Misadventure in Paradise

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Oct 2, 2000 | by Tiffany Danitz

Although Bali long has enjoyed an almost mythical reputation for great beauty, it has suffered from the same economic ill winds that have plagued much of Indonesia in the nineties.

A beleaguered fleet of Dutch war ships, its crew of 90 men down from the 249 who set sail 14 months prior, landed on a South Pacific island in 1597. Tired from a difficult journey, the sailors were charmed with their haven and the people who inhabited it, returning to Holland with tales of a rotund king who enjoyed 200 wives and rode a chariot drawn by white buffalo. The myth of Bali was born.

But time has taken a toll on this fabled Indonesian paradise. If today's tourists venture beyond the golf-course resorts, many built on the eve of the Asian economic collapse, they will find hotels and beach towns frozen like faded pictures in a dog-eared brochure.

Pristine, sun-swept beaches? Tourists can't enjoy the surf on the western side of the island because it's too rough, nor can they relax on the eastern shore, crowded as it is with relentless local entrepreneurs pawning everything from massages to handmade chess sets. The ever-hopeful solicitors are everywhere, even the Hindu temples.

The traditional tourist havens -- Kuta for the Australian surfers and Sanur for European effetes -- suffer from neglect. (In general, Kuta should be avoided by anyone other than peripatetic college kids on spring break.) Take the La Tarverna Bali Hotel, described in Lonely Planet Guide as "attractive." During my stay in August, the rooms were pungent, empty wine bottles topped the trash and the kingly rotund bath tub seemed better suited for a Niagara Falls honeymoon suite. At the reception desk, a French couple heatedly argued with the manager about the cost of cocktails. "You do not even know how to make a cock-a-tail," declaimed the woman, an insult that prompted the manager to call the cops, despite that his guests reminded him they had been regulars since 1985.

Likewise, the Sativa Sanur Cottages -- "Right on the beach, it has stylish rooms and is attractively arranged around a swimming pool and gardens," declared The Lonely Planet Guide -- was less than what one might expect. The Petite Suite (advertised as two floors) opened onto a linoleum-covered staircase leading to a small living area furnished with sofas and chairs la Laura Petrie.

Don't misunderstand, there still are adventures to be had in paradise. Cascading terraced rice paddies converge in palm-tree groves divided by rushing rivers. The commanding waves of the Indian Ocean break onto black-sand beaches. Volcanoes demand attention.

After a day of touring Isle Agung Mount ("Home of the Gods" a 2,147-square-mile island topped by an active volcano) and Pura Besakih (the Hindu temple which lies on its slopes), venture down the mountain to Sideman and stay in the Sacred Mountain Sanctuary, the essence of unspoiled Bali. Intricate gardens conceal bamboo villas, with outdoor bathrooms lined with volcanic rock, sunken marble tubs and rock showers. The southern hemisphere's stars and the Milky Way can be taken in from the hot tub which lies just below a gorgeous spring-fed pool. The pool itself is worth the stay, its bottom studded with tiny lights -- water stars -- that look as if they are reflecting the heavens. Rooms range in price from $80 to $130, but prices in Bali are always negotiable.

Bali has plenty of small towns with streets lined with shops selling teak patio furniture and antiques "made to order," but there's also Tanah Lot, an ancient Hindu temple perched atop a rock jutting upward out of the Indian Ocean -- a scene made for sundowns. Maybe Hollywood's overexposed cinematography has prepackaged paradise for American tourists, but there's still some of the real thing left.

Nevertheless, Hawaii and Fiji offer tourists with preconceived visions of paradise and all the scenery they require minus the nearly 30-hour flight from the United States to Bali. Unless seeking a spiritual haven, or a diverse people, it may be best to leave Bali to the Aussies and expatriates of Europe and Southeast Asia.