02 May 2024

 

Bali

We offer a wide choice of cheap flights to Bali together with Bali hotels, tours and self-drive itineraries.

Beatiful Bali looks back to the future

Not long ago, Bali was reeling from an appalling terrorist attack. Now, as the scars heal, it is a reborn holiday destination as idyllic as ever - as Fiona Duncan discovered

Bali - Workers in the Bali rice fields Bali - Luxury massage at the Oberoi Bali Bali - A traditional Bali temple

1 Workers in the Bali rice fields 2 Luxury massage at the Oberoi Bali 3 A traditional Bali temple

'THE PAST TWO YEARS HAVE been long and painful,’ said a shopkeeper in Ubud. ‘But, suddenly things are getting brighter. Now we can look forward not back.’

For good reason. The second anniversary of the Bali bombing was marked by a solemn ceremony at the site in Kuta. The Foreign Office no longer advises against going. Bali is back. But, if like me you had never been to Bali in the first place, what does that mean? At first it seemed a long way for a beach holiday. There are no direct flights from the UK to the island of Bali, 87 by 50 miles of volcanic mountains, rainforest, rice terraces, fast-flowing rivers and palm-fringed beaches.

Garlands of frangipani

But the discomfort of a 12- hour flight to Singapore, plus a further two hours on to Denpasar, Bali’s capital, melted away with the smiles and the garlands of frangipani with which we were greeted.

Kindness and a gentle nature characterise the Balinese. Which is not to say that Bali, or any rate, South Bali, is an unsullied paradise. On the way to our hotel on Seminyak beach, we crawled through trafficclogged streets adorned by McDonalds’ signs and huge advertising hoardings. Haphazard development scars much of the densely-populated southern region. But it is the island’s hub, with the finest beaches and the best shops, restaurants, bars and clubs.

Bali has long been the haunt of celebrities. Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall married here; David Bowie is a regular and it has a glitzy expatriate community. With a constant temperature of about 30°C and a forgiving But the discomfort of a 12- hour flight to Singapore, plus a further two hours on to Denpasar, Bali’s capital, melted away with the smiles and the garlands of frangipani with which we were greeted. Kindness and a gentle nature characterise the Balinese. Which is not to say that Bali, or any rate, South Bali, is an unsullied paradise. On the way to our hotel on Seminyak beach, we crawled through traffic clogged streets adorned by rainy season (October - March)

Bali is a year-round destination where celebrities, clubbers, backpackers and families are equally well catered for. If you’re seeking a romantic idyll, you can have that too. Kuta and its heaving beach are best left to the young, but there are many less frenetic highlights.


There are the beach shack restaurants of Jimbaran Bay, where, barefoot in the sand, we ate barbecued fish by candlelight; the island temple of Tanah Lot, magical at sunset; the laidback resorts of Sanur and Candidasa; and the sophisticated shops and restaurants of Seminayak (such as Ku-de-ta, The Living Room and Café Warisan). We would have been quite happy not to move: lounging by the pool or boogie-boarding in the surf that pounds the acres of white sand fronting the hotel.

Garden bathrooms

There are newer, even more sybaritic, luxury hotels than ours in Bali (the Bali Oberoi opened in 1978), but we were happy. Thatched rooms and pool villas, each with a Balinese ‘garden bathroom’ with sunken bath, are scattered about lawns studded with magnificent trees. But Bali beckoned. Even the most diehard sun-and-surf addicts could not fail to be enchanted by Balinese culture and the way the Bali Hindu religion is stitched seamlessly into life. Everywhere there were processions and ceremonies in traditional dress, household shrines, temples, offerings of flowers in little palm-leaf baskets and of towers of fruit carried on women’s heads. It’s all a question of balance. The belief that the world is composed of opposing forces, positive and negative, good and evilwhich must always be balanced, dominates life.

Ancestors must be honoured with family shrines and gods and demons appeased. We hired a driver with an airconditioned four-wheel drive to take us off the beaten track (£50 a day); we trekked through forest past scampering monkeys and spice trees; we freewheeled on mountain bikes past emerald rice terraces. A few miles north of Denpasar, lies Ubud, the focus of Balinese arts and crafts. Here in the villages, each one dedicated to a different craft (woodcarving, painting, silverwork, ceramics, batik, ikat, or tie-dyed weaving) we polished off our Christmas shopping list.

Place of pilgrimage

Balinese massages at £8 an hour set us up for more sightseeing and less lazing. Eating out in Indonesia is absurdly cheap – lunch for two with beer at less than £5.


Bali is renowned for scubadiving off the north coast, near the town of Lovina; tropical fish await divers at the site of a shipwreck. Back on terra, you can ride Sumatran elephants. A visit to Bali should be combined with seeing Lombok, the island next along in the great chain that makes up Indonesia. We flew out of Denpasar and arrived half-an-hour later. Lombok is Bali as it was 30 years ago. It has an innocence that made us wish we were staying longer. People daydream on shaded wooded platforms called bales; the indigenous Sasak women wear beautiful headscarves and sarongs; there are houses on stilts, colourful markets and local crafts. The highest volcanic mountain, Gunung Rinjani, towers over all. Its beautiful crater lake is a place of pilgrimage and is the climax of a two-day trek. Hedonists should head to Medana Beach in the north-west and the Lombok Oberoi. It’s a place for dreaming. Huge reflective pools encase a 40-metre swimming pool and drop away in terraces to the sea. There are chaises longues and white umbrellas among soaring palms, soothing spa treatments and barbecues by candlelight on the beach. Across the bay lies a string of sparkling, emerald-green rocks – the magical Gili islands. The hotel keeps a boat on standby for guests to explore them; you’re there after a halfhour chug over crystal waters.

If Bali feels a world removed from home and Lombok a paradise even beyond Bali, imagine how far away you feel luxuriating on the Gili beaches. Eventually it’s time to head back, via some snorkelling. Jump overboard and you’re beneath the waters where giant turtles twist and glide, sending kaleidoscopic fish darting away into sanctuaries of pink coral. Don’t touch the coral, mind. It kills it and can hurt you. Back at the hotel, chef Dan Smith’s cooking is fragrant and inventive. But it’s the local staff who distinguish this hideaway. Attentive to a fault, they radiate warmth and charm in a way much more to do with instinct and personality than training. There’s a direct flight from Singapore to Lombok. When I go back, I might ring the changes and mellow out in Lombok for a week, then go to Bali for the buzz. The two combined make the journey seem a mere trifle.

This article was featured in the February 2005 DialAFlight magazine and originally published in the Daily Mail. All information was correct at time of going to print.

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