Nusa Penida is one of the 130 Indonesian islands that is part of the coral triangle. Because of the amount of coral that exists it has the largest biodiversity of fish and turtles in the world. The island is right across the sea from where our first resort was. Service in this country is amazing. You tell them where you want to go and they arrange everything. After the ferry ride we were on the island and another person was waiting for us.
I have not really studied Hindu religion which is the predominant religion here. I noticed prayer and the carrying of Canang sari to be placed at various places at altars in every home or business as well as on the street in front of entrances. At the Kaylas hill resort I stayed at, they put one outside every villa room.
Canang sari is an offering that is made every day to Ida Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa who was the creator of humans. This is a way of showing gratitude for having been given life, safety, prosperity, and happiness. The gratitude is symbolized by presenting a canang sari in the form of a flower placed in Coconut leaves that have been shaped into a square, triangle or round shape. Often there are amounts of rice or fruits in the offering and incense is burned see the offering is made. In Kawi or old Javanese, Canang comes from the word “Can” which means beautiful, while “Nang” means purpose or intent, and Sari means core or source. Canang Sari means to invoke Widya’s strength in the presence of Sang Hyang Widhi and His Prabhawa (manifestation) both on a world realm and subtle spirit realm.
The resort is at the top of one of the hills on the island. Still quiet and peaceful with a great view.
We walked down the hill to try different foods.
Some sights I captured on this part of the island:
One of the things to do on the island is to snorkel or dive. We snorkeled one morning and it was beautiful. A video can be found here: https://youtu.be/AQAs2tjPLsc
We also toured the island. First stop is the temple in a cave.
Men outside were sewing fishing nets.
Next stop was Diamond beach and Atuh beach. Both required climbing down narrow and steep steps to get down the cliff. In sections you had to use rope to guide you down or to help pull yourself up. It was worth it to go into the water. So blue but the waves were also intense here so did not go out very far.
Diamond beach
Atuh beach
As it was raining we decided not to try to go down this cliff and instead talked with others at a rest area. A little monkey came down to grab dinner of the leftover coconut.
The treehouses are on Thousand Islands viewpoint and can actually be rented as an accommodation. It is a beautiful view.
The last stop was the teletubbies. I know what they look like though my kids were too old for that program at the time. The area is just rolling hills and I could not really see the teletubbies in the view.
One of the men at the resort asked where we were from. He had to think for a moment about Pennsylvania and he knew it because of the movies Rocky and Batman. I explained that Batman was filmed in Pittsburgh and it is not an actual Gotham.
Our next stop is Ubud which is more touristy but will let us see more temples, rice terraces, and artisan crafts.