Story & Photos By Stan Wawer
Bali is an Indonesian island with swaying palm trees, lush terraced rice fields and waves that have lured surfers for decades. The native Balinese are happy, warm, good-hearted and comfortable with their spiritual riches.
Bali, with its population of about five million, has been a vacation haven for Aussies, Brits and Americans for more than 30 years. Kuta Beach, where most of the tourists hang out, is not unlike most beach towns along the Southern California coast. It is clean and lined with local shops and shops from around the world. Kuta Beach has a MacDonald’s, a Burger King and a Starbucks. Its six-mile-long crescent-shaped beach is famous for its stunning equatorial sunsets, topless European women, guitar strummers and vendors selling everything from massages, cheap jewelry and chilled fruit.
Legian Street is Kuta’s nightlife boulevard. It is here that the town’s two most famous nightclubs — Paddy’s Bar and the Sari Club across the street — once burned the late-night and early-morning candles.
On Oct. 12, 2002, terrorists’ bombs shattered the Balinese lifestyle. The first went off inside Paddy’s and the second in a van outside the foreigners-only Sari Club. The body count was 202 dead and 324 seriously injured. Among the dead were 83 Australians, 38 Indonesians and two Americans. The death toll included victims from 22 countries.
Tourism, Bali’s number one industry, took an immediate downward spiral. The Balinese were I shock.
Bali is almost 100 percent Hindu. The Balinese are far removed from the world of terrori
sm, or so they thought. The explosions of Oct. 12, 2002 left the area looking like a war zone. There were 450 houses, shops and food stalls, 21 cars, six motorcycles and four electric power transformers damaged. Bodies were still being found a week after the bombings.
“We were in shock. We couldn’t believe anyone could do this in Bali,” said Agas, my butler at secluded Como Shambhala Estate at Begawan Giri. “No one here could believe someone could do something like that.”
The Sari Club, open since the 1970s, has not been rebuilt. A memorial is planned for the site, but it is still a vacant space almost eight years later. A local business revealed plans in 2009 to build a bar and restaurant on the site, but has come under strong opposition.
Paddy’s has a new location a couple of blocks down Legian Street where business is back to normal. The day bartender that all Paddy’s employees survived. “I got off at 20 hundred hours (8 p.m.),” he said. “The bomb went off at 2315 (11:15 p.m.).”
David Callaghan (early 40s) and his wife, Corena (39), are from Perth, Australia. They visited Kuta two weeks before the bombing, came back in February 2003 and again September 2003.
“I have no fear because of the bombing,” said David, who has his own security services business and often travels to the U.S. West Coast.
“I was quite happy to return,” Corena said. “We thought about it and decided not to come for the anniversary [in 2002].”
The Callaghans come to Bali every six months. “Coming to Bali after Oct.12, 2002 was no different than coming to New York after 9-11,” David said.
“I have no fear of coming here, Bali is fantastic,” said a young man from England while sipping a beer and watching soccer at Paddy’s. “My parents come here all the time. I tried to get here a couple of years ago, but couldn’t fit it in. I’ll be back again.”
Bali, with its great surfing, beautiful scenery and exchange rate of about 8,500 rupiah to the dollar, make this island a perfect vacation spot. In a marketplace in Ubud, you can purchase T-shirts for 10,000 rupiah (about $1.25).
Distance to Bali creates a problem for many Americans. It takes almost 24 hours of flying time from Southern California. Malaysia Airlines flies from LAX to Kuala Lumpur in about 19 ½ hours, including a two-hour layover in Taipei, Taiwan. The flight from KL to Denpasar, Bali takes between two and a half and three hours. I suggest a couple of days in KL before moving on to Bali. Kuala Lumpur is a modern, clean city with much to see and do. The Kuala Lumpur Airport is one of the most beautiful in the world.
Bali is an equatorial land of ageless traditions, of sacred rituals and secrets and of subtle rhythms and haunting melodies. It is a place where villages govern autonomously. Each village has a chief and a religious chief.
The Balinese are very religious people,” said Paul Van Frank, the general manager of Begawan Giri before it became a Como Hotels and Resorts. “They don’t want trouble. This is a peaceful island.”
My late September stay in Bali included a catered lunch at Bretan Lake near Bancasari — The Village in the Sky — a visit to several Hindu temples in Ubud where a monkey attacked me and a trip to the Sangeh Monkey Forest. I’m a glutton for punishment.
While eating lunch at Bretan Lake, a food cart behind us played “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” Nice late summer touch.
The attacking monkey tried to steal my camera. We were in a great tug of war. He was pulling on my strap. I had an equally firm grip on my camera. David, a member of our group, grabbed the monkey trying to divert its attention. Bad idea. The monkey turned on David, baring its teeth while maintaining its vice-like grip on my camera. I finally pulled loose, as did David, leaving a really ticked-off monkey screeching expletives in monkey talk.
