What Happens If Your Vacation Coincides With a Religious Day of Silence?

Was I supposed to just silently stare at the walls of my hotel room in the dark for 24 hours?

I went to Bali for Nyepi, the Balinese New Year ritual known as the Day of Silence. I was not at all sure of what to expect of the most sacred religious festival on the Island of the Gods. Would everyone really be required to stay silent for an entire day? What would I do all day if work, entertainment, travel, light, and cooking weren’t allowed? Could my distraction-craving brain handle a distraction-free day of silence? Or would the silence kickstart a much-needed change in my life, especially my relationship with my phone? I was about to find out.

The Traditions of Nyepi

The New Year is observed on the Indonesian island of Bali according to the lunar Saka calendar, so the date changes annually. This year’s Nyepi begins at 6 a.m. on March 29.

Nyepi has been practiced for centuries, but its unique rules are often the only thing travelers know about it. Called Catur Brata Penyepian, the four Nypei rules are in place for 24 hours, and pecalang—traditional Balinese security officers—help enforce them:

1. Amati Geni: No igniting of fire or lights, including cooking and electricity.
2. Amati Karya: No physical activity or work.
3. Amati Lelunganan: No travel or leaving the home.
4. Amati Lelanguan: No partaking in pleasurable activities or entertainment.

A legend adds that by creating an atmosphere of quiet and darkness for a day, Bali can hide itself from evil spirits and start the year afresh.

When I checked in to my hotel, AYANA Bali, I was told my home for the coming days would be the resort’s 222 acres of greenery above Jimbaran Bay. During Nyepi, most of Bali is closed: beaches, roads, the airport, shops, bars, and restaurants outside of resorts. As at most hotels, AYANA’s restaurants and pools remained open.

While Bali’s cell service, radio, and TV broadcasts are off for Nyepi’s 24 hours, the extent of internet functionality varies. Many hotels keep their wi-fi running (plus will stream movies to room TVs), but visitors should know that the service may be intermittent.

As Nyepi approached, I was keen to understand how visitors like me should respectfully navigate the sacred day. I learned that Nypei’s rules are open to interpretation and practicality. While everyone is expected to behave respectfully so that others can fully practice Nyepi traditions, each person can choose how they will adhere to the rules.

The most faithful fast for the full 24 hours and spend the day in silent meditation. Activities dedicated to spiritual cleansing are encouraged under Amati Karya, allowing meditation and even yoga. Lights for safety (and for kids afraid of the dark) are permitted. Some people work during Nyepi. Bali’s hospitals remain open, and pecalang officers grant permission to people with medical emergencies to travel there. Many hotels are open, though staff can’t commute normally and must stay on property. Devout or not, Balinese people use Nyepi as an opportunity to reconnect with family, often socializing over meals they prepare in advance.

Religion on the Island of the Gods

To learn more, I visited Bali’s beautiful new SAKA Museum. Its exhibits explain Nyepi, Tri Hita Karana—the Balinese philosophy of life—and the Saka calendar’s ceremonies and daily rituals that connect Balinese people with their gods and ancestors.

“Nyepi,” explained museum director Dr. Judith E. Bosnak, “gives time for inner reflection, meditation, and room to restore the balance between mighty forces of good and evil within the household, the local community, and beyond.”

Professor I Made Bandem demonstrated and explained some of the Nyepi rituals, giving me insight into their nuances and complexities. I admired the museum’s artifacts that illustrated Tri Hita Karana’s principles of balance and harmony—with the Divine, among people, and with nature.

Upstairs was a dramatic collection of Nyepi-related statues called Ogoh-Ogoh. Bali’s largest is here, depicting the Nyepi tale of good triumphing over evil even in the darkest of times. Weeks before Nypei, every Balinese community works together to create one of these elaborate demon effigies. During the last sunset before Nyepi, Pengerupukan day, they loudly parade their papier-mâché Ogoh-Ogoh to scare away evil spirits. Some Ogoh-Ogoh—like the SAKA Musuem’s works of art—are kept on display while others are burnt, banishing evil and misery with them.  

