Bali - Destination Guide

About Bali

Bali is so picturesque that you could be fooled into thinking it was a painted backdrop: rice paddies trip down hillsides like giant steps, volcanoes soar through the clouds, the forests are lush and tropical, and the beaches are lapped by the warm waters of the Indian Ocean.

But the paradise gloss has been manufactured and polished by the international tourist industry rather than by the Balinese themselves - who don't even have a word for paradise in their language - and it pays scant regard to the political and economic reality of life on Bali.

The 2002 Kuta bombing marred Bali's tropical loveland image, and for some time the island, heavily dependant on the tourist dollar, fell into decline. These days it's undergoing a cautious renaissance - although still vulnerable to extremist attack, it's too delicious a spot to remain deserted for long.

Warning

Prior to the evening of Saturday 12 October 2002, Bali was the glittering jewel in the deteriorating crown of Indonesia. A series of precision bomb attacks aimed at Western holiday-makers claimed 203 lives - many of them tourists - and left many hundreds more injured. The Sari Club, near popular Kuta Beach, bore the brunt of the attack when an explosion ripped through just before midnight. The bombing was carried out by Muslim extremists with links to al-Qaida.

The tourism-dependent Balinese economy has suffered since, but the Balinese are picking up the pieces. There have been no further terrorist attacks on the island, but there is always a remote possibility, as there'll always be non-Balinese extremists who look on the island as a den of iniquity. Consult your foreign affairs department for more information prior to venturing anywhere in Indonesia.

Area: 5,620 sq km
Population: 3 million
People: 95% ethnic Balinese, plus Javanese minority
Language: Indonesian, English
Religion: 95% Balinese Hindu, plus Muslim and Christian minorities

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