The monkeys at Sangeh were well behaved, albeit the larger ones have been known to jump on people if they have something the monkeys want — glasses, cameras, pocketbooks are high on their list.
The drive to Begawan Giri from Denpasar Airport was an E ride (for you old Disneyland fans). The road was narrow (two lanes) and bumpy; people on scooters and people walking along the side of the road in the dark — some with push carts — made me a little nervous, but not my driver who was familiar with Balinese road etiquette.
Let’s put it this way, no one is in a hurry. A honk on the horn and the scooter driver or walker moves casually to the right without looking back. Once inside Begawan Giri, however, life as we know it changes dramatically. Privacy is important in this hideaway and all the surrounding land is leased so no one can build. A super model and fashion photographer once rented the entire estate for their wedding.
Each residence has its own butler. These unique individuals cater to your every whim and always appear out of nowhere when needed. I think they hide in your closet or suitcase or behind a tree. The butler system is Swiss watch precision. Your butler meets you at immigration and whisks you through. He or she does the same thing when you leave. The only thing you can’t do is put the butler in your bag and take him or her with you.
The terraced rice fields add another measure of ambiance to Begawan Giri. The original owner allowed the villagers to cultivate the rice and keep it, but they must do it without the use of machinery. They must use the old harvesting method.
To ensure that Begawan Giri remains self-contained, poultry, fish and prawn farms have been established on the grounds, as have vegetable gardens, tropical fruit trees and flower nurseries.
Begawan Giri is known as “Wise Man’s Mountain.” History, myths and legend all combine to explain why. Centuries before, the forests of the land proved too frightening and formidable for the ordinary village folk to enter, save for three strange “wise men” or Beganwantha, as they were called. The wise men made the land their home and in so doing, perhaps invested it with a deep spiritual and mystical energy, which makes its significance felt even now.
Life at Begawan Giri is idyll; with a setting that overlooks the sacred Ayung River gorge just north of Ubud. I was greeted with a downpour on my first morning at Begawan Giri. I looked out from my deck to the river below and a rain forest. My shower was out on the deck of my residence — Wanakasa (Forest in the Mist). Interesting, indeed. Wanakasa gave me the feeling of living in a tree house. On other days I could see the rice fields and the Balinese villagers balancing laundry on their heads while walking down to the sacred river to wash clothes.
My main living pavilion was supported by huge tree columns, which stretch to a height of two stories. My room had teak floors, a screened king-size bed and ironwood shingle roof. The Holy Tree, which stands before the entrance, sits beside an altar blanketed with offerings. Its existence on the land before the creation of Begawan Giri by Bradley and Debbie Gardner, and the importance of its mystic history, dictated the entire design and building of the residence literally built around the tree.
The Source, Como Shambhala Estate at Begawan Giri’s unique spa-amidst-nature, defies the usual concepts of a Western spa. It is called “The Source” because its three natural rock pools are built around and fed by the sacred mountain spring Toya Mampeh, which has been venerated by the local Balinese for centuries. The treatment rooms are unique open-air pavilions or “bales,” which look out over lush valleys to the river below.
Guests can enjoy a Balinese massage with aromatic oils from the island, or exotic body treatments such as Javanese Lulur and Balinese spice. The spa menu further appeals to the senses with a wide selection of baths and wraps created from volcanic clays, sea salts, flowers and indigenous plants. All bodywork and massages are offered in the privacy of the guests’ suites, in the garden of their villa, or in the massage garden bales near the waterfall. Experienced staff is on hand to pamper guests thoroughly, but the focus remains on simplicity, balance and a return to nature. Yoga and Pilates also are offered at the estate.
You don’t have to stay at Begawan Giri to enjoy Bali. The island has many outstanding resorts and hotels. Bali isn’t paradise, but it’s probably as close to it as anyone of us will ever get.
If You Go
GETTING THERE: Malaysia Airlines had daily flights from LAX to Kuala Lumpur, with a refueling layover in Taipei, Taiwan, and on to Bali. Flights leave at 1:40 a.m. daily and arrive in Kuala Lumpur the next day at about 12:15 p.m. (Malaysia and Indonesia are 15 hours ahead of California on the other side of the international dateline). Please check schedules if you are flying from any other major city in the U.S. www.malaysiaairlines.com.
WHERE TO STAY: The five-star Como Shambhala Estate at Begawan Giri overlooks the sacred Ayung River. It is about an hour from Denpasar Airport (www.cse.como.bz/). 21 elegant suites housed within five freestanding, self-contained residences. Each residence has its own butler. Fantastic spa treatments. $300-$3,200. Voted in the Top 3 Spa Retreats Global in the Conde Nast Traveller Readers’ Spa Awards 2010.
Bali runs the full gamut of accommodations — from $2-per-night home stays to $3,000 suites. Check with www.balitourismauthority.net.
(All information is accurate at the time of publication but prices, dates and other details are all subject to change. Confirm all information before making any travel arrangements.)
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