Bali Curse (BC)/Boracay Blessing (BB)

Bali, Indonesia

I recently catch-up with a friend and we end up talking about traveling and the events that transpired during those holidays. What piqued my imagination during our conversation is when I mentioned about my Bali trip, he ask me “Do you know about the Bali Curse?”

I said, “I have never heard about it”, he said “go and Google about it”.

So I did. I stumbled upon numerous stories about break-ups hatch or that started in Bali.

Apparently, a myth or a folk’s tale exists about a young princess who lives in Mount Agung, the mother of all mountains in Bali. Stories passed on generations to generations revealed that she was once so deeply in-love with a man that she envisioned to be her future husband. Later, she was abandoned by her handsome prince and stories tells us that he run away to the island of Lombok and he never return.  The reason of the abandonment was never revealed to her. People believed or speculated that the handsome prince meet a girl from Lombok, when he once visited the island. The princess was so unhappy, on her distraught and hysteria, she prayed to the gods, thought to be her ancestry. People believed that the princess herself has supernatural powers inherited from her lineage. She put a curse on all unwedded couples that visits the island to suffer the same faith as her. On the night of a full moon, as she cast a spell, tales uncovered that this was the day the Ayung River was created. The longest river in Bali said to be a continuous flow of tears from the princess who was once abandoned by her prince. No one knows what had become of the princess or the prince.

Sad…

During that night when a friend of mine mentioned about the “Bali Curse”, I mentioned to him about the “Boracay Blessing”.  He said, “What is it all about?”

White Sands and Azure Waters of Boracay

Apparently, a village story exits about a young man who visited the island of Boracay. He was a son of rich family who runs acres of sugar cane plantation on the main island. His family suffers a bad reputation as being heartless landowners. This prevented the young man from searching his true love. As he tries to escape the shadow of his family’s bad name, he met a beautiful girl by the beach on his first visit to Boracay. She has no idea who he was nevertheless, their love flourished instantly. As they meet every night by the beach, the girl confessed that she is a mermaid and must return to her world beneath the island as her journey ends on the surface. He had one night to think about joining her in her world. The next day transpired on a full moon, the two lovers walk by the beach, kiss and swim in the turquoise waters of Boracay.  After that night, no stories re-surfaced but the town villagers strongly believed that the couples continue to live a happy life underworld, the same happiness and love they cherished while on the surface of Boracay.

Whether a myth or legend exist, couples flock to the island of Boracay hoping that their relationship will be blessed by the Boracay blessing.

Boracay, Philippines

http://wikitravel.org/en/Boracay

http://wikitravel.org/en/Boracay