Sacred Bali Tours - Nirarta Centre for Living Awareness

Sacred Bali Tours

Batu Belah beach, north-east Bali – sea-salt production and fishing

Touch the Spiritual Heart of Bali

From the haven of Nirarta, delve into the best of East Bali
Connect with the heartbeat of Balinese culture in a way visitors rarely do
Discover the spiritual powerhouses of Bali, where Nature, Man, and the Divine converge in beauty
Make your stay one that touches your heart and soul as well as your eyes
Benefit from the company, insights, and experience of our English speaking guides
Travel in our well-maintained, air-conditioned cars for your safety and comfort

Price:	From € 8 to € 83 per person
Duration:	Mostly full day
Your Guide :	click for bio Peter Wrycza, PhD Peter is founder of the Nirarta Centre for Living Awareness.. He has served as a trainer, consultant, and coach to organizations and individuals in many countries over the past forty years. He is skilled at leading groups as well as one-to-one coaching and counselling. He has been a meditation guide for almost 50 years and has trained extensively in NLP, Person Centred Expressive Therapy, and other forms of expressive work. He has been leading retreats at Nirarta since its inception in the 1990s. He is the author/co-author of a number of books on personal development, including Living Awareness: Awakening to the Roots of Learning and Perception, Moksha: A New Way of Life, (with Prof. Luh Ketut Suryani) Living in the Spirit (with Prof. Luh Ketut Suryani) When Performance Meets Alignment: A Compass for Coaching and Mentoring (with Jan Ardui) A gifted facilitator of deep transformation and awakening in individuals and groups, he is the developer of Conversations on the Edge of Silence for supporting growth and development in individuals, couples, groups, and communities through Generative Dialogue, as well as the in-depth holistic Re•Patterning process. For more about Peter, see A Word from the Founder of Nirarta Peter, Your Retreat Guide Peter has led many individual and group retreats since the founding of Nirarta over 20 years ago. He has been a meditation guide for almost 50 years and trained extensively in NLP, Person Centred Expressive Therapy, and other forms of transformational work. He has been absorbing the essence of Balinese philosophy and tradition for 25 years, drawing inspritation from its exquisite beauty and deep wisdom in supporting a balanced and whole way of life – in body, mind, and spirit. For many years, he has worked as a trainer, consultant, coach and mentor to organizations and individuals internationally. A gifted facilitator of deep transformation and awakening in individuals and groups, he is the developer of Conversations on the Edge of Silence for supporting growth and development in individuals, couples, groups, and communities through Generative Dialogue, as well as the in-depth holistic Re•Patterning process. For more about Peter, see A Word from the Founder of Nirarta Widé, Your massage therapist Gede Oka, known as Widé, has provided massage at Nirarta for a number of years. Widé is an accomplished healer, serving the Balinese for a range of problems, including difficulty in conceiving, with patients coming from as far afield as Denpasar. Widé provides two main services: Deep body massage, which has toning and healing qualities, and is highly recommended by people who know massage as among the best they have received. Reflexology for diagnosis and treatment of particular health problems. Widé tends to be very accurate and skilled in making a shift in health issues. Widé speaks good English. Dayu Mayuni Ida Ayu Putri Mayuni (Dayu Mayuni) is responsible for day-to-day operations and maintaining the spiritual energy and balance at Nirarta in the traditional way. Dayu is from a Brahmin family, with roots in Sidemen. She is Peter's wife and mother of Maya and Mira. Dayu Mayuni is assisted by Gusti Adi Putra, and other members of Nirarta staff. Dayu speaks good English. For more about Dayu, see here. Mangku Mastra Mangku Mastra is a healer, meditation and yoga teacher, and 'permangku' or temple priest/custodian from Tabola Village, close to Nirarta. After a period of searching and study of sources from both Bali and India, he received the elements of the current practices. He is the permangku or temple priest from our local Pura Dalem temple. He is married, with three children. Professor Dr. L.K. Suryani Professor Luh Ketut Suryani is a Balinese psychiatrist, meditation teacher, healer, university professor, social activist and mother of six. She is the co-author of a number of books, including The Balinese People, a critique of Bateson and Mead's perspective from the 1930s. She is also the co-author of Trance and Possession in Bali and two other books with Peter, Moksha and Living in the Spirit. Suryani is dedicated to helping people draw on the extra dimension of spirit in everyday life. Her own full life – including active participation in Balinese public life and a number of social initiatives for the elderly, students, drug abusers, and the prevention and treatment of pedophilia – is an example of what is possible when we draw on the extra reserves of the transpersonal in our lives. Her unique personality and perspective are deeply appreciated by groups she works with and have also been a pillar of strength for Nirarta since its inception. David and Carla Osgood Carla and David Osgood are practising clinical psychologists and teachers from Vermont, USA. They bring groups regularly to Bali to deepen their therapeutic and professional training with personal development and cross-cultural experience. From their experience in Bali, David and Carla have developed a highly sensitive approach to cross-cultural communication, which enriches both the groups they bring and the people whose lives they connect with during their programmes. Their work bridging consciousness, culture, and community is profoundly healing and transformative for individuals and groups they lead. It is an inspiration for what we aim to achieve with individuals and groups coming to Nirarta. David and Carla's programmes link the University of Vermont with Nirarta and other communities in Bali, as well as with communities in Belize and Samoa. Serena Olsen Serena, originally from New York, has been living in South East Asia since 2011. Highly intuitive since birth, Serena has always found solace and connectivity in nature. After attending university in New York City, arriving to the complexities of this urban matrix only two weeks prior to 9/11 and staying for 6 years, Serena was ready to re-immerse in forest living where she could begin to deconstruct much of the social matrices and underlying dissipative structures she found herself in observation of while living in NYC. This brought her to the San Bernardino National Forest where she facilitated experiential science-based ecology and environmental classes for thousands of children all across Southern California. Then, in June 2011, while participating in a Wilderness First Responder course in the mountains of Massachusetts, Serena was struck by lightning. While already having had a strong relationship with electricity before this event, this strange synchronistic moment catalyzed an intense ripple effect of varying phenomena that eventually led Serena to living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – a city with some of the most grounded lightning strikes on the planet. Exactly one year after the lightning strike, Serena experienced her first inner dance – which in it held electric vibrations three or four times stronger than the lightning strike itself. Transformation and hypersensitivity was nothing new for Serena, therefore leading her to deeply trust what her experience spoke and how it would continue to change her life in relation to the greater dreams of a planet and the visions she herself knew as real. Now, Serena combines her love of learning, healing, community, science, and integrative wholeness systems into all she is. Finding flow within the forms and the formless, life is no longer a doing but a remembrance of being while creating spaces for gifting each other with possibilities for resonant change and transformation.

