When sight-seeings, culinary trips and shopping sprees are too average for you, you begin to search what else is there to do and see in Bali, and in Ubud alone, to satisfy your adventurous soul’s hunger. Now that you have seen the cultural sides of Bali, the night life, and the major touristy sites, how about we move on to something a little uncanny? Have you heard of some spots in Bali that have mystical background stories and are possibly “haunted”? Balinese, and Indonesians in general are highly superstitious and we do believe in things we cannot see (we’re talking about Gods, spirits, and ghosts here). It may sound like a full non-sense to some of you, but whether you believe or not, there are places in Bali in which out of the ordinary occurrences happen. If you’re one of those brave ones, you would probably like to visit these locations..
The Ghost Palace
The Ghost Palace – that’s what this abandoned hotel, formerly known as IP Bedugul Taman Rekreasi Hotel and Resort has been famous as lately. It has been such a big hit among travel bloggers and visitors seeking something a little peculiar during their trips. Legend has it, that the developer of this project was cursed due to his corrupt business practices and went bankrupt, but there are many different versions of its background stories. Some have said that this hotel was full house until one day everyone disappeared. Nobody really knows the exact truth and it will remain…a mistery.
On the history side of it – this hotel was built under Tommy Suharto, the son of Indonesia’s former President. He was found guilty for assassination order and was put into prison in 2002. Since then, the construction of the hotel never continued, and being abandoned for so many years, the building is now falling apart. Whether or not it is true that this building is haunted, if you are one fearless soul and a bit of a ghost hunter, this building is worth a visit when you happen to be around Bedugul.
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Island of the dead
Moving on to Trunyan – this one is not a myth, not so much into ghosts and the spiritual worlds, but this one is truly macabre. Trunyan is a name of a Balinese village, located on the eastern shore of Lake Batur in central Bali. This village is notable as a place to store dead bodies, in which they are placed on the ground, covered with only bamboos, until they naturally decompose.
It may sound gruesome for many of us, but it is considered normal for the traditional Balinese villagers in this area that corpses are not buried or cremated. When the bones are all that remain, the skulls will then be put beneath the Taru Menyan Tree. This tree creates a unique typed fragrance that helps neutralise the odour coming from the dead bodies. If you’re up to see more detailed images (warning; some of them are very graphic) type in “Trunyan” in your search engine and be prepared to either be amazed, or get some goose bumps!
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Theme Park that makes you wet your pants
Driving further down from Ubud, there’s Padang galak Beach in Sanur. Yes, it’s the one where big kite festivals are usually held. But since it’s a horror article – let’s talk more on the creepy side of it 😉 There’s a remote coast called “The Ghost Town” which used to be Taman Festival Bali theme park back in the days, which now has closed down. There’s something very eerie about this place the moment you set foot on the main entrance (even in daylight!). Like many other abandoned places, we’re not sure exactly if this place is actually haunted, or if it just looks creepy because it’s deserted. But it is believed by the locals that abandoned sites are where the “spirits” reside. Well, there’s only one way to find out. Dare to check it out? 😉
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Pemuteran underwater temple garden
There are so much mystery hidden in the underwater world indeed. As a child some of you may have had an irrational fear of the underwater monsters and the unknown worlds.
Have you heard of the underwater temple garden in Pemuteran? There are no mystical stories or archaeological history involved in this as it was constructed by an Australian, Chris Brown in 2005 for an environmental conservation project.
What makes it a little creepy is perhaps the living corals covering the God and Goddesses statues that gives “faceless” look to them. And for sure it wouldn’t be the best spot to visit if you have fear towards the depth of the sea and the “sea ghosts”. Lots of professional divers and adventurers have actually recommended this place as the one of the “must-visits” in Bali for an unusual holiday experience.
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Bounty Beach Bungalows
A little bit outside Bali, there’s Bounty Beach Bungalows on Gili Meno. It is a small island near Bali with only hundreds of residents. This place was once successful back in the days but now all you can see is just a broken, and untouched building.
There are some rumours going around as to why this place is now shattered. Many have said that people had stopped coming since the Bali bombing incident in 2002. There’s also another story that says this place has been neglected because of a mysterious death of the owner.
When you come and see this place these days, there’s almost nobody around, except for the curious visitors wondering what had happened, or wanting to discover the famous “man silhouette” which is believed as the owner coming back to check on his business. Who wants a tour around the bungalows?
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