So. Bali. Go there. Seriously. The place is varied, captivating, beautiful, welcoming. I spent a month there and barely scratched the surface; it would be easy to disappear for a long time on that island. Ever, in fact. Nowhere else have I been that so quickly made me contemplate a lifestyle change and a move. Let me attempt to qualify that statement.
First, there’s a bit of everything here. Bali, similar to the Big Island, is a series of dead and active volcanoes. Aside from the added spice and excitement of living next to a natural disaster waiting to happen, volcanic islands are highly varied in geography and topography. First and most obvious is the volcano, a highland region of 9000’+ elevation providing cool climate and incredible vistas, complete with a series of volcanic lakes that are a summer playground for those looking to escape the intense heat of the coast. The mountains pull moisture from the clouds on the windward side, pummeling the volcanic soil into rich, wet loam that supports rain forest and jungle growth with spectacular waterfalls, deep gorges, and narrow river valleys, all bursting with lush greenery. The leeward side of the mountains is covered in stepped terraces ingeniously flood irrigated to maximize rice paddy acreage. The older, inactive volcanoes have broken down into forested mountain highlands segmented by snaking streams that turn into rivers leading to the ocean. The costal lands are widely varied, with black sand beaches, white sand beaches, rocky shoreline, and cliffs dropping directly to the ocean. Some of the beaches are protected by barrier reef, and others are open to the caprices of the Indian Ocean, churning out world-class waves during big swells. Some parts of the coastline are perfect for diving, a combination of reefs, walls, and shallow sand or ‘muck’ that bursts with small creatures such as vibrant nudibranches and exotic fish. Several towns along the coast provide ferry access to nearby islands, some of which are as large as Bali, others so tiny and traditional as to refuse automobile presence. The island is centrally located, providing quick access to all sorts of Southeast Asian hubs and travel destinations. There is something for everyone, with easy, fast transitions from one region to another.
Bali is a peaceful place. More than seventy percent of the population is Hindu, striving to do the right thing in this life that they may live well in the next. Thus the most aggressive act you will likely witness is people trying to sell you something, rent you transportation, or get you to eat or drink at their establishment, and this hard sell mentality is mainly found in the tourist towns. Folks are friendly to a fault and will cross the street to chat with you, find out where you are from, where you are headed, and what you think of Bali. If you get lost or ask directions and the person to whom you are speaking does not understand or does not know, you will spend some time convincing them that you don’t mind that they can’t help you, because that person will be apologetic and/ or distraught.
Along with natural variety comes a variety of activities. The main tourist town hosts world-class nightlife. International cuisine choices range from Americanized fast food to exotic local fare, Indian, sushi, Italian, Thai, French, you name it. Famous bars and dance clubs operate until all hours, some opening their doors at midnight and hitting their stride at two or three in the morning. I attended a costume party on New Year’s Eve that was lifestyles of the rich and shameless, complete with a twenty-five foot high glowing eyed aluminum robot (??) in the center of the courtyard and an industrial bubble machine that released its progeny into the night sky to be lit by the ever changing spot and laser lights being beamed to the heavens. In this city and a few of the other main population and tourist centers, accommodations can be had anywhere from ten to a thousand dollars a night, with everything in between. You can live in any style and on any budget you can imagine here. Twenty dollars can comfortably provide food for a day or merely a couple of drinks at a swanky bar. Massages are available at high end health spas and resorts or right on the beach.
Head to Ubud, the funky art and culture town, for a whole new range of activities. Take in the variety of indigenous dance styles and musical performances, from orchestra to fire and trance dancing to morality play to religious scene enactment. The costumes are incredible, the instruments and the sounds they make exotic, the finger wiggling and eyeball rolling disconcertingly unnatural. During daytime in Ubud, shop in one of about fifty thousand art galleries featuring stunningly talented local work. Bali exports tens of millions of dollars of art, furniture, and handicrafts each year, much of it originating from this town nestled in the foothills of the mountainous highlands. Take in one of several museums to get a better understanding of the roots of this art explosion. Go to a culture center to learn the art of mask or fruit carving, basket weaving (no, seriously), Balinesian drumming, dancing, cooking, or talking. Check in at a holistic vegan non-denominational yoga meditation center for a salt scrub hot rock deep tissue colon cleansing kelp flagellation. Or just walk around and watch everyone else doing all of the above.
Outdoor activities abound. High annual rainfall feeds a robust river system that offers seasonal white water rafting. There’s good rock climbing, off roading, hiking, bicycling, volcano exploration, cultural village and countryside tours, and one of the most famous and elephant friendly elephant parks in the world for those inclined towards very large saddles. Then there’s the beach activities like surfing and diving and swimming and snorkeling and just plain zoning out on deserted stretches of sand.
Once out of the cities, the serenity is sublime. Small villages and family compounds dot the countryside. Each village has three temples, and every compound, often shared by two or three families, has a shrine. Some temples are famous for an unusual natural feature, like the bat cave temple built into the side of a mountain that is home to thousands of bats. Others are famous for their man-made splendor, such as the water temple with its myriad fountains and stepping stone walkways leading to the temple proper. Beautiful basalt and concrete statuary and decorative structure is literally everywhere, at every entrance to every building, along walls and sidewalks, in street alcoves. The statues depict animals, spirits, gods, animal spirit gods, some smiling and jovial, some menacing, some serene. Temple structures and towers adorned with decorative flourishes are on every street and in every village. Most building and compound entrances are high basalt structures with projecting decorative layers, shorn in half lengthwise down the middle and split apart to form the entryway. People place small woven palm frond baskets filled with offerings to the gods of colored sticky rice, incense, sweets, and flowers in front of these statues, edifices, and entrances; the placement of the offerings is a captivating, intricate process involving private, silent prayer, sprinkling of holy water using specific hand gestures and a flower, and lighting of the incense. Streets and buildings are fragrant with the smell of burning incense and fresh flowers.
There are rice paddies everywhere in the countryside. Some of the stepped, irrigated terraces are thousands of years old. Emerald green fields of young rice shoots are interspersed with waving golden patches of ripe plants, freshly tilled, fertile brown sections ready for flooding and planting, and black piles of slashed and burned chaff. Cattle till and fertilize the soil. Groups of farmers harvest ripe rice, beat the stalks, and sift the kernels for drying. Ducks wander the freshly harvested paddies, unwittingly and foolishly fattening themselves on leftover rice and bugs. Save for the brightly colored t-shirts on the paddy tenders and an occasional tractor, the idyllic, tranquil agrarian scenes could be from any point in the history of human food cultivation. Standing on a vista, absorbing this view of unhurried, uncomplicated life empties the mind of modern concerns and problems, transporting the observer to a distant, simple life.
Okay, enough general gushing. I will try to be more specific in upcoming entries, supply a few pictures, that sort of thing. Let me close, probably six paragraphs late, by reiterating that there is something for every traveler on any budget on the isle of Bali and that you will enjoy yourself thoroughly if you go.

Back on the Air

Much thanks to those of you who have written to haze me for my woeful lack of new blog content. I had trouble getting my head around Bali and writing about it when I returned to Truk, and have been immersed since my return in pretending like I know how to drive a very large boat. Glad to have the encouragement to write from those among the faithful, so on with some Bali rantings. I hope the new year finds you all well and happy.