Inclusions:	Tour Guide. Lunch or breakfast with most tours
Exclusions:	Accommodation, airport transfers, meals not included in Tour. Credit card charges, bank transfer fees, govt taxes and fees.
Booking:	Check the tour details in the tabs below. Click on the "Book here" button

Bali Interior

Full-Day Sacred Tours : The Interior

Besakih, Kintamani, and Batur Sacred Bali Tour

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PRICE PER PERSON:
1 person: € 67
2 people: € 37
3 people: € 27
4 people: € 22
5 people: € 19

Duration: Full day from 9.00am

Meals: Lunch

After a short 45-minute drive from Nirarta, into the wooded hills close to Mount Agung, we reach Besakih, the enormous mother temple complex at the centre of Balinese spiritual life.

We pause for prayer and reflection in the main Penateran Temple honouring the three fundamental energies of life, at the peaceful and mysterious ‘Dark Temple’, and, time permitting, and at the King Cave Grotto with its natural stone arch.

From Besakih a short half-hour drive brings us to Kintamani, with some magnificent views of the crater lake below. We will enjoy an excellent buffet lunch on the rim of the caldera crater, overlooking the lake and volcano.

After lunch, we visit Batur Temple, honouring the aspect of the Divine connected to Water and the conserver of life, Wishnu, home also to a charming and powerful Chinese Buddhist shrine.

After Batur, we visit, the once forbidden sacred temple of Puncak Penulisan, long ago, as its name suggests, connected with writing. The temple, set high above a long flight of stairs, is a place where besides enjoying the peace and silence of the temple you can set your intention. You will see a collection of old Siva lingams and statues of Ganesha, before returning to Nirarta.

Tampaksiring:
A Journey of Cleansing and Purification

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PRICE PER PERSON:
1 person: € 69
2 people: € 40
3 people: € 30
4 people: € 25
5 people: € 22

Duration: Full day from 9.00am

Meals: Lunch

We head up over the west side of the Sidemen valley, enjoying beautiful views of the Sidemen valley and Gunung Agung. We take the scenic route through Muncan winding across country to the clean upland city of Bangli, where we visit Pura Kehen temple, and a neatly laid out Bali Aga (old-tradition Balinese) village.

