Bali is a little island just to the east of the island of Java where Jakarta is located. And even though Bali is just a short hour and fifteen minute plane flight from Jakarta and the islands of Bali and Java are only separated by a short distance, the two places seem like worlds apart despite being a part of the same country. I was surprised at the different "feel" that Bali had. I guess I was expecting it to be like the beach areas on Java but I couldn't have been further from the truth. It definitely lived up to all the hype the little island had received from all the expats and even local Indonesians who had been encouraging us to visit. So what was Bali like and why is it so different? Well...
Once we got to the baggage claim area, I noticed the first big difference between Jakarta and Bali. We were definitely not as much of a minority. There were tourists galore. White people everywhere. In fact as our vacation progressed and we visited some of the tourist spots, I would say the Balinese people were more of a minority in those places. And there wasn't the same expectation from the locals that we know some Bahasa Indonesia. In fact they were usually surprised that we could speak some of the local language.
Then as soon as we stepped out of the airport, we were greeted with some of the bluest skies I have seen in awhile and were warmly welcomed by a representative from our hotel who had come to pick us up and take us to the hotel. Upon leaving the airport, I immediately noticed the slower pace of life, less traffic, less horn honking, fewer motorcyles. The streets were not crowded with shops instead the shops were set back off the road. The roads themselves were so much better in general with fewer potholes. The landscape was not littered with buildings. And it didn't seem as though there were people just wandering or walking around everywhere. These were just my observations on the drive from the airport to the hotel.
Our hotel was about an hour drive from the airport situated on the west coast of Bali. It was more isolated from the touristy areas aside from the temple that was located near by that drew crowds at sunset each day. It was a beautiful property perched on kind of a cliff by the ocean and surrounded by rice terraces and a few holes of a really nice golf course. The name of the hotel is Le Meridien Nirwana Spa and Golf Resort, in case you want to look up their website and read more about it. Hopefully you have been able to look at some of the pictures I posted earlier.
Our vacation on the island also brought us to a more crowded and busy tourist spot in Kuta. Being on a stretch of beach where surfers abound, it reminded me of a California beach town. It drew alot of the younger folks and the older ones trying to relive their youth. The streets were busy with people walking up and down them and shopping.
Another major influence on the island is its Hindu religious culture. While Indonesia has a 90% Moslem population, the people of the island of Bali are mostly Hindu. So gone were the mosques with their loud speaker prayer calls 5 times a day. Those were replaced with temples where it always seemed like there was some kind of ceremony going on or music being played. And as part of the Hindu religion, the people make frequent offerings, I guess, because everywhere you went you would see little palm frond baskets with various food or flowers in them. They would sometimes be placed on little "alters" throughout the island, at businesses or in peoples' yards. Or they would just in placed on the sidewalks, on park benches, near the entrance to a restaurant or places of business. Our driver had one on the dashboard of his car one day he drove us around. The Hindus also seemed to care more about the environment which led in part to a cleaner Bali and were more gentle in nature.
The last thing I wanted to mention about Bali is how modern it seemed. Despite Jakarta being the capital of Indonesia, Bali was definitely further into the 21st century. It is an island which offers the resorts and ammenities that any discerning traveler would be looking for while keeping the important cultural charm. Justin pointed out that this was probably due to the fact that Bali receives a large amount of the country's tourism money to make improvements.
So have I convinced you to come visit us and see Bali? We are always looking for a good reason to go back!
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