Visit BALI

Bali is a high priority for most visitors to the region. Intense commercialisation has changed the southern part of the island, but elsewhere the magical ambience remains.

             Bali is, first and foremost, a masterpiece of nature, a stunningly beautiful tropical island formed by an east-to-west range of volcanoes rising out of the deep blue sea, fringed by sandy beaches and enriched with fertile soil. And the Balinese have done much to turn these natural blessings to their advantage. All but the steepest land has been painstakingly terraced over thecenturies with rice paddies that hug the volcanic slopes like steps. The land repays these efforts with abundant harvests, which in turn give the people time and energy to devote to their renowned cultural pursuits, the arts and religious obligations.

             Abundant harvests are attributed to the goddess of rice and fertility, Dewi Sri. Her symbol is the cili, two triangles connected in the form of a shapely woman. Divine spirits dwell in the lofty mountains; dark and inimitable forces lurk in the seas. The human’s rightful place is the middle ground between these two extremes, and each home, village and kingdom in Bali, has traditionally been aligned along this mountain sea axis.

       

Young surfer at Kuta.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Pub lications

Isolation and confrontation

Bali was settled and civilised relatively early, as evidenced by stone megaliths scattered about the island. Around a thousand years ago, it became a vassal of the great Hindu empires of eastern Java. Yet Balinese culture developed a sophisticated persona all its own. Bali was united in 1550 under an independent ruler and for two generations experienced a cultural golden age in which an elaborate ceremonial life, and also the arts, flourished.

             Due to their traditional fear of the sea and suspicion of foreigners, the Balinese lived in virtual isolation from the rest of the world until the early 20th century, despite Dutch attempts to control the island. Throughout the 1800s, the Dutch, under the guise of seeking treaties of friendship and commerce, attempted to establish sovereignty over the island. Their incursions culminated in horrific mass suicides (puputan) in 1906, in which Balinese kings and courtiers threw themselves on keris daggers, or ran headlong into Dutch gunfire rather than face the humiliation of surrender. In the end, the Dutch failed to conquer the island. Throughout their invasions, traditions of dance, music, painting, sculpture, poetry, drama and architecture were refined and elaborated, ostensibly for the benefit of Bali’s numerous gods.

Preparing for a temple festival at the holy complex of Pura Besakih.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Pub lications

Southern Bali

As the focus for Bali’s tourism, commerce and government, the south is by far the busiest region. But don’t be deceived by the area’s development. The temple festivals here are legendary for the intensity of their trance dances and the earthiness of their rituals. Denpasar’s palace ceremonies rank among the most regal on the island, and major hotels host highly professional dance performances nightly. During Nyepi (Hindu Day of Silence), thousands of villagers, arrayed in their ceremonial finery, flood the southern shores of Kuta bearing offerings of food for the melis purification rites.

           South of the Ngurah Rai International Airport, a bulbous peninsula fans out to form Bukit Badung . The western and southern shorelines are rimmed with sharp, jutting cliffs, and until the early 1990s there was nothing but scarcely populated dry land. These days, Bukit (as the peninsula is generally known) is home to luxury resorts, villas and Bali’s largest golf course. It is also the site of the region’s most illustrious temple, Pura Luhur Uluwatu , or Temple Above the Headstone (daily daylight hours; charge). The ocean 300 metres (1,000ft) below the temple’s cliff-top perch is favoured by extreme surfers.

           Nusa Dua, an extensive planned-resort area on the northeastern coast of Bukit Badung, has superb beaches that give way to Benoa’s mangroves. Benoa Harbour, lined with higher-end hotels and watersports operations, is the island’s busiest seaport and accommodates fishing boats, inter-island ships and catamarans taking tourists to nearby Nusa Lembongan and Penida for diving.

Kuta and around

Whereas Nusa Dua caters to more upmarket visitors, Kuta is a kind of cluttered, traffic-packed tinseltown with a cosmopolitan feel, especially during peak season (Aug–Sept and Dec–Jan). The resort and Bali’s tourist industry  was shattered by the horrific bombs of 2002 and 2005, and while in some ways those events have changed it forever, Kuta remains a major tourist hub.

