980 and declared a World Heritage Site, the park still faces threats such as overfishing, tourism growth, pollution, and destructive fishing practices.

What The Conservancy Is Doing
The Nature Conservancy worked with the Indonesia government and park authority to develop a 25 year management plan that engages local communities and stakeholders. We are implementing this long term plan by:
Strengthening enforcement and patrolling mechanisms to stop illegal and destructive fishing
Conducting community outreach and education programs
Developing safe alternative livelihoods
Establishing ecotourism as a means of sustainable income for local villagers
Collaborating with local communities to research and monitor changes in coral, fish, and other marine resources

BALI ROMANCE

Nowhere on Earth is there a place with more mystique and romance in the air than in Bali. With its bewitching natural beauty and exotic culture perfectly harmonized by luxuriant accommodations and incomparable hospitality, we bring you an exclusive setting for a private celebration immersed in the serenity of this gentle, spiritual land also known as Paradise.

This unforgettable holiday of romance features two of Bali’s most exquisite spots -- beginning with five nights in Jimbaran Bay, the island’s premier seaside resort of pristine, white sandy beaches overlooking the Indian Ocean, where you can indulge in a multitude of sun-and-sand activities, fascinating entertainment and fabulous culinary delights in a vibrant, yet charming atmosphere. Next, transcend your body and soul to an entirely new dimension as the tranquil and secluded hillside retreat of Ubud, nestled high up on the edge of the rich green Ayung River valley of captivating panoramas inhabited by friendly and remarkably artistic people, warmly invites you to the ultimate experience in relaxation.

Capture the romance in a blissful paradise where the world seemingly revolves around you. Feel the invigoration of uncommon adventures in exotic surroundings. Experience sheer indulgence at the world’s finest resorts. Whatever your wish for a perfect holiday enchantment, this program fulfills it spectacularly!

ADVENTURE INDONESIA

A country of incredible and diverse beauty, stretches 5,151 km between Asian and Australia continents and divides the Pacific and Indian Oceans at the equator, Indonesia is the largest archipelago and the fifth most populous country in the world with about 200 million inhabitants.

Of the country's 17,508 islands, only 6,000 are inhabited and 992 permanently settled including the five main islands: Sumatra (473,606 sq. km), Kalimantan or Borneo (539,460 sq. km), Sulawesi (189,216 sq. km), Irian Jaya (421,981 sq. km) and the most populated Java Island (132,187 sq. km).

Indonesia encompasses mind-stupefying extremes: the 4,884 meter high snow capped Carstensz Pyramid peak of Irian Jaya, the lush lowland and mountainous tropical rain forest with it's endemic wildlife such as the mystical Orangutans, Sumatran Tigers, the World's smallest monkeys Tarsius Spectrums, Javan Rhinos, Tree Kangaroos, the world's largest lizard the fearsome Komodo Dragons, birds etc. which more than the
entire continents of Africa, restless volcanoes, primitive forest tribes, exotic art & cultures, traditional music, historical sites, lakes, nature reserves, world class sea gardens and reefs and the smiling people make ndonesia the most complex single nation in the world and one of finest travel destinations on Earth.