Archive for June, 2008
Environment advocacy group Greenpeace and various stakeholders on Thursday converged at Boracay Island to launch an initiative to make the island - one of the country’s top tourist drawers - a “climate-friendly” destination.
The “Save the Climate, Save Boracay” project was launched in the island, as part of an ongoing Greenpeace initiative to enlist top island destinations in Southeast Asia to decrease their carbon footprint and promote awareness of climate change and solutions that could be implemented in the tourism industry.
“Boracay can become a model of a climate-friendly destination for many other tourist destinations in Asia and around the world. We are pleased that many resorts here are already implementing various energy saving measures which with a little more assistance and encouragement could be heavily replicated in all the establishments in Boracay,” Greenpeace Southeast Asia Executive Director Von Hernandez said in a statement.
Hernandez and other members of the organization sailed into the resort island onboard the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior.
“Climate change poses real and huge risks to the tourism industry and the people who depend on the viability of this sector for their livelihood,” he added.
“Save the Climate, Save Boracay” project is a partnership between Greenpeace, the municipality of Malay, Aklan (where Boracay belongs), Department of Tourism, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Boracay Foundation Inc., Boracay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Mother Earth Foundation.
“The project is based on a five-point manifesto signed by all stakeholders and which will require the inclusion of energy efficiency measures and promotion of renewable energy use as part of the environmental management plans for the island especially in the construction or expansion of establishments; the provision of regular energy audits, skillshares and workshops amongst establishments to ensure the continuation and replication of successful practices in the areas of energy and water conservation, as well as ecological waste management,” the Greenpeace statement said.
“The project will also endeavor to promote the island as a climate-friendly destination through the provision of energy efficiency workshops for tourists and visitors,” the statement added.
“It is not too late to act and turn the tide against climate change. Tourists and resorts in Boracay, with strong support from the government can help lead the way in addressing the gravest threat that we are all facing right now. It is our hope that other travel destinations will follow the positive examples set by Boracay and Bali,” Hernandez added.
In December 2007, Greenpeace and Bali Hotels Association also announced the “Energy Efficient Bali” project to turn the island into a climate friendly tourist destination. The largest hotels and resorts in Bali, one of Indonesia’s top tourist destinations, signed up to use energy efficient and renewable energy systems.
Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior is in the country to spearhead the “Quit Coal Tour” in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, which aims to promote solutions to climate change.
The ship’s first port of call in the country was Legazpi City, where the province was declared a coal-free zone. It then sailed to Pagbilao, Quezon, to protest the operation of a coal plant there, and then proceeded to Manila and Iloilo before sailing to Boracay.
Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/
June 20th, 2008
Grand Hyatt Bali, part of the Hyatt family, will mark the annual Hyatt event, “Celebrating Our People”, from June 12 to 14, 2008.
This Hyatt International programme is celebrated globally, devoting three consecutive days every year to recognising and acknowledging employees as the company’s most important asset. These three days reinforce Hyatt’s People Philosophy through various- based activities that involve all employees and their families.
Each Hyatt hotel pairs with a sister hotel to celebrate this event and Grand Hyatt Bali’s sister hotel is Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa, Hawaii. The highlight of the programme is a kids’ and orphanage activity, and the planting of 100 palm trees by our Green Team, in-line with Hyatt’s commitment to the environment, called Hyatt Earth.
Approximately 60 orphans will be invited to join the activities organised for the employees’ kids, which will be held in the Coconut Garden. Together with our staff members’ families, they will share some fun and bond with each other as Grand Hyatt Bali and its employees strive to have a positive impact on the lives of the children of Bali.
On June 13, 2008, Grand Hyatt Bali’s Green team will plant 100 palm trees in the East Village. These trees will be grown by the hotel and donated to the surrounding community once they mature.
This is part of Hyatt’s commitment to designing, building and managing innovative hotels that provide guests with authentic and comfortable accommodation that respects the natural environment and the local communities in which they operate around the world.
The three-day “Celebrating Our People” event at Grand Hyatt Bali will be filled with fun activities, including a fun walk, early bird breakfast, hula-hula performances by our Executive Committee and Department Head members, and a Pasar Malam Festival on
the Nusa Dua Peninsula. In addition, our Executive Committee and Department Head members will serve the lunch to the employees during their breaks.
