IN THE land of a thousand temples, the islanders, mostly Hindus, slaughter cows to feed tourists, reserving only the white cows for their religious practices.
Tourism is the mainstay of the Balinese. Putu, our tour guide, says repeatedly: "If tourists don't come, the Balinese have no salary, which means no money to buy food."
The "tourist police", a common sight, keep the peace and help visitors.
Thirty-six-year-old Putu is a gentle amiable soul who speaks slowly and is never agitated, even when clearly exhausted at 10pm after accompanying our group the entire day.
He should have been home much earlier to mark a festival dedicated to the Balinese god of knowledge with his family of four - one wife, he stresses, and nine-year-old twin boys.
He says that the Balinese used to have more than one wife and 20 or more kids.
While recounting how he trekked with a guest up the 1,770m-high Mount Batur, an active volcano which last erupted in 2000, he jokes: "When we cook in the mountain, we don't use chilli, because the air is already so chilly."
A display of Balinese culture and art.
The Balinese are surrounded by temples. Putu says there are 5,000 villages and each village has three temples. Each family in the village has a family temple. His village has 142 families and he knows everyone by name.
Putu shares that some European guests who spent six days or more with him left with tears in their eyes because they were leaving behind the beauty they found in Bali. That is the enduring allure of the place, which radiates a warmth that touches the heart and is steeped in a culture of respect that marks the Balinese.
Art is a way of life here too.
The first stop on the tour was an hour-long Barong and Kris dance. It is a play with dialogue, drama and comical antics. The traditional Balinese orchestra at the side of the stage accompanies the perfomance. The music picks up the pace during the epic fights and mellows at plaintive moments.
The Barong and Kris dance.
We went to Mount Kintamani to see the volcano Mount Batur and the crater lake; the Mother Temple, said to be the biggest temple in Indonesia; a silverwork shop; Kuta, where there is plentiful shopping and nightlife; and finally Jimbaran Beach for a delicious seafood dinner by candlelight.
All over the island are many shops selling intricate lava stone and limestone sculptures, woodcarvings, paintings, silverwork, handicraft and batik. Each village has a speciality, and collectors can go straight to the villages that have the art pieces they want.
At around 11pm, on the way back to the luxurious Melia Bali Villas & Spa Resort where we stayed, Putu broke into a "song of farewell" with Auld Lang Syne. He was earnest and not in the least bit shy. There were no theatrics, just a telling sincerity.
Smiles and friendly folk warm the heart in Bali.
On the Lion Air flight back to Singapore at midnight the next day, I thought of Putu and the friendly Balinese folk and hoped that a little of the Balinese heart had rubbed off on my city-bred soul.
This trip was sponsored by Lion Air (www.lionair.com.sg).
This article was first published in Value Vacations, The Straits Times on July 8, 2008.
