Paul Greenway - Journey Through Bali & Lombok

INTRODUCTION

UNDER THE VOLCANO

Its difficult to imagine an island with so much to offer. Whether its just sun, surf or shopping, or the exceptional culture, lifestyle and landscapes, Bali is justifiably popular. But most tourists just rush through and dont allow enough time to linger and relish the uniqueness of the island.

Towering above numerous other volcanoes stretched across Bali, Mount Agung is the most feared and revered, and erupted with devastation in 1963.

O ne of 17,500 islands strung out across the Indonesian archipelago, Bali is dominated and inextricably influenced by a series of volcanoes, six of them over 2,000 meters. The highest, most volatile and, therefore, most revered is Gunung Agung (3,031 m). Only 8 degrees below the equator, and stretching 144 km across and 90 km north to south, the rest of the island is dotted with gorges, rivers and forests, while a nation10xal park in the west preserves scarce rainforest, a pristine coastal environment and vestiges of wildlife.

The initial wave of visitors were probably Austronesians from a region that spreads from modern-day China to the Philippines. They inhabited Bali some 4,000 years ago, and by 300 BC communities had evolved and rice cultivation developed. Subsequent settlers brought Buddhism, which thrived for several centuries before Javanese influence became inescapable during the 10th century. The formidable Hindu Majapahit Empire ruled from Java for most of the 14th and 15th centuries before rulers, priests and academics fled to Bali to escape Islam, developing the unique culture, religion and arts apparent today. As the Majapahit Empire declined, Balinese kingdoms flourished and their sovereignty spread to eastern Java and neighboring Lombok.

The first colonialists were the Dutch who arrived in the late 16th century, but waited until the mid-19th century before fully colonizing Bali. The populace fought relentlessly against the merciless Dutch for about 60 years until the entire island fell, only for the Dutch to lose control during (and after) World War II.

Methods used by the Balinese, such as sculptured terraces along volcanic slopes and the ingenious irrigation system, have not changed for centuries.

The Subak System

According to awig-awig traditional law, every Balinese who owns a sawah rice field must become a member of a subak association. This ensures that rice farmers along the coast, up to 20 km from a water source, have as much access to irrigation as those located high on the more fertile slopes. The millennium-old subak system reflects the Balinese Hindu philosophy of Tri Hita Karana, which unifies the realms of humans, nature and the spirits in harmony and ensures maximum production of the most essential ingredient of the Balinese meal. From springs, rivers and lakes, water rushes downhill through canals, sometimes cutting through caves and mountains, and along cement aqueducts and bamboo poles raised across roads and gorges. Sluice gates regulate the water flow so that limited amounts flood individual rice fields, while the remainder gushes past and is shared elsewhere. When farmers do not need irrigation for the fields, such as just before harvesting so that the soil is dry for workers, they simply seal the tiny openings along the reinforced mud walls that indicate the boundaries of individual sawah . The 1,000 or more democratically operated subak associations across Bali also repair canals, tunnels and dikes, advise about seeds and planting and organize ceremonies and offerings to ensure abundant harvests.