Bali Blog

I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to take a vacation in Bali, Indonesia with my daughter Mairin for 2 weeks in late September and early October. It was the first time to Bali for both of us.

The people are gentle, kind and friendly – even the drivers are considerate. They are happy to share their religion and welcome foreigners (dressed appropriately) to participate in festivals, blessings and to explore their temples and holy sites. Mairin and I had the incredible good fortune to spend an evening with the designer of the Marcia and L. Bates Lea Asian Garden, Made Wijaya. Made dressed us in traditional Balinese togs and we attended an incredible festival with 20 barongs (a powerful force for good in the battle of good and evil – the barongs look somewhat like the lions in the Chinese Lion Dance but much scarier) and hundreds of musicians. I apologize for the very simplistic interpretation of an elegant and complex story.

At the core of the Balinese culture is the need to give daily offerings to the gods. The offering plates are woven from coconut palm fronds, filled with flowers and placed on shrines, around the home and business – even on the dashboards of taxis. When we were there the flowers being used for offerings were frangipanis, bougainvillea, marigold petals and hydrangea. Every offering also included some shredded fragrant pandanus and some might have a coin or small bill as well. Everywhere you go you see these floral offerings, even at the entrance to your hotel room or on your balcony. Perhaps this daily contact with flowers and the daily gift to higher powers is part of the reason the Balinese people have such a positive outlook.

One of the traits I admire of this island’s “personality” is that very little goes to waste. In some areas rice straw is used to thatch the roof – in other areas it is coconut fronds. Ducks keep the rice paddies clear of insects and deposit a little fertilizer as well. Roadside weeds are collected, bundled and carted off by scooter to feed the family’s livestock.

I think the island’s “personality” is also influenced by the extensive opportunities for creativity. Bali is a place where, from a young age, people create art everyday. The craft industry in Bali is alive and well with beautiful weaving, batik, paintings and carvings widely available. It is interesting that while massage is a regular family activity, it is really in poor taste to touch another person and it is taboo to touch someone on the head.

I’m just about blogged out but I wanted to mention that Bali is essentially a chain of volcanic mountains and as a result there is tremendous variability in the weather from a torrid 95 degrees at the beach to 65 or so at the higher points – making for an incredible diversity of plants that can be grown including grapes and consequently wine. Yes, I have had both Balinese white and rose – my take on Balinese wines? They can’t compete with the pinot gris from Madagascar!