Bali, the famed “Island of the Gods”, stakes a serious claim to be paradise on earth. Its diverse landscape of mountainous terrain, rugged coastlines and sandy beaches, lush rice terraces and barren volcanic hillsides provide a picturesque backdrop to its colourful, spiritual and unique culture.

Five rice terraces and their water temples have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name “Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the Subak System as a Manifestation of the Tri Hita Karana Philosophy”.

The word “paradise” is understandably used a lot in Bali. Friendly, hospitable people; a magnificently visual and spiritual culture; and spectacular beaches with great surfing and diving have made Bali the top tourist attraction in Indonesia.

Bali is one of more than 18,000 islands (based on a satellite view) in the Indonesian archipelago, and is just over 2 km (almost 1.5 miles) from the eastern tip of the island of *Java and west of the island of *Lombok.

The vast majority of international visitors to Indonesia go nowhere else but Bali.

 !  If you see a red flag planted in the sand, do not swim there, as they are a warning of dangerous rip currents. These currents can pull you out to sea with alarming speed and even the strongest swimmers cannot swim against them. The thing to do is to stay calm and swim sideways (along the shore) until out of the rip and only then head for the shore.

Warm waters, crowds of young backpackers, cheap living and reliable waves keep Bali near the top of world surfing destinations. The southern coast at *Kuta, *Legian and *Canggu, the *Bukit Peninsula and *Nusa Lembongan are the primary draws. Expert surfers usually head for the big breaks off the Bukit Peninsula, whilst beginners will find the gentler, sandy areas between Kuta and Legian to be ideal for learning. All Bali’s surf beaches are described in the Indo Surf and Lingo surfing guidebook.

⇒ Also сheck оut мore info: Getting to Indonesia / Getting Around (indonesia.travel)

BUS: There are direct bus services to Bali from all major cities on Java and Lombok that link with ferries for sea crossings. These are cheap and easy, but slow. Perama bus company is a good option for budget travelers. There are no Perama bus from Java, only from Mataram, Lombok. Kura-Kura Bus is a public shuttle service that operates from southern Bali to Ubud, but oriented towards tourists as it stops at hotels and places of interest.

AIRPORT: Most visitors to Indonesia arrive at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali or Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta.

FERRY: Indonesia is all islands and consequently boats have long been the most popular means of inter-island travel. Ferries may take you on long trips lasting days or weeks, or short jumps between islands for several hours. However, not all destinations are served daily.

The largest company is the state-owned PELNI, whose giant ferries visit practically every major inhabited island in Indonesia on lengthy journeys that can take a week from end to end. ASDP runs fast ferries (Kapal Ferry Cepat, rather amusingly abbreviated KFC) on a number of popular routes.

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⇒ video source: Allan Su / youtube.com /

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Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, and ranks as one of the great archeological sites of Southeast Asia.

It is one of the most important archaeological sites in the country and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, built during the 9th century.