This is an opportunity to take time out of the normal operation of Grand Hyatt Bali to celebrate our people, our community and our environment!
Source: http://www.etravelblackboard.com/
June 19th, 2008
Denpasar (ANTARA News) - Bali`s arts and cultural development is in need of support from various parties, especially district, provincial and central governments, a formulator of the Balinese Culture Congress I said.
The support is needed to develop arts and culture through holistic research on various cultural aspects which needs adequate amounts of funds, the chairman of the congress`s formulating team Prof Dr Wayan Dibia said here Tuesday.
He said the support was needed in an effort to make arts and culture factors attracting tourists to Bali.
The support should be followed by sustainable conservation of Bali`s arts and culture in an effort to soon materialize them (the province`s arts and culture) as a world cultural heritage, he said.
The effort should also be accompanied by collective and individual guidance on intellectual property rights including copy rights in an effort to protect the regional culture, he said.
Dibia who is a lecturer at the Indonesian Arts Institute in Denpasar said Bali`s arts and culture needed “diplommats” at national and internnational levels.
Another effort needed to develop the province`s arts and culture was the holding of the Balinese Culture Congress once in five years to prepare a strategy to develop and maintain the resort island`s arts and culture.
Bali has a local philosophy known as Tri Hita Karana meaning harmonious relations among human beings, between man and environment and God as a foundation of the province`s development programs, he said. (*)
COPYRIGHT © 2008
Source: ANTARA News
June 18th, 2008
A series of ceremonies will be held in Ubud, Bali, this coming month, culminating in a unique Royal Cremation (pelebon) procession and Celebration of Life, which will take place on July 15th, 2008. This Royal Cremation Ceremony promises to be an unforgettable event for spectators.
The Ubud Royal Family will hold this ceremony for the bodies of two prominent elders of the family:
- TJOKORDA GDE AGUNG SUYASA, who was head of the Ubud Royal Family and the leader of the traditional community in Ubud since 1976, and
- TJOKORDA GEDE RAKA, who was a senior office in the police force in Denpasar until his retirement in 1992
The effigy of GUNG NIANG RAKA, whose body was cremated in a smaller ceremony in December soon after she died, will also now be given a full cremation ceremony.
The cremation procession and associated ceremonies are important rituals in the Hindu rites of passage. The bodies of the deceased will be carried through the streets of Ubud by thousands of local people on top of a nine-tiered tower called ‘bade’. The procession will be accompanied by an elaborately decorated and venerated bull effigy (Lembu) and a mythical dragon-like creature (Naga Banda), with a five meter-long tail. The naga is reserved for only the elders of the Royal family and is thus seldom seen in cremation ceremonies.
Ngaben is the principle funeral rite in Bali’s Hindu society which aims to return the remains of the deceased to the elements from which all living things are created and to release the soul from all ties to this life.
Ngaben is comprised of many rituals, culminating in the burning of the corpse in an animal-shaped sarcophagus, as well as the burning of the cremation tower (bade) whose sole purpose is to transport the corpse from home to the cremation grounds.
The Ngaben is not a sad event, it can even be happy, it is a way to make the spirit of the dead happy, and to avoid disturbing him by crying. However it requires an enormous amount of time, energy, and money! All of the relatives and friends share the cost but often months, or even years, will be required to gather enough money and to make the mountains of offerings involved. One solution is for ordinary community members to join the funerals of wealthier individuals of high caste, or to organize ngaben massal (mass cremation) among the villagers, to reduce the costs.
In Ubud, such ‘mass’ cremations are held only every 3-5 years. On 15 July, 2oo8 three members of the Royal Family of Ubud will be cremated along with approximately 70 other deceased from the local community.
This ceremony is very much a public one and visitors are welcome but everyone is reminded to dress appropriately, with legs and arms covered, and to abide by any instructions and announcements.
*****
Background information for Ngaben: cremation ceremony in Bali
The Ngaben is the Hindu cremation ceremony necessary for the transition of the soul from its body recipient to heaven when the body is dead.
Introduction
In the Balinese Hindu tradition, the body is merely a microcosm recipient for the soul. When a person dies, the spirit (atman) remains around the body. The 5 elements that constitute the body (fire, air, water, earth and void/ether) have to return to the macrocosm and the soul released to find its way to heaven and God. This is the purpose of the ceremonies held during the Ngaben. The soul may go to hell (neraka) or heaven (surga). The pengabenan represents the long process of ceremonies held before and during the cremation.
