I specifically avoided it to get an unbiased view of Bali and its people. I'm curious, of course. I'm sure that whichever script writer for Star Trek: The Next Generation came up the pleasure planet of Raisa, they had visited Bali. I hadn't even been here at the time, but it made me think of this place.
I was fortunate enough to spend about three and a half days there. Very little time in all, but enough to come up with a sense of the people, Ubud, and a bit of the rural life. The fact I didn't go to Kuta and its surrounding areas has no bearing on my ideas, because they aren't the real Bali; they're tourist havens of hotels, discos and mini-marts.
To me, Bali's magic is a combination of
- Its people. They really are kind, and friendly, and like to
make you happy. From the hotel manager right down to the guy sweeping the flowers off the stones, everyone calls out and says hello, how are you - and means it.
- Their religion, which permeates everything they do, and even scents the air.
- Its tropical, open-air sensibility - as few walls as possible, I would call it.
- Its value. The US dollar goes a long way in Bali; you can stay in accommodations around Ubud that would be four or five times as expensive in, say, Hawaii.
- Its handcrafted attention to detail. The tourist accommodations and restaurants around Ubud are beautifully designed, and everywhere you look there's handcarved wood, or stone, or thatch, or furniture. Sometimes it's overwhelming.
They're still a poor people of course; you can't blame them for trying to make a buck, er, rupiah, off of tourists that can afford it.
I've posted a lot of photos to http://picasaweb.google.com/sean.deuby, to add images to my descriptions.
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