BALI  - A GIFT OF NATURE

By Commander GP Mallya (retd)

It has been variously described as “Island of Gods”, “Heaven on Earth” or simply “A tropical Paradise” by many discerning tourists from all the World. It has been rated as “The Best Island to Holiday in” consistently for last 4 years by the World Travel Authority. It is a small island with about 10 lakh population in Indonesia.

Bali is blessed with the sheer beauty of nature with which Bali is endowed. Being a tropical island, the greenery is everywhere.  Coconut palms are everywhere and the large size coconuts and cheap and contain enough water to quench the thirst of at least two persons! In the mountainous regions of north Bali, terraces have been cut along the mountain side to make paddy fields. It is ingenious engineering since no machines are used. It is sheer muscle power which is used first to build the terraces and then  plough them and  feed water to them from the mountain streams. In fact these “rice terraces” by themselves are a work of art, cutting geometric and intricate patterns along the mountain side as seen in the accompanying pictures. No space is wasted and I found some tiny rice terraces containing just 20 rice plants..Rains being bountiful, Balinese raise minimum 2 crops a year if not three as I learnt in many places. They respect rice (like we do back at home) and almost all offerings to the Gods contain either raw rice, boiled rice or some sweet offerings made of rice. Buffaloes are used to plough larger terraces but otherwise it is sheer manpower which is used to carry out all the tough work. Though modernity is touching Bali, I found out that there have not been serious shortage of manpower to work in the fields unlike in Coastal Karnataka where such manpower is difficult to come by. In fact, Bali reminds one of home particularly of our own Dakshina Kannada due to the greenery and the abundance of tropical produce. Even the typical houses are covered with Mangalore tiled roofs including large buildings and ware houses.

(Image : Baisakhi - one of the 22 Temples)

The monsoons are heavy and long starting from October lasting about 5 months and that explains the tiled roofs and the three rice crops. Most of the people who are otherwise engaged in tourism industry shift to agriculture during the lean time so that they continue to earn their daily bread.   eruptions.  The traditional Balinese dress is Sarong (a sort of lungi made of Cotton or silk) wrapped around the waist common for men and women whereas women wear blouses and men cotton jackets or shirts on the upper body. Men usually have a head dress something like a hankey but made of silk which covers the periphery of the scalp but leaves central portion exposed.

Among the traditional dance forms in Bali, there is a fire dance usually played only in the evenings near the temples, which has no music but about 40 bare chested men with head dresses clustered around a stone lamp and constantly chanting prompted by a head man . In between the Ramayana episode of “Seeta haran”(Kidnapping of Seeta) is played with Ravana, Maricha, Ram , Laxman and Jatayu all making their appearance. Strikingly similar to Yakshagana but without music. The enclosed snaps tell their own story.

(Image : Balinese fire dance)

The best way to see the island is by taxi hired for the entire day. Public transport is poor and cannot be relied upon.  There are hundreds of hotels, villas and other forms of accommodation in Bali from 5 star to the lowly guest house types. There are numerous travel agencies who provide cars which can carry from 2 people to 20 people and charged accordingly. The cars are all a/c and the driver and petrol is included in the deal. The charges vary from about 70 USD for 6 hours to 80 US dollars for 10 hour. Usually the driver is also the guide. Most Balinese speak English , Japanese and German quite well due to tourism. The local language is called Bhasa Indonesia. US dollar is widely accepted and so are credit cards. One USD is approximately 9400 Indonesian Rupiah. Since the island is not very large probably in three days all the sites could be covered unless one is the adventurous type and wants to indulge in water sports or beach sports which are available in plenty. There is also elephant safari, trekking and cycling expeditions to be followed in the mountainous north Bali. The active volcano in the island which is dormant for now is called Kintamani and is a tourist site. The area below the volcano is filled with water and forms a lake called lake Bartan on which the famous water temple Ulun Dan is located.

In Bali, whole village is dedicated to a particular type of art form. For example, if you go to village Celuk, you will find houses after houses selling home made silver and gold jewellery whereas entire Mas village is full of wood carvings only . Similarly in village Ubud one finds paintings, kites and other forms of wall paintings in the house after house. To save on taxes and rents, the houses themselves double up as shops and hence there are hardly an organised shops in the literary sense  in the villages. The quality of the handicrafts is really impressive and all Balians are game for bargains...so bargain like hell they wont mind...they will not frown upon you...discounts are dime a dozen if you ask for it.

(Image : Balinese children in tirtha empul)

(Image : Hot Springs)

(Image: Git Git water fall - North Bali)

(Image : Green , green and more greenery...everywhere...)

We did the following three circuits and covered almost all sites:

First circuit: Batubulan village for Barong and Kris dance, Celuk village for silver and gold jewellery, Tegallagang for Rice terraces , Mas for wood carvings and Ubud artistic village. Kintamani volcano tour, Ulun Dan water temple with Lake Batran and Tirta Empul (Tampak Sering) or the holy spring and back to the hotel.

Second circuit:  Tanah lot (sea temple) whose sunset is world famous, Monkey forest, hanging bats in bat caves of Alas Kedaton, Lovina beach. Even the monkeys are friendly, climbing all over you and begging for the food but never turning nasty or biting. There is also a Goa Gaja (elelphant cave) an exquisite stone carved cave temple consisting of shiv ling on one side and Buddha statue on the other!

Third circuit: North Bali tour comprising of Singaraja (old capital), Git Git water fall, Banjar village for hot springs, Jimbaran beach for shack food, and Baisakhi mother temple ( a huge complex comprising of more than 22 temples of various shapes and sizes).This takes longest time due to the travelling time involved.

Overall the Bali trip left a lasting impression on us for the sheer natural beauty the sights, the beaches, the temples and most of all the people themselves. It is one of a life time experience not to be missed.

(Image : look at the splendid decoration)

(Image : Monkey in ...where else ... monkey forest)

(Image : Ram & Seeta in Balinese Ramayan )