Preparations before the cremation
The Balinese calendar always rules over when events may be held and a proper date is chosen by the pedanda (high priest). Waiting for the ceremonies to be performed, the body is sometimes kept lying in state in the deceased’s household, but in most cases the body is buried in the cemetery. Daily offerings are made and symbolic meals given to the corpse. Coffee and tea is also prepared, and comb, mirror and toothbrush are left nearby. The numerous offerings made of colorful fruits and vegetables keep evil spirits away from the body’s spirit, give pleasure to the deified ancestors, and please the gods, especially Siwa, the God of Death.
Dozens of women, for several days, are required to prepare the offerings. Men prepare notably the cremation tower (bade or wadah). The tower represents the Balinese universe. First the lower world (Bhur) with the world turtle (Badawang Nala) at its base and the two dragon-snakes around it. Above is the world of man (Bwah) and at the top is heaven (Swah) built of little roofs like the tiers on the temple’s towers (meru).
The cremation
In the day of the cremation, the body is placed between heaven and earth in the tower. A Bhoma (fierce-looking mask) is placed behind the tower to scare evil spirits away. A mass of men carry the tower and the long procession begins. The tower is turned around and around (3x) in all directions to disorient the spirit of the dead so that it can’t find its way back home to haunt the family.
The procession proceeds towards the local pura dalem, temple dedicated to Siwa and the dead. It is accompanied, like with all Balinese ceremonies, by a balanganjur, traditional gamelans, that will offer this repetitive music all along the way and during the ceremonies. The body is placed in a sarcophagus in the shape of animal.
Offerings and holy water are poured on top of it. Then begins the cremation itself, burning the body (and also the tower in a different place). Nowadays, help is given from fuel or gas to sustain a good fire. By the end, the pedanda rings his bell and chants mantras to aid in the soul’s release and to help it reach heaven.
After cremation
Later on, the ashes, impurities of the body, are drawn to the sea. The final series of ceremonies or Nyekah are held to return the soul to heaven, a few days after the cremation day, and pacify the soul at the family temples.
New offerings are given to thank God and the family visits all the participants to thank them as well. As a note, it is also believed that the now released soul, after a time in heaven where it might reach oneness with God (moksa), will return and reincarnate (samsara) in a different life.
Source: http://my-indonesia.info/
June 17th, 2008
Loads of exciting programs such as Trade Exhibition for three days, Seminars: International Designers Discussions & Gatherings, Evening Shows, FashiON the Street Carnival along the Kuta Beach, Bali, Fashion Photography Competitions based on Catwalk, and Non-Catwalk Categories Carnival Photography Competition!
The Bali Fashion Week starts from the 24-28 August 2008, at Discovery Kartika Plaza Hotel Kuta, Bali, Indonesia.
We have 45 media to cover the event from Indonesia. Also coverage from foreign Media; showing Media favorite place is unshakeable! The Global Tourism Award has again appointed Bali to be the best Island to visit!
THE ISLAND OF PEACE
SHANTIKSHANTIKSHANTIK
Promise to be loads of Fun and Beauty! Sign up as a buyer, visitor or/and participants.
Click: www.balifashionweek.com
See you there!
Tel: +(852) 2724-1818
Fax: +(852) 2739-5597
Email: philissa@ikabutoni.com
Website: www.balifashionweek.com
Contact Person: Philissa Milne and John Keilman
Source: http://www.cosmoworlds.com/
June 16th, 2008
Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono officially inaugurated seven public works projects at a ceremony in Suwung, Denpasar, on Saturday.
The projects include beach protection systems in Nusa Dua, Sanur and Padanggaalak, a sustainable irrigation system in Buleleng and Karangasem regencies, renovation of a decentralized irrigation system in Buleleng, Karangasem and Jembrana, the Denpasar Sewerage Development Project (DSDP), a garbage sorting facility in Tukad Badung and Tukad Mati and the Lila Bhuana Sports Arena.
The projects were financed by the Indonesian and Japanese governments, along with the Bali provincial administration, at a cost of Rp 937 billion (US$100 million).
“We need to develop more infrastructure facilities throughout the country, including Bali, because the more facilities we have, the better our economic competitiveness,” Yudhoyono said at the ceremony.
