GWK, Uluwatu and Kecak dance

One thing that struck us in Bali was how central Hindu temples and religious sites were to tourism. The majority of its population is Hindu and there are lots of temples dedicated to Hindu gods and goddesses. We visited some of the popular ones on our South Bali excursion. First was the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park (aka GWK), a cultural centre dedicated to Lord Vishnu and Garuda and showcasing their gigantic and majestic statues. Divya’s stomach was still struggling with the very spicy lunch but it got better by the time we left GWK. Next, we visited the Uluwatu cliff, with beautiful sunset views and light blue sea waves crashing at the bottom of the cliff. It also featured the Uluwatu Temple, a thousand-year-old temple which was coincidentally doing a major once-a-year holy ceremony when we visited. The highlight though was the Kecak dance performance, which happens every evening at a beautiful open amphitheatre on top of the cliff. It depicted important scenes from the Ramayana and involved the performers making “kecak” sounds while enacting the scenes and sometimes playing with actual fire. The whole thing was mesmerising. It ended up being one of our favourite experiences in Bali.Read more