Bali’s New Year’s Day – time to stay in, turn off the lights, and keep quiet

New Year’s Day in the West might mean a hangover, a walk and a pub lunch. In Bali, New Year is welcomed in a very different manner – with a day of silence.
The largely Hindu Indonesian island celebrates Nyepi – Silent Day – by completely shutting down for 24 hours. In Ubud, where I’m staying, shops are closing early, ATMs aren’t working and streets are being closed. From 6am tomorrow (28 March) until 6am on Wednesday (the date changes annually following the lunar calendar), no one will leave their home. Religious rules state there should be no traffic, no fire, no work and no pleasure. Streets are eerily empty, shops and restaurants remain closed, the beaches are shut, use of electricity is kept to a minimum, there’s no transport – even the airport closes – and the pecalang community police go on patrol, ensuring compliance and reprimanding anyone who steps outside their premises.