Tour De Jogja

Tour de Djokdja No. 1 / I: Jogja Nostalgia

Wednesday, 16 August 2006

Two months after the earthquake on 27 May 2006, the number of YogYES.COM visitors is increasing after experiencing decrease by 30%. Similar increase is also reflected by the number of reservations and contacts done through this site. We expect it to be good preliminary signal of the revival of Yogyakarta tourism post-quake.

On 19 August 2006, YogYES.COM will also celebrate the third anniversary. A relatively young age but it becomes an important benchmark of the self existence as Number 1 Yogyakarta Tourism Catalogue in internet. In this August month, too, we have recruited new personnel and moved to our new office in Griya Wirokerten Indah No. 249 Kotagede. We hope to give better services to visitors and advertisers of this site.

Realizing bigger responsibilities awaiting us in the future, we present new column, namely Tour de Djokdja that will be up-dated periodically. The format will be an e-zine (online magazine) with the themes closely related to Yogyakarta tourism.

For the theme of this first edition, we choose "Jogja Nostalgia". The contents are articles on popular tourism objects in Yogyakarta, most of them you might have visited, namely: Malioboro, Kotagede, and Kasongan. We hope that these articles will be able to invite you to reopen your sweet memories of your visit to Yogyakarta.

Enjoy your nostalgia.

Malioboro, Nostalgia in Souvenirs Paradise
Walking through one-kilometer pathway will be so tiring, but the memory of old buildings and souvenirs stories will release it.

Kotagede, Enchantment of an Old City
Spending a while in an Old Town as inheritance of Old Mataram Kingdom while hunting silver handicrafts and enjoying delicacy of Sate Karang.

Kasongan, Hunting Ceramics in Kundi Community
Close look at ceramic handicrafts making that is done from generation to generation while hunting beautiful hand-made collections produced by skillful craftsmen.

The Stunning Kecak Dance Of The Beautiful Bali

One of the most famous Balinese Dances is The Kecak dance. The stunning voice of the dancers in musical rhythm is used as a background for them to dance in trance. Over 100 bare-chested dancers are swaying their body and hands. The sound of cak-cak-cak imitating the sound of monkey sounds gives the exotic and dynamic ambience. Because of that chanting noise of "Cak-cak-cak", then the dance is named Kecak.

What makes the Kecak such a fascinating dance to watch are the fifty or so men in the checkered pants. They are both the choir and the props, providing the music for the story in a series of constant vocal chants that change with the mood of the actors. They don't sit still, either, they wave their arms to simulate fire, and reposition themselves around the stage to represent wind and fire, prison cells, and unseen hand of protection from the gods.

The dance is played in five acts and lasts roughly 45 minutes. It taken from the Hindu epic Ramayana, which tells the story of Prince Rama and his rescue of Princess Sita, who has been kidnapped by the evil King of Lanka, Rahwana and somehow with the help of the white monkey army, Rama rescues his wife and defeats the evil King Rahwana.

As Bali is famous for its breathtaking nature, the culture is even better; completely astounding. It is very exotic and unique. The culture is a blending of spiritual, dynamic and elegance. Attending a Kecak recital is a must for any visitor to Bali. It is a wondrous experience, and a window into the musical and artistic culture that make the Balinese a special people.

Various hotels in Bali hold Kecak Dance performances and often deal providing dinner and tickets to the performance are offered at the main hotels in Bali. Ask your hotel for further information. Read more article about Bali at eTourTravel: Bali

John Soffer writes articles about tourism, travel and leisure for various websites. Read his articles at http://bali.etourtravel.info

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Soffer

Bali Named the Top Island of the World 2007

As the part of its World’s Best Award 2007, the prestigious New York based travel magazine Travel + Leisure has just named Bali as The World’s Top Island for the sixth consecutive years.

Despite of our pride in getting such a glorious International appreciation, it is interesting to find out why Bali has been so attractive to International holiday makers, this way all stakeholders of travel industry in Bali can work out the right way to make the interest even higher.

As expressed by the editor-in-chief of the magazine Nancy Novogrod, the choice of the islands was based on the natural attractions, activities, sights, restaurants, foods, people, and value. In addition she also cited that 2007 result underlines the magazine’s readers’ ever increasing embrace of global travel in their search for distinctive and authentic experiences. Quite interestingly, officials and executives of Bali tourism industry have different opinion. As quoted by the Island’s only English newspaper The Bali Times, Cok Oka Arta Ardana Sukawati, deputy head of the private run Bali Tourism Board, said “Why most distinguishes Bali is its culture, which is why Bali keeps being named the world’s best island.”

However, difference is not something to set us back, it is indeed to strengthen us even more. Preserving natural attraction, increasing quality of tourism services including food, accommodation, transportation, and activity operation, as well as better presentation of rich Balinese cultural heritage remain the main keywords.

The main question remains to address is how we translate this prestigious appreciation into real figure in number of visitors and their spending, which immediately related to flow of wealth into the island which its economy is very much depend to tourism industry. Wisna Wedhana, the MD of Private Leisure who operates online holiday rental business in Bali and other Asian island destination confirms that inquiries for Phuket is higher than Bali, regardless Phuket’s eighth position in L+P nomination.

Following are the top 10 in consecutive order: (1)Bali, (2)Maui, (3)Kauai, (4)Glapagos, (5)Santorini, (6)Vancouver Island, (7)Dalmatian Islands, (8)Phuket, (9)Hawaii, (10)Great Barrier Reef Island.

Adi has been spending more than five years focusing on helping his clients in private villa and holiday rental industry in Bali to gain better online exposure. Combination of information technology and marketing backgrounds brought him to become the man behind most commercially successful websites in Bali.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Adi_Arifin