The most Strange Beautiful places to visit on the island of Bali

More info about Bali:

Bali Travel Info

Photo by Ekarini

Discover Bali’s strangely beautiful places on Earth.  Bali is a mystical place to visit.  I will share some unique places that you, you will unlikely to see anywhere else in this world.   Some places to pronounce bizarre, others eerie and mysterious- spread out across Bali, from the Bali big island  to the small islands of Lembongan and Nusa Penida.  These places are not well-known to tourists, But they are familiar to some locals.   If you would like to experience something unusual and out of your comfort zone, you should come and visit these strange beautiful places.

1.      Desa Bali Aga Trunyan Necropolis Kintamani 

The mountain village of Trunyan can be found at the foot of Mt. Abang, at a remote and isolated location on the eastern shore of Lake Batur. The Trunyanese are often referred to as Bali Aga (mountain Balinese), which refers to a conservative, pre-Hindu way of life with ancient, neolithic customs and a very definite avoidance of outside influences. Instead of the term “Bali Aga, the term Bali Mula (‘original Balinese’) is often used instead. In this respect it should be noted that the Bali Aga are in no sense ‘original’. Therefore the term ‘Mountain Balinese’ is, from a historical perspective, more correct. The Bali Aga namely have always occupied their ancestral villages from choice and performed their traditional crafts and trades appropriate to the nature of the land. According to copper plate inscriptions found in one of the shrines in the main temple of Trunyan, the temple must be dated back to at least the 10th century AD (833 Çaka). The village itself, however, is believed to be much older than the temple. 

Contrary to elsewhere in Hindu Bali the Trunyanese do not cremate their dead. Instead, after a ritual cleansing with rainwater, the body of the deceased is placed in a bamboo cage under the taru menyan tree ( special fragrant tree) is known to only grow here. Until the forces of nature, in particular the wind, has dissolved the body tissues until only the skeleton remains. Then the skull is placed on a stairs-shaped stone altar which is located some 500 meters north of the Banjar Kuban, a special place which can only be reached by boat.  It is mesmerizing to many is no odor from the decomposing bodies are present, which the locals believe is neutralized by the tree’s myrrh-like fragrance.   Skulls and bones on moss-covered stairs are quite the scene here, definitely not for the nervous type.

Location: Trunyan Village Kintamani

2.      The 'Bat Cave' Temple of Goa Lawah Klungkung

The Goa Lawah temple is one of the six most important temples in Bali.  The Goa  (cave) and Lawah (bats). So you can say that this is a temple with the form of a cave where you can see thousand of bats inside the cave.  It is said that this temple was built to honor the sea gods and beside the bats, it is also said that 2 giant snakes live in the cave that considered as the guardian of the cave. The snakes are a couple, where one of the giant snake is a male and another one is a smaller  female.   I was  lucky to meet one of the snakes when I spent my night meditation with the priest, during full moon ceremony.  

Location: In the Pesinggahan Village, Dawan district, Klungkung Regency, Bali, which is about 10 km to the east of Klungkung city or around 50 km from Denpasar city. 

3.       The 'Ghost Town' of Taman Festival Bali Sanur 

I remember when I was high school this place was I hung out with my friends.  A beautiful water park.  Located at North in Sanur, now a spooky ‘ghost town’ on Padanggalak Beach, a remote coast far away from the main Sanur tourist area. It is the vast ruins of the derelict theme park Taman Festival, Bali, which closed down shortly after its establishment in 1997.   Because of no plans are underway for its resurrection, so we believe it will still be around for a while. The deserted main entrance gates, ticket booths, empty cafeterias and deteriorated main buildings with partly collapsed roofs all give it a creepy sensation even in broad daylight. Dense foliage and creeper vines have grown over broken windows, and ornamental stone figures loom over in the open spaces, making it a great spooky site. The locals believe long-abandoned sites like this are ‘borrowed’ by lost spirits. Recently, I visited this site on the way to Ubud, and the ambience give me goosebumps.  If you like horror movies, you will enjoy this place.

Location: Jalan Padanggalak, Padanggalak Beach, Sanur

4.      The Balinese “Deaf Village” Bengkala, Singaraja

In the remote Balinese village of Bengkala Singaraja every one of the 3,000-odd residents can fluently communicate in kata kolok, a century-old sign language, and people with speech and hearing deficiencies are always treated with respect.

That so many people would bother to learn sign language might seem strange, but there’s a good reason behind the unique tradition – the number of hearing and speech impaired in Bengkala is about 15 times higher than the world average and it’s believed to have been even higher in the past. So it’s only natural that, in time, body language took precedence over the words, and villagers developed their own unique sign language which has been passed on for centuries.  The high incidence of deafness is apparently caused by the geographically-centric recessive gene DFNB3, present in the village for over seven generations. 

5.      The Underground House (Goa Gala-Gala) Nusa Lembongan

The Underground House or Goa Gala-Gala in Nusa Lembongan was built by Mangku Vyasa.  He is a farmer, dancer and Mangku Dalang (puppet shadow performer). Due to his profession as a Dalang, he was inspired by one of Mahabharata episodes, “Wana Parwa”; the twelve years in exile in the forest. In the story Pandawas decided to build a cave, Gala-gala, to protect his family from Korawas who wanted to find and kill all of Pandawas’s family.

The top of Goa Gala-Gala looks like the house in general, in the yard is overgrown trees. However, in some corner of a hole as deep as 3 meters, as access to the entrance to the Gala-Gala. Once down the stairs, which looks first are the pillars of the land and the hall in different directions. The House Gala-gala is complete because he had a sleeping room, dining room, living room, to the kitchen.  The Cave’s ceiling is just as high as 1.5 meters make oxygen is thinner than on the surface. 

Location: Desa Lembongan, Kecamatan Nusa Penida, Kabupaten Klungkung, Bali.

6.      The Goa Gong temple Jimbaran (The Stalactite Cave Temple )

The Goa Gong temple is a unique cave temple hidden away not so far from Kuta beach, the Jimbaran resort area.  Up the hill from the Kedonganan, the namesake Jalan Goa Gong leads you through the small Batu Ngongkong community and a sharp left turn puts you face to face with a pair of big cat statues.  The Erie statues under a banyan and tamarind tree guard a flight of stairs to the cave opening. The temple’s keeper and  priest Mangku Gurun Simpen is normally you see on the site.   Inside, a large, dim-lit cavity reveals dedicated stone shrines with soothing sounds of dripping water from the rocky cave stalactites. A  huge stalactite hangs behind the shrines, which is in fact a functioning stone gong. It is struck during rituals, particularly during the temple festival ceremony.

The existence of the site is quite old and described as "Pura Bukit Gong" in the ancient manuscript of Dwijendra Tatwa.

The community said, when Dang Hyang Nirartha (the holy priest from East Java) arrived in the area of Uluwatu, he first meditated and invoked the guidance to build the shrine Uluwatu near  Jimbaran.  It is one of the important temples in Bali.

7.      The Goa Peteng (The 'Dark Cave) of Jimbaran

This cave is not far away from the Goa Gong.   It is the opposite entrance to Pura Goa Gong, with the entrance (on the right and left side) guard by two dragon statues. 

Actually, the soft and delicate sound of the Gong comes  from the big rock that blown by the wind gusts and the reflection in the cave. This place is full of mystique vibes, spiritual  energy, healing energy,  and this place recommended to those who seeking   spiritual development or healing for body, mind and spirit.

At  this location appeared holy water source (where the priest starts the meditation). Furthermore, this water source is used as Tirta. The holy water is also believed to have the positive and powerful energy to cure diseases.

8.      The Goa Giri Putri Nusa Penida

This cave is one of my favorite places for my group meditation. 

The Giri Putri cave is located near the Karangsari village.  Before arriving at the mouth of the cave, we need to climb up about 100 stairs.   The entrance of the cave is so narrow that must kneel to enter. Inside, we are surprised by its volume. It is very dark inside, but a big opening space and temple in the cave.  It’s beautiful inside and close to the exit, you will discover a Hindu temple, a Buddhist temple, and Confucian followers, evidenced by the presence of a statue of Dewi Kwan Im here.