In attendance were the First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto, Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono, Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal, State Minister for Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Suryadharma Ali, Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Kojiro Shiojiri and Bali Governor Dewa Beratha.
Yudhoyono said good infrastructure was important for a world-class tourism destination such as Bali because it would raise its international profile and help attract more overseas visitors.
“We will continue our efforts to develop more facilities throughout the country, commensurate with economic growth and the state’s ability to finance such projects,” he said.
He said the development of a beach protection system on Bali’s beaches would give added value to the island, famous for its “five S’s” of sea, sand, surfing, sun and smiles.
Yudhoyono said Bali also needed an adequate sewer system to help maintain the island’s reputation as “a place with a beautiful nature and a clean and healthy environment”.
Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said Indonesia was still burdened with a poor sanitation system.
“Most people use septic tanks to store waste, but unfortunately this can cause environmental damage because the waste is absorbed into the ground. And because the population density is constantly increasing, the accumulated waste will affect the groundwater and therefore pose health risks,” he said.
He added a new waste-handling system was needed, and this was “why we built this piped liquid waste system here in Denpasar”.
Djoko said the development of the DSDP was based on studies conducted between 1991 and 1992, which revealed high levels of pollution in Benoa Bay.
“Work on the DSDP began on Dec. 15, 1994, and ended this year. But this is only the first of three phases we have planned,” he said.
He added the second phase would commence next year and would be completed in 2014.
Djoko said the first phase of the project — the development of a wastewater treatment center in Suwung and the laying of 129 kilometers of pipes in Denpasar and Badung — cost almost Rp 600 billion.
“This facility will serve up to 250,000 people in both regencies,” Djoko said.
Source: The Jakarta Post
June 16th, 2008
By JASON TEDJASUKMANA
Every visitor to Bali faces that all-important question: where to enjoy sundowners? There are many possible answers, but Sunset On Six (or simply S.O.S.) is the one you’ll currently hear from the party crowd.
With a panoramic 270-degree view swooping from Gilimanuk in the west to Bingin Beach to the south, anchored by a stunning sunset smack in the middle, the 7,000-sq.-ft. (650 sq m) lounge on top of the Anantara Hotel, bali.anantara.com, is “more Miami Beach than Bali,” says regular Agatha Simanjuntak. And some of the biggest DJs in the business have been manning the decks. “Roofs have a great vibe because you have the stars,” says José Padilla of Café Del Mar fame, the DJ on the lounge’s opening night. “When you have stars, people like to lose themselves.”
They can speed up that process with something from S.O.S.’s vintage rum collection, or a selection from more than 500 labels in the wine cellar. Most guests are happy to enjoy these while reclining on daybeds, but there is a dance floor just in case the fancy strikes.
The Anantara meanwhile offers 59 contemporary suites and two restaurants — the all-day Paon and Wild Orchid, which opens for dinner and serves upscale Thai fare. Incidentally, the hotel stands just below the level of the area’s tallest palm tree, respecting a local stipulation that nothing can be built beyond it. On a Saturday night at S.O.S., with the cocktails flowing, that’s close enough to the stars for most.
Source: http://www.time.com/
June 13th, 2008
A sensuous feast awaits on this indonesian legend
Head away from the tourist-filled beaches in southern Bali and discover a quieter, more secluded place. Better still, see a staggering variety of diving.
By Chris Mitchell
Head away from the tourist-filled beaches in southern Bali and discover a quieter, more secluded place. Better still, see a staggering variety of diving. In two weeks, it’s possible to drive in a rough triangle across the island and find adrenalin-fueled encounters with the elusive mola mola sunfish and manta rays at Nusa Lembongan, tranquil wreck and reef diving at Tulamben, and amazing corals gracing the plunging walls at Pemuteran’s Nusa Menjangan.
All the while, journey through Bali’s culture and experience the islanders’ legendary hospitality.
Lembongan: Here there be giants
Tim is waving his fist at me. Not in anger, but excitement — with his thumb and little finger extended. The manager of PADI Dive Center Bali Diving Academy Lembongan is signaling that he’s finally spotted what we’ve been searching for the past three days — the enigmatic giant ocean sunfish.