Arriving at Tirta Empul, we have the possibility of joining Balinese on pilgrimage to ritually bathe beneath a series of gushing springs said to heal and cleanse all manner of impediments. After bathing, we pray at the temple above, where an exquisite spring of clear, clear, water, sipped by swallows, bubbles up through swirling sand.

We make a short visit to Pura Mengening, a quiet and powerful temple and springs close by. On our way back, time permitting, we take the path down to some ancient Buddhist meditation caves at Gunung Kawi, An hour’s drive down through the historically important Pejeng village, brings us home in another 50-60 minutes. (Full day, departure 9.00 am, packed lunch and return for about 17.30).

East Bali

Full-Day Sacred Tours: East Bali

Stairway to Heaven: A Day of Prayer, Pilgrimage, and Many Steps

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PRICE PER PERSON:
1 person: € 63
2 people: € 35
3 people: € 26
4 people: € 21
5 people: € 18

Duration: Full day from 9.00am

Meals: Lunch

– Pura Lempuyang, Temple of Purity on Mount Seraya

We drive to the striking white sandstone temple, at the upper base of Mount Seraya, about 1 hour from Nirarta. At this starting point of the Pura Lempuyang complex, with its white dragon-lined staircase, we set our intention for our pilgirmage,

After prayers and offerings we begin the long hike and climb up many, many steps, through changing vegetation, and shifting views of mountains and sea, past the monkeys, to the mists and clouds, frequently cloaking the sweet and peaceful upper Lempuyang temple towards the summit of Mount Seraya.

Packed lunch, offerings, and, if time, after the descent, a dip in the spring water of Tirta Gangga, before we head home. (Departure 9.00am return approximately 17.00.)

East Bali Tour

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PRICE PER PERSON:
1 person: € 62
2 people: € 36
3 people: € 27
4 people: € 23
5 people: € 20

Duration: Full day from 9.00am

Meals: Lunch

Sacred Springs, Water Gardens and Palaces of the Kings of Karangasem

Skirting the foothills of Mount Agung, we pass through shady snake fruit plantations and markets, curling down towards the coast. We take a detour, to dreamy Telaga Tista, a simple, peaceful temple in a sacred spring-fed lake hidden outside a quiet village, beneath the grandeur of Gunung Agung.

We continue along back roads to Karangasem’s secluded county town of Amlapura, where we visit Puri Agung, part of the royal palace complex. Shops, banks, and market are nearby.

A short drive takes us to the recently restored Ujung Water Gardens laid out formally in a quiet site, just a stone’s throw from the sea. From Ujung, we drive a few kilometres to Tirta Gangga, breeze-cooled, royal bathing springs and water gardens, where we have lunch.

It is possible to swim in the clear fresh pool fed by holy water from the sacred spring. The spring itself passes eerily through a small shrine in a temple complex stretching up the hill shaded by enormous holy trees above the bathing pools.

We return through the traditional cultural and spiritual centre of Budakeling, and a Pande, blacksmith village. (Full day tour, departing at 9.00 and returning approximately, 17.00.)

East Coast

Klungkung and the East Coast

East Coast Tour

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PRICE PER PERSON:
1 person: € 65
2 people: € 37
3 people: € 28
4 people: € 23
5 people: € 21

Duration: Full day from 9.00am

Meals: Lunch

Bats, Beach, and ‘Bali Aga’

Heading down towards Klungkung, we turn off towards Kusamba, a centre of fish processing and salt production on the beach, opposite Nusa Penida.

Our next stop is Pura Goa Lawar, ‘Bat Cave Temple', associated with balance in the environment and the interconnectedness of life. We pray at the temple-cave, which like a huge ear twittering with myriad bats, leads into the hill, and, legend has it, goes all the way to the Mother Temple, at Besakih.

Crossing the road, we complete our visit with some moments of reflection on the beach, looking over towards the island of Nusa Penida.

Continuing towards the toursit centre of Candidasa, we visit the Bali Aga village of Tenganan, where people preserve the practices and traditions of old Pre-Majapahit times, including sacred natural-dyed “Gerinsing” double ikat weaving.

