Bali
Green Magic
Lying just off the eastern tip of Java, Bali is one of Asia's loveliest islands. Rimmed by coral reefs and palm-fringed beaches, an irregular landscape of deep ravines, fast-flowing rivers and rice terraces soars up to a volcanic chain topped by Mount Agung at 3,142 m (10,308 ft). According to the Balinese, that's where the gods live, close (a little too close) to human beings who must, from sheer common sense, spend a great part of every day worshipping, pacifying and entertaining them.Almost 3 million people share this responsibility, living on an island 140 km (87 miles) long and 80 km (50 miles) wide. The days pass in a rhythm of religious observance, work, rest and artistic creation which culminates in the happy hiatus of death-followed by rebirth. In any case, heaven, they will tell you, is exactly like Bali-without the problems, of course.
The Hindu-Dharma religion practised here (the rest of Indonesia is firmly Muslim with a smattering of Christians) is a blend of Hinduism, Buddhism and ancestor worship. It governs every stage of life from birth (a baby's feet mustn't touch the ground until it is six months old), through the teeth-filing ceremony of adolescence and the ritual abduction which often precedes marriage, to the elaborate cremation of the dead.
The Balinese think the world has to be balanced between the forces of good and evil, both equally powerful and ceaselessly active. The black and white checked sarong you see on statues symbolizes that struggle. The end of every Balinese dance or theatrical performance (and almost all have religious themes) leaves the ultimate outcome in doubt-can the good hold ground, can the bad be blackmailed, duped, propitiated, held in check? On any day at any time you may run across a festival or procession. Slim and supple as young bamboos, the women carry pyramidal offerings on their heads to the seemingly countless temples. They dress in sarongs, topped by tight-fitting, long-sleeved kebaya bodices, and tuck fragrant frangipani blossoms into their hair.
In Bali there is no distinction between life and art. Carvers turn out figure after figure in wood or stone; weavers work for weeks or months to produce a single brilliant length of material. Most Balinese art, though, is transitory, from the lacy palm leaf boxes which women create daily for food offerings to the vast, scintillating cremation decorations.Each village (desa) is a tightly knit social unit made up of a number of smaller groups (banjar). Cooperation within these groups is expected and exacted; planting, harvesting and temple-building are community endeavours. A man has to ask permission from his desa authority to live in another district. Indonesians in general are used to company all day long; they can't understand the average Westerner's desire to spend some time alone. For a Balinese, solitude is not only abnormal, it's downright dangerous-a prime opportunity for the ever-present spirits to get up to mischief.
Don't expect an untouched rural idyll. Traffic, pollution and ugly development have scarred the face of southern Bali, and there's a growing money consciousness. Not all of this is due to tourism. Indonesia is part of the world's most dynamic economic region, and modernizing fast. (Most of the jeep-type vehicles you can rent for a drive round the island are assembled in Bali.)
When the tourism boom began in the 1970s, facilities grew up in cheerful chaos, notably at Kuta. Then the government became aware of the need to protect Bali's beauty and culture. Only one high-rise hotel was built-at Sanur-before a sensible law prohibited any building higher than the palm trees. New luxury resorts were mainly confined to the isolated Bukit peninsula below Denpasar.
Amazingly, the old ways continue despite all the pressures. Villagers stare in disbelief at the palatial hotels and scantily clad tourists on the beaches, but they themselves are drawn mystically to the mountains and consider the sea a dangerous universe inhabited by a goddess who tempts people to destruction. Head inland yourself to catch the magic. Even in the densely populated south, you have only to leave the busy main roads to find traditional village life or a tranquil pastoral scene. Of all the tropical islands whose warm seas and sunshine attract the world's vacationers, this one has a unique culture and remarkable, adaptable people.
