BALI
CULTURAL INSIGHTS
One possible obstacle for more thoughtful holidaymakers in Bali is that the culture is somewhat opaque to outsiders. If you holiday in Spain or France, as a Brit, you’re aware of a similar religious and cultural history. To the untrained eye, however, one temple can look a lot like another. But Hinduism here varies not only from
ABOVE: Rice terrace LEFT: Pura Taman Saraswati Temple, Ubud
emerging from the jungle here inland make it all unmistakably Balinese. Even in these rarefied quarters,
however, surprises lurk. In the spa, I am beaten, scrubbed, rubbed and dried. But only after one particularly heavy night on the lychee martinis do I actually nod off.
For those wanting to explore, the usual array of tours, performances, boat rides and blessings are available. A massage from a local blind healer has an unexpected effect on me. Perhaps it’s the strangeness of the situation: lying still as the healer’s assistant guides her to my soft, office-trained body. For such a small woman the healer’s grip is unbelievably strong. She zeroes in to the spaces between my toes and the backs of my calves, where
I didn’t even know I was so tense. It hurts – and not in a “that’s fine” way but in a grimace and tense way. The speed with which she finds the sensitive areas, apparently different from person to person, awakens some lumbering sense in my brain: the suspicion that perhaps some knowledge can’t be gleaned from Google. The realisation of which leads me to
sign up for the volcano trek, the sweaty dawn hike without a visible dawn. By all accounts it should have been a frustrating morning, but as the jungle came back to life and we sat down to the picnic breakfast waiting for us, I could hardly have been happier. A little exertion followed by a lot of
relaxation in luxurious surroundings – the perfect combination.
aspire december 2016 — 51
island to island but village to village. So a little background information goes a long way. Take, for example, the traditional orientation of Balinese architecture, a consequence of the island’s unique blend of Hinduism, Buddhism and animism. Rather than structured around the points of the compass, the Balinese take their lead from the opposing points of kaja and kelod, meaning ‘to the mountain’ (sacred) and ‘to the sea’ (profane). It explains why the volcanos are held in such esteem. The shrine or temple is at the top of the house and the animals are kept at the bottom. This structure is reflected in the layout of towns too. Nobody wants their holiday to turn into
a history lesson, but a basic briefing, or a tour with a guide who appreciates the strangeness of much of this to an outsider, can help you settle into Balinese life.
PICTURES: CORBIS;
EYESONASIA.NET; RM NUNES PHOTOGRAPHY; SHUTTERSTOCK
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