"Outlying Balinese villages" Bali by Ramonq

For outsiders, this triangular-shaped island among the 13,000 islands that comprise the Indonesian archipelago, conjures up images of exotic tropical paradise clouded in ancient spiritual mysticism. Bali is the most popular destination in Indonesia for tourists, and it is home to the largest Hindu population in Southeast Asia. While most of Indonesia is Islamic, Bali has retained it's Hindu culture that dates back to an era before Islam came to the East Indies. The Hindu empires that reached the shores of Indonesia from India arrived much earlier than the Arab merchants who have converted most of Indonesia into Islam. Bali is set apart from the rest of the country that can visibly seen from the cultural differences in the form of architecture, rituals, music and arts that are uniquely Balinese, quite apart from the original Indian version of Hinduism.

Bali is a classic Asian destination which many travellers love to experience. Its lifestyle is so different that it attracts so many curious travellers from the West where plane-loads of tourists descend into the island to experience the Bali magic. Tourism has become Bali's biggest industry and many puritans have lamented that it has changed the culture completely. In the city of Denpasar and the popular beachside town of Kuta, you can forget the image of the mystical and exotic Bali. The area has been modernised to cater for tourists, such as markets, shops, bars, restaurants, hotels and resorts. Many tourists hang around these popular beach resorts to take advantage of the nightlife and entertainment that would cost more than double back home. Kuta, Jimbaran, Seminyak and even Legian are the centres of mass tourism in Bali, and they are all located on the southeastern part of the island. Then there are the quieter tourist spots such as Sanur and Nusa Dua (the upmarket area for foreigners), which are located on the southwestern parts of the island. But these enclaves for the tourists belie the reasons for what makes Balli unique because they isolate themselves from the people and its culture. In a way it is a form of escapism from the daily grind in modern big cities.

On the way to a temple

However, it's in the hinterlands, around the Central and northern highlands where one can still experience the authentic Balinese rural lifestyle. The day to day life of the Balinese are still practiced here which have been handed down for many generations, even before the infamous Berliner spy, Mata-Hari, set foot here in the 1920's when Indonesia was called the Dutch East Indies.

The legend of Bali rose to its peak during the early 20th century when Hollywood discovered the island as a wild and exotic setting for its films. Although films like King Kong and On the Road to Bali were shot inside Hollywood studios, the viewing public became interested in visiting Bali one day. European painters and bohemians in the 1920's, made pilgrimage to the island of Bali and produced works that romanticised the island as the paradise on earth, and so the legend lived on. Bali in fact learned from the Western incursions. The dramatic chuka-chuka dance complete with long knives, fire and brimstone is actually a pigment of Hollywood's imagination which the Balinese have now adopted as their own.

Offerings

Can Bali withstand the onslaught of outside influences? With westerners from Sydney to Stockholm treating the island as a playground for hedonism, and Islamic extremists from the neighbouring islands undermining the Bali's tourism industry, the Balinese still have their strong spiritually to withstand these pressures. Their culture and spirituality is what keeps them going and identifies themselves apart from the outsider. Much of their rituals and customs are derived from these factors and it is futile to take that away from them.

So even though modernity is creeping in, especially in Denpasar, the pressure to maintain their unique culture is very strong. Balinese women who wear jeans and t-shirts in the main city, head back to their villages and put on their traditional attire. I've met younger generation Balinese who are still learning the arts and crafts of their forefathers. So the Balinese culture is in safe hands.

• Pros:Unique lifestyle
• Cons:Large areas to cover
• In a nutshell:Timeless culture on the crossroads