        Its natural attractions are a broad beach, pounding surf and sunsets. Away from the beach, Kuta is packed with pubs, bars, restaurants, boutiques, surf shops, and inexpensive hotels. The built-up area merges north into the more sedate Legian, while still further north is decidedly hip Seminyak, which, like Kuta and Legian, has a wide sandy beach and thundering surf but without the crowds. There are a handful of upmarket hotels and a large number of good restaurants and bars. Past the Oberoi Bali hotel is the small but key temple Pura Dalem Petitenget, the Temple of the Awesome Box (daily daylight hours; donation). Many ceremonies are held at this temple, named after the box of betel-chewing ingredients left behind by the Javanese Hindu priest Dang Hyang Nirartha. The main road continues to Kerobokan and then west to Canggu, a black-sand

beach.

      The road from Canggu ends at Pura Tanah Lot , or Temple of the Land in the Sea (daily daylight hours; charge). Perched on a large rock just offshore, it was founded by Dang Hyang Nirartha, the 16th-century Brahman sage considered to be the ancestor of Balinese high priests. To the northwest of the temple is an open stage where regular Ramayana and kecak dance performances are held right after visitors enjoy the famous sunset backdrop over the temple.

    Over on the eastern coast is Sanur , a relatively quiet cluster of hotels and restaurants, with a good beach and water-sports facilities. Of interest is Museum Le Mayeur (daily except Wed 8am 4pm, Fri 8am 1pm; charge) on the beach north of the Inna Grand Bali Beach Hotel. It exhibits the works of the Belgian painter Jean Le Mayeur de Mepres (1880–1958),

who moved to Bali in 1932. All of his paintings depict his wife, Ni Polok, a renowned legong dancer.

Denpasar

Denpasar  is the capital of Bali province. Its main square was the scene of the horrific mass suicide in 1906, when almost the entire royal house of Denpasar rushed headlong into blazing Dutch guns. Successive governments have erected monuments commemorating the event. East of the square stands the town’s main temple, Pura Jagatnatha (daily daylight hours; donation), with a figurine of Tintya, the almighty godhead, glinting from high on the temple’s central shrine. The Museum Negeri Propinsi Bali (also called Museum Bali; Tue–Sun 8am–5pm; charge) next door houses a fine collection of artefacts and examples of Balinese craftsmanship. In the centre of town is Pasar Badung, a four storey building housing the island’s largest traditional market.

Central Bali

North of Denpasar, Ubud is the most popular point outside southern Bali. It is the island’s artistic heart and can be the hub for excursions to the east, north and west.

       One of the most important temples between Denpasar and Ubud is Pura Sada (daily daylight hours; donation) in Kapal. Dating from the 12th century, it has 64 stone seats resembling megalithic ancestral shrines that are believed to commemorate loyal warriors who fell in battle. Just down the road, Tabanan, with its breathaking terraced rice fields, is an ideal place for all-terrain vehicle and four-wheel-drive adventures, as well as cycling and trekking. Past Kapal, a turn-off toward the

mountains leads to Mengwi , a few kilometres north of Kapal. In 1634, the Raja of Mengwi built a magnificent garden temple, Pura Taman Ayun (daily daylight hours; charge). The temple’s spacious compound is surrounded by a moat and is adjacent to a lotus lake. In the surrounding pavilions, priests recite their Vedantic incantations.

     Northeast at Sangeh is one of Bali’s two famed monkey forests. According to Balinese versions of the Ramayana epic, this is where Hanuman’s army landed when the monkey king lifted the sacred mountain, Mahameru, and broke it apart in order to crush Rawana. A moss-covered temple lies deep within the jungle.

    North of Tabanan is one of Bali’s most venerated temples, Pura Luhur Batukau )  (daily daylight hours; charge),on the slopes of 2,276-metre (7,467ft) Gunung Batukau. Further north at Danau Bratan ! , a lake on the road crest to the north shore and a water source for surrounding farmlands, is Pura Ulun Danu Bratan (daily daylight hours; charge), which honours Dewi Danu, goddess of the lake.