Dropping down to 110 feet, I peer into the blue and make out what Tim has spotted. The sunfish’s skin, a mottled gray, aptly camouflages it with its open-ocean environment, and it looks more like an alien visitor’s spacecraft — or maybe just the alien visitor itself — than a cousin of the reef fish we’ve seen over the past few days. Its body is a very solid-looking vertical disc, its fins sticking out at right angles, like the booms of a starship.
And it’s big, both longer than I am and taller — a fish so large it makes goliath groupers and Napoleon wrasses look puny. Yet, despite its great size, the mola mola appears positively docile as it looks me over with large, cowlike eyes. As a squadron of bannerfish crowds in to clean this gigantic vagrant, I find myself wondering what a mola mola eats to maintain its size.
We keep very still and close in on the reef, marveling as the mola mola comes up level with us, seemingly unfazed by our presence. It hangs just a few feet away from us while the bannerfish go to work. A glance down and suddenly we see two more sunfish swimming in closer, keen to get clean as well. For a few more minutes we stay with these rarely seen creatures and then, mindful of our dive computers and air, start slowly heading to shallower waters.
Finding a mola mola today — our final day on Nusa Lembongan — makes the victory all the sweeter. Lembongan, a half-hour speedboat ride off Bali’s southeast coast, is a small neighbor of Nusa Penida. Lembongan and the island sliver of Nusa Ceningan form two conduits through which the cold water and currents of the Indian Ocean channel directly. That’s the key to dependably sighting mola molas, which rise from the abyssal depths for cleaning during April through October. This is one of the few places in the world where divers can encounter them.
Surfers first discovered Lembongan, and they still ride the island’s many challenging breaks today. Although seaweed farming remains the mainstay of this steep-hilled island’s economy, tourism — like the upmarket accommodation clustered around the perfect sliver of sand that is Mushroom Bay — is close behind. Our cozy room at Hai Tide Huts is built in the traditional Lombok style, with a high-arching thatched roof over a wooden bedroom resting on stilts 6 feet off the ground. Going diving couldn’t be easier — it’s a few steps from the room to the beach, where the dive boat picks us up each morning.
On our arrival at the island three days before, Tim is quietly confident that we will see molas within our allotted days. But he’s also eager to show us that with or without molas, Lembongan provides dramatic undersea adventure. The ocean currents that bring the sunfish also shape Lembongan’s epic-size reefs, and the cold, clear 120-foot visibility makes it easy to take it all in. I’m a little intoxicated by the sheer sense of space around me on our first dive, the pure blue of the water as it holds the sunlight from above and the craggy, current-blasted coral that tenaciously thrives in this aquatic landscape. Almost every dive is a drift dive, an exhilarating whirl of color, coral and critters where we speed along the reef as if it were a sideshow panorama unrolling next to us.
Manta Point is Lembongan’s other star attraction, a half-hour speedboat ride along the stunning, sun-scorched cliffs of Nusa Penida. It’s not difficult to see why the Balinese call Nusa Penida “The Demon Island” — blasted by the sea over centuries, Nusa Penida’s vertical drops contain numerous caves and a giant stone archway looming just off the island’s shore.
Within moments of descent, a young manta comes swooping directly toward me, winging in swiftly and smoothly over the gnarled coral, which bottoms out around 30 feet. It passes within a few feet of me, jet-black wings effortlessly powering it on beyond our group of divers and back out into the blue. Still slightly awed that it had been so easy, I wonder if that was to be our first and last manta sighting. For a while it seems so, as we moved along the ocean-battered reef, constantly searching the blue. Then the group behind us gives us the heads-up — with the clang of metal on metal. I have time to look behind me and see not one but three mantas gliding past together in single-line formation, passing between our two dive groups in an impossibly graceful train, almost wholly synchronized in their movements.
Images of mantas and mola molas play through my mind on the journey back to the mainland. What can top encounters with giants? The next stop on our Bali dive safari beckons, and as Lembongan disappears behind us, we’re already thinking about what lies ahead.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24712827/
June 13th, 2008
Bali’s Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa officially celebrated its 25th anniversary on Wednesday, May 28, 2008, with a gala reception crowned by a firework display.
The first international hotel within Nusa Dua’s Bali’s Tourist Development Corporation (BTDC) complex, the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa’s unique Balinese architecture has played host to numerous heads of states, including an official visit by the late U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
As the result of the successful launch of the hotel, the Nusa Dua Complex is now a fully developed accommodation, shopping and entertainment center that is host to leading hotels offering more than 4,500 rooms.
The beach in front of the 381-room hotel was the venue for a 25th anniversary beach party with separate food stalls offering cuisine selections from around the world.
A highlight of the evening was the presentation of long-service awards to more than 100 staff who have worked at the Resort since its opening 25 years ago.
Source: www.balidiscovery.com
June 12th, 2008
By Neil Dowling
THINK Bali, think cheap holidays? Not exactly. World-class resorts have made quiet inroads into Bali and are on the expansion trail.
Rarely promoted yet tantalising in its exclusivity, the resort of Amankila – one of three of the prestigious Aman sites on Bali – is arguably the island’s finest.
And with room rates to match: from $800 a night, even off-peak.
This is a side of Bali most visitors don’t expect and, because of its cost, may never experience.
To reach Amankila we took a chauffeur-driven Mercedes-Benz limousine ride from Denpasar Airport. An hour later we were in a luxurious cliffside villa overlooking the Lombok Strait.
It’s a different type of Bali, more international in its flavour and with the accent on cosseting the guest. This often means the walls of the Amankila resort are only breached upon arrival and departure.
Don’t expect cheap restaurants and lean-to clothes shops gathered around the front doors, and there is no need to prepare to fend off hawkers who insist you are Mel Gibson’s twin brother and your wife is Elle Macpherson, and that coincidence guarantees you’ll get the best deal.
Amankila, near the village of Manggis and close to the port of Padangbai, was never lost – it’s been there for 16 years – but was nevertheless “found” by my wife, who scoured southeast Asian websites for a luxury break with which to celebrate our wedding anniversary.
Talk about finding a plum.
Amankila is secure and exclusive, on a hillside backing Mount Agung and overlooking the ocean to Lombok and Nusa Penida.
It consists of 26 walled villas, many – like ours – with a pool and views of the ocean. Service is 24 hours, dining is extraordinarily diverse and immensely satisfying, the facilities are among the world’s best and yet it’s all delivered with genuine Balinese friendliness.
Sadly, such amity is evaporating from the more popular centres of Kuta and Legion.
Despite its serenity, this part of east Bali has a tumultuous past. First, the district of Karangasem was conquered by the Dutch in 1850 and, second, in 1963 the volcano Mount Agung savagely and fatally blew its top.
But from our private villa, high on the hill surrounded by palm trees and invisible to the neighbouring chalets, it was a serene vista over the sea to the islands and the leisurely sight of the occasional ship.
The villas are arranged and fitted out according to your needs and wallet.
Ours came with a 15m swimming pool, courtyard sprinkled with umbrellas and decked with a day bed for curling up with a drink and a book, and a thatch-roofed house that could sleep up to four.
It had a vast twin bathroom, shower area that opened to the courtyard, iPod sound and airconditioning.
Security guards slowly paced the extensive walkways – which, being tiered, up the hillside also served as an exercise track – as gardeners cultivated beautiful plants that thrived in the humidity and kitchen staff, piled high with bamboo and raffia baskets, delivered meals to walled villas.
Suites, such as ours, rate from $1225 a night plus service charges and government tax. You then add on for additional guests – in my case, two daughters – and ancillaries such as most food, all drinks and entertainment.
The bill can be a shocker but there are benefits. The charge includes an a la carte breakfast which allows selection from dozens of items ranging from Japanese to English to Indonesian to healthier options.
Entry to Amankila gives you access to a string of activities. With the right deal you can have one free activity a day, including mountain biking, sailing, scuba diving or spa treatments.
Amankila’s Beach Club is at the foot of the hill on which the resort stands. Beachside lounges fringe a stunning 41m swimming pool set beneath coconut palms and a huge frangipani. Swimming in the pool, often deserted by guests in favour of the three tiered pools close to the bar above, was one of my most relaxing moments.
Staff will organise water sports – boogie board, kayak, windsurfer or the Hobie cat – and there’s even a lifeguard on duty.
There’s also the option of cruising farther from shore in two substantial boats – one is 15m long with a sun deck and is available for morning and afternoon sojourns, and the other is an 11m vessel which can be chartered for cruises across the bay.
The Sunday Telegraph
Source: http://www.news.com.au/
June 11th, 2008
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