If the brief introduction in the first part of this document does not satisfy your curiosity, then please read this section to get more in-depth information. The following information is provided:
1. Indonesia: Geography 2. Bali: Geography 3. Climate 4. Geology 5. Economy 6. Tips for Tourists:
7. Offering in Bali 8. Indonesia: History and Government 9. Bali: Government1. INDONESIA:GEOGRAPHY
As we said above, Bali is a part of Indonesia. The Republic of Indonesia,
with a population of about 200 million, is the fourth most populous country
in the world, after China, India, and the U.S.A. It used to rank fifth,
behind the Soviet Union, but no more, and Russia is a bit less populous
than Indonesia. About 90 percent of its citizens are Muslim, making it
by far the most populous Muslim country in the world, but non-Arab. It
is also one of the longest countries in the world, stretching over an east
to west distance of over 5,500 km. (about 3,400 miles) from the northwest
tip of the large island of Sumatera which is well west of the Malaysian
peninsula to an eastern-most point located at the southeast corner of Indonesia's
half of the giant island of New Guinea - a point that is well east (about
1000 km. or over 600 miles) of the center of Australia. This chain of islands
thus spans about 46 degrees of longitude, about one-eighth of the circumference
of the earth. If the Indonesian archipelago were superimposed upon the
U.S.A. with western-most points matching, then the eastern-most point of
Indonesia would extend about 800 km. (about 500 miles) out into the Atlantic
Ocean beyond the east coast of the U.S.A. For Europeans to visualize this,
imagine that the western-most point of Indonesia were superimposed upon
the west coast of Ireland. The eastern-most tip of Indonesia would then
lie a bit east of Sevastopol, on the Black Sea.
Indonesia consists of over 13,000 islands, less than half of which are
large enough even to have names and only a few more than 900 of which are
even inhabited. The territorial boundaries of Indonesia encompass over
10 million square kilometers (4 million square miles) of area, but only
about 15% of this is land. By contrast, the area of the U.S.A. is just
about the same, but it is 93% land.
The very large Greater Sunda Islands, Sumatra (called Sumatera in the
Indonesian language), Java, Borneo, and Sulawesi dominate the northern
and western part of the country. Indonesia owns most of Borneo. Only a
narrow strip along the north coast belongs to Malaysia. And the small,
but oil-rich country of Brunei lies between the two halves of East Malaysia.
Indonesia calls its southern two-thirds or so of Borneo by the name, Kalimantan.
The spider shaped island of Sulawesi was formerly called Celebes.
Stretching along the Indian Ocean (formerly called the Indonesian Ocean)
from Java's east tip along the area south of Kalimantan and Sulawesi, north
of Australia, and almost to Irian Jaya are the numerous Lesser Sunda Islands,
of which Bali is the western-most. The equator runs just north of the peculiar
"Vogelkopf" or Bird's Head that forms the northeast part of Irian Jaya,
cuts through the northern-most leg of Sulawesi's spider, and more or less
bisects Kalimantan and Sumatera. Indonesia's capital is Jakarta, located
on the site of the former Dutch capital that they called Batavia, in the
western part of Java, along the north coast, about 1000 km. (600 plus miles)
from Bali.
Bali is a sort of mushroom-shaped island, with a tear drop about to
fall off its stem at the south. Actually I think it looks like a tail-less
chicken, with its head facing west. Bali measures 150 km. (about 90 miles)
along its longest, east-west dimension, and 80 km. (about 50 miles) along
a north-south axis. This gives it an area of a bit over 5,000 sq. km. (about
2,100 square miles). By comparison, this is about the size of the state
of Delaware in the U.S.A. Around three million people live on this little
island, giving it a population density of about 600 people per square km.
(about 1500 per square mile). By comparison, the population density of
Java is about 25% greater and that of the U.S.A. is about one-twentieth
as great. That of Australia is one two-hundredth as great. If the population
density of the 48 contiguous states of the United States were as great
as that of Bali the U.S.A would have a population of about 4.5 billion.
This is approximately the same figure as would apply to Australia, since
its area is very close to that of the 48 contiguous United States. And
realize that Bali's population is concentrated into densely packed villages
separated by wide expanses of rice fields and uninhabitable mountains.
Bali lies between 8 and 9 degrees south latitude and between 114.5 and
115.5 east longitude. For the stickler, the longitude range is 114 degrees
26 minutes to 115 degrees 42 minutes east, and the latitude range is 8
degrees 4 minutes south to 8 degrees 52 minutes south. Antipodal to Bali
is central Venezuela. That is, if you dug a hole straight down from Bali
through the center of the earth and kept on going you would come out there.
Travelers are not often able to get their sense of orientation in a
foreign land. Let's take a look at how Bali is related to its larger geographical
environment.
In Bali you are 2,900 km. (1,800 mi.) almost due north of Perth, Australia;
3,600 km. (2,240 mi.) almost due south of Hong Kong; 960 km. (596 mi.)
from Jakarta, which bears about 17 degrees north of due west; 1,770 km.
(1,100 mi.) from Singapore, which bears about 40 degrees north of due west.
The closest point in Australia to Bali is Buccaneer Archipelago, Western
Australia, north of King Sound, a distance of about 1,200 km. (746 mi.),
bearing about 45 degrees east of due south. Darwin lies at a distance of
1,800 km. (1,120 mi.), 11.8 degrees south of due east.
The extreme southeastern tip of Java is a long peninsula. Its tip is
out of sight from anywhere in Bali, at a distance of 71 km. (44 mi.) very
slightly south of due west. A straight line from the south tip of Bali
to this cape in Java, if extended past Java, would hit first land just
south of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, on the east coast of Africa, a distance
of a little over 8000 km. (5,100 miles). This line would travel entirely
over the Indian Ocean. There is nothing in the way except the Seychelles
over this stretch of about 75 degrees of longitude - more than 20% of the
circumference of the earth. The prevailing westerly winds of the rainy
season blow over this uninterrupted expanse of warm sea and vigorously
dump its water on the south slopes of Bali almost every day from December
through February. From the south tip of Bali, going due south, it is about
1,450 km. (900 mi.) to Orslow, Western Australia. This stretch of water
is the extreme eastern end of the Indian Ocean, where it starts to blend
in with the Timor Sea.
A line due north from the south tip of Bali exits Bali at its extreme
north tip, at Kubutambahan, a distance of 78.5 km. (49 mi.), then passes
between Banjarmasan and Balikpapan in Kalimantan, through Bandar Sari Begawan,
the capitol of Brunei, and on north, passing about 480 km. (300 mi.) east
of Manila and entering the coast of China very slightly east of Hong Kong,
at a distance of about 3,600 km. (2,240 mi.)
A line due east from the south tip of Bali runs along the southern coasts
of the chain of islands known as the Lesser Sunda Islands, Lombok, Sumbawa
and Flores. It passes about 28 km. (17 mi.) south of Dili, the capitol
of Timor Timur (Timtim), continues about the same distance south of Merauke
in Irian Jaya, about 70 km. (44 mi.) north of the extreme northern part
of the Torres Strait, through Port Moresby, and on to Guadalcanal in the
Solomon Islands.
On a clear day from many places in Central and East Bali you can easily