march-2010

TRAVEL BALI
the main market holds pride of place. Early in the morning,
it belongs to the Balinese, who come to do their daily shopping
in a colourful and jumbled mish-mash of stalls selling freshfrom-the-garden
vegetables, handmade knives from Trunyan,
traditional medicines, fl owers and spiritual offerings. After 9am
or so, the tourists tend to arrive, looking for quality souvenirs,
batik (the colourful, patterned local cloth), and local crafts.
And the prevalence of galleries is testament to the inspiration
that can come from a beautiful landscape and having the time
to think.
Some of these are vast, like the ARMA Art Museum, which
is almost a work of art in itself. Built on hectares of green
gardens and impressive stone buildings, it portrays a Bali that
exists only in the imagination of its builder and a few of the
ancient palaces. As well as housing important art collections,
ARMA is a cultural centre dedicated to preserving and
explaining local traditions. The owner, Agung Rai, is an Ubud
icon who started his career selling paintings to tourists in Kuta
in the early 1970s.
And the artists now share the island with those
seeking a more spiritual form of inspiration. Bali, and Ubud in
particular, has become a New Age hub of yogaphiles, seekers
and spiritual tourists, and many have pretty exclusive tastes.
Outside Ubud’s main village, the hinterland is dotted with
high-end retreats, where the well-to-do and worn out focus their
breaks around health and yoga. For city slickers, the spiritually
stressed out, or those who just feel they need more time to stop
and think, it can be a blissful escape. The Como Shambhala, a
beautiful health retreat high in the hills, attracts high achievers
like Donna Karen, who come for weeks at a time to cleanse,
detox, eat raw food and practise yoga in comfortable seclusion.
This focus on relaxation has helped to make the island the
spa capital of Asia, and treatments can range from the simplicity
of a massage or fl ower bath in a small local spa, to exotic oils,
wraps and scrubs at luxury hotels. There just seems to be
something in the air that encourages relaxation.
And the trend for fi xing body and mind here has also
spawned a local industry dedicated to healthy food. Enzymerich,
raw and organic foods can be found all over town, supplied
by an infrastructure of organic farms that are typically run by
Balinese and foreigners together.
54 Holland Herald FAST
“The Bali surf is among the
best on the planet”
But there is room for gastronomic indulgence too. No break
should be entirely dedicated to ‘wellness’ after all, and the gentle
pace of Balinese life ensures that meals become a slow process to
be enjoyed and savoured. Ubud’s international restaurants offer
plenty of palate-pleasing options, while local Indonesian (and
specifi cally Balinese) food is spicy and memorable. The best
examples of the latter are found in simple local structures called
warungs. At these casual and authentic little food huts, visitors
will fi nd the best and most deliciously authentic fl avours of Bali,
none of which have been altered for tourist tastes.