Saka New Year 1940 of Hindus falls on Saturday 17 March 2018

Dear Valued Guests,

Nyepi Day is one of the most important occasions on Bali’s cultural calendar. Also known as Silent Day, it is observed with 24 hours of inactivity as the entire island comes to a complete standstill. In accordance to the Hindu faith, Nyepi is Balinese New Year and for followers it is a time of solitude and personal reflection.

The Balinese Hindus do not celebrate the coming of the new year of Saka Calendar with lavish party; We celebrate it with meditation instead. No activities are allowed to take place. These mandatory religious prohibitions include no pleasure (amati lelangon), no traffic (amati lelungan), no fire (amati geni) and no work (amati karya) and Day of Silence to mark the New Year according to Balinese calendar which the grand ceremonies will be held throughout the island on the 16th, one day before the whole activities stop for 24 hours and the island goes completely silent making it look uninhabited on the 17th.

Nyepi is a day to make and keep the balance of nature. From the religious and philosophy point of view, Nyepi is meant to be a day of self introspection to decide on values, e.g humanity, love, patience, kindness, that should be kept forever. Balinese Hindus have much kind of celebrations but Nyepi is the most important of the island’s religious days and the prohibitions are taken seriously, particularly in the villages.

Hotels are exempt from Nyepi’s rigorous practices but streets outside will be closed to both pedestrians, vehicles and Airport (except for emergency vehicles) and village wardens (Pecalang) will be posted to keep people are not on the street. So wherever you happen to be staying on March 17th in Bali, this will be a good day to spend indoors. Indeed Nyepi day has made Bali a unique island than others.

On Nyepi Day, we will not be able to accept any check-in nor check-out throughout the day. We notice that you will be staying with us during Nyepi Day, kindly be informed of the below situations during Nyepi Day:

• The silence begins sunrise around 6:00 am of 17 March 2018 and will go on until the next 24 hours.
• All shops are closed on Nyepi Day.
• Guests has to stay inside the resort area.
• When listening to the music or watching TV in the room, keep the sound at minimum level.
• There will be no traffic on that day in the whole Bali island.
• Ngurah Rai airport will be totally closed on 17th of March 2018, so there will be neither arrival nor departure in the airport on that day. All connecting airports around the globe have been informed in advance about this.
• Across Bali, the activities are allowed only in emergency rooms and maternity section of hospitals and the arrival section of airport. Any emergencies are taken into consideration and tolerated. The whole island is in silence.

However, operational activities and services in the resort will operate normally.
One day before Nyepi, Pengerupukan Day, there will be a nearest Ogoh-Ogoh parade performed by our neighboring in the evening (Padangtegal Village). Ogoh-Ogoh is the manifestation of a person, an object or anything that disturbs human lives and you are more than welcome to witness this ritual parade before dinner time at 6pm on Friday, 16th March 2018, for any further information please do not hesitate to contact our Guest Service Assistance at the front desk.

For your convenience stay, we are offering DaLa Spa treatments which available from 7:00am until 11.00pm. Advance bookings required. If you wish to experience our variety cuisine, Petani Restaurant and Manisan Restaurant will open for breakfast from 7:00am until 10:00am, and lunch will open from 11am – 6:00pm. Since all the lights are prohibitted in the evening, therefore we highly recommend you to have early dinner around 4:30pm to 6:00pm, which will be served at Manisan Restaurant, Petani Restaurant and Poolside ( Bamboo ) or you may have room service which is available for lunch time from 11.00am to 6:00pm by contact Room Service Petani Restaurant at ext. 6 and for early dinner will be available from 6:00pm to 11:00pm by contact Room Service of Manisan Restaurant at ext. 7

For your information based on a letter from Bali Government Office, to respect the local culture on the silence day, TV cable service will be de-activated starting from 17th of March 2018 at 6:00am up to 18th of March 2018 at 6:00am.

And for your entertainment, please feel free to join our complimentary guest activities such as making Balinese ornament at 2 – 3pm and Balinese dance class at 3pm – 4pm at the Bale “multipurpose gazebo“ which is located beside of spa area. Advance booking is essential.

Since all the lights are prohibited in the evening, therefore we highly recommend you to have early dinner around 4:30pm to 7:00pm, will be serve only at Manisan Restaurant  or you may have room service which is available from 5:30pm to 11:00pm by contact Room Service at ext. 7.

Shall you require any further information, assistance and arrangement during your stay on Nyepi Day, please do not hesitate to contact our Manager on Duty directly or our Guest Service Assistant at ext. 1.

We are looking forward to welcoming you at Alaya Resort Ubud.

*Photo by Mirna Rizka