I was feeling better prepared and ready for the first of AYANA’s Nyepi eve rituals. My heart thumping, I followed along as men hoisted a giant Ogoh-Ogoh on a bamboo raft onto their shoulders and paraded it through the streets. Accompanied by people loudly playing percussive gamelan instruments—drums, cymbals, and gongs—we met up with another Ogoh-Ogoh at a crossroads, where evil is thought to accumulate. Lifting their Ogoh-Ogoh even higher, the men spun them counterclockwise, and the gamelan grew even louder. No evil wanted to stick around for this.

The Practicalities of Nyepi for Travelers

Returning to my room after dinner, a note asked me to turn the outside lights off before Nypei began at 6 a.m. I fell into a deep sleep, feeling less worried about what the next day’s Nyepi might bring.

When I woke up, I looked at my phone and noticed the internet was working just fine, before remembering I had just broken the no-work, no-entertainment, and no-light rules. I respected the rule of staying home for Nyepi since the breakfast restaurant is defined as part of my hotel home. On my walk over, I didn’t listen to my go-to podcast; instead, I tuned into bird songs and the breeze rustling through the palm fronds. 

But soon enough, my stress reappeared—is it ok to order my Nyepi breakfast aloud? My server was the first person of the day to reassure me that talking isn’t forbidden and that connecting with others is encouraged during Nyepi. She was also the first to advocate for activities that promote healing and balance, and she reminded me that Balinese spa treatments aren’t just about making you look and feel good but integrate spirituality to purify and heal the chakras.

While regular services may be reduced, many resorts plan Nyepi-related activities for their guests. My Nyepi stay at AYANA Bali offered sunrise yoga, pool pilates, sound bath meditation, a thalassotherapy pool experience, Balinese massage, rooftop sunset viewing, and stargazing on the only night of the year without light pollution. 

I’m not normally inclined toward activities like sound baths, so I made it a point to go. I was surprised that I could dismiss the intrusive thoughts about how exactly the bowl’s and gong’s vibrations affect the body and absorb the sound. Rather than feeling squirmy from keeping still, I found myself calm.

Outside again, I pulled out my phone to snap photos of my breathtaking surroundings. I proudly rejected the urge to check the captivating notifications and instead focus on what’s around me. Gazing down the cliff to the ocean and a walk through AYANA’s Monkey Forest helped me reset. At my sublime Balinese massage, I was able to shut off my to-do-list-tracking brain.

During Nyepi, chats with others—whether at meals or while admiring the views—somehow seemed more meaningful. It was as if everyone was paying more attention to the low voices and the people speaking rather than thinking about what to say next.

Nighttime during Nypei was indeed dark; lights weren’t all off but were as minimal as possible. I needed my phone’s flashlight to navigate a dim staircase after dinner and again to find the gate to my villa’s garden. I was surprised I had otherwise ignored my phone.

Bandem’s lessons and Bosnak’s words resonated: “[Nyepi] represents a reset, the start of a new beginning.”

Thanks to the peacefulness of my AYANA Nyepi day, I awakened refreshed and ready to approach the New Year differently.

A Deeper Nypei Experience

Now that I’m not worried about making Nyepi mistakes—and know my brain can handle detachment from my phone—I’d love to experience Nyepi again and with more intentionality— perhaps I would try meditating. I’d also plan my Bali trip to see the New Year traditions I missed.

Bali’s New Year rituals start with the Melasti ceremony, three days before Nyepi. Believers cleanse the soul, the universe, and sacred objects like ceremonial daggers and hand-carved masks. The devout submerge themselves in water to wash away negative energy, let go of the past, and prepare for the new year.

I’d love to witness the burning of an Ogoh-Ogoh (though with mixed feelings about losing artwork to flames) or watch Nyepi Eve’s Perang Api tradition. Young men throw and kick burning bundles of dried coconut husk, symbolizing driving away demons and that the biggest challenge is overcoming one’s own. Ngembak Geni, the day after Nyepi, is for visiting and seeking forgiveness from neighbors, friends, and family.

Letting go of the negatives of the past and renewing relationships with intention sounds like the ideal way to start every New Year, whether in Bali or elsewhere.