many more ways than one Bali is the exact opposite of the West; While Westerners open the New Year in revelry, the Balinese open their own New Year in silence. This is Nyepi day, the Balinese day of Silence, which begins on the day, following the dark moon of the spring equinox, and opens a new year of the Saka Hindu.
On Nyepi day proper, which starts with sunrise, don’t expect to be able to do very much at all. You will have to stay within the grounds of your resort. No traffic is allowed, not only cars and motorbikes, but also people, who have to stay in their individual houses and are not permitted to leave for anything short of an absolute emergency (panic not anyone in need of medical attention – the hospitals are fully operational during Nyepi).
Light is kept to a minimum, radios and televisions are tuned down, and no one works, of course. Even lovemaking, this ultimate activity of all leisure-timers, is not supposed to take place, nor even attempted during Nyepi. A whole day simply filled with the barking of Bali’s wild dogs, the shrill of insects and simply a long, long period of uninterrupted quiet. A welcome day of serenity, of calm and an opportunity for the island and it’s people to rest.