About 15 minutes from Candidasa, we will park and stroll down to a beautiful quiet white sand bay for fresh grilled fish lunch and young coconut, and, if you fancy, a swim. We return by the scenic route, up a quiet lane offering spectacular views of the coast and hills around. (9.00 – 17.30).

Semarapura and Surroundings

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PRICE PER PERSON:
1 person: € 41
2 people: € 22
3 people: € 15
4 people: € 12
5 people: € 8

Duration: Half Day

Meals: Not included

Art, Music, Sea, and Sky

On this tour, we drive to Nirarta’s closest town (20 minutes away) the county town of Klungkung, Semarapura (literally the ‘Palace of Love’.

Klungkung is Bali’s smallest regency, though it includes the island of Nusa Penida visible from its shores. Klungkung, twinned with Florence, has banks, shops, and an arts and crafts market.

We will visit Tirta Gosa, part of the royal palace, with its judgement pavillion, painted with Dantesque scenes graphically depicting the consequences of misdeeds, and a small museum and art gallery featuring paintings by the erstwhile Florentine resident of Bali, Amrosi.

From Tirta Gosa and the art market, we drive a few minutes south to Kamasan village, famous for the Kamasan style of traditional painting.

Then, on through the hamlet of Gelgel, once the centre of power and prestige, not only in this area, but in Bali as a whole, and one time home of Dhanghyang Nirarta, to visit the black-stone temple of Klotok, set on a black sand beach opposite Nusa Penida, inspiration to many Balinese Healers.

Our last stop takes us to Tihingan village, home to Gamelan and gong production, approximately 10 minutes away from the town. On the way back, time permitting, we can visit the private museum and collection of the artist Gunaksa. (Approximately 3 to 4 hours)

Sacred Mountain

The Sacred Mountain: Gunung Agung

Sacred
Pasar Agung
Mountain Temple

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PRICE PER PERSON:
1 person: € 48
2 people: € 24
3 people: € 16
4 people: € 12
5 people: € 10

Duration: Half Day

Meals: Not included

Pasar Agung, considered the market place of the gods, is a spectacular temple and place of power and energy, with the sacred, brooding presence of Mount Agung above and spectacular views across south and east Bali below on clear days. A 45-minute drive to Selat, and beyond past the old lava flows, and the villages of Sebudi and Sogra (Heaven) into high altitude woods, to reach the temple car park, then a 20 minute walk up the stairs of a winding pathway to the temple proper.

This temple is best approached as the Balinese do as a pilgrimage to a source of energy and blessings. Balinese temple attire required (minimum sarong and sash). We can help you purchase or hire these. Your guide will bring offerings and orient you through the sweet and pure form of Balinese prayer.

This tour takes about 3.5 hours, although possibilities of walks and hikes further up, through the woods, and beyond the tree line up the mountain can make it a full-day tour.

Night Pilgrimage and Ascent to the Sacred Summit of Mount Agung

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PRICE PER PERSON:
1 person: € 83
2 people: € 44
3 people: € 30
4 people: € 24
5 people: € 24

Duration: Night and morning, from 2.00am

Meals: Breakfast

Climbing the volcano that dominates Bali physically and psychically requires a guide and 2-3.00 am start, beginning with a 45 minute drive to Pasar Agung Temple.

The hike starts from the Pasar Agung temple, with prayers to ask permission of the gods for your climb and to prepare your spirit for entering an area the Balinese consider the spiritual hub of the whole island, and so to be approached with care and respect.

A stiff walk up a winding path through the trees follows. Above the tree line. the way becomes stony and the last section over boulders and scree is quite demanding.

But for the hardy a great reward: breakfast at sunrise with spectacular views over Bali and Lombok from the summit, great views too inside the volcano crater. And then the descent, which is also quite hard on the knees and leg muscles on the way down. Only for the fit!

Back to Nirarta for some lunch, a snooze, and maybe a massage for sore legs. (2.00 am start, return late morning)

Padang Aji Spring and Mountain Walk

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PRICE PER PERSON:
1 person: € 41
2 people: € 21
3 people: € 14
4 people: € 10
5 people: € 8

Duration: Half Day

Meals: Not included

Padang Aji – home to a troupe of sacred Gambuh dancers – offers a pleasant upland walk from the village through high rice terraces, leafy glades, myriad cascading pure mountain springs, and some charming temple shrines. (From 3 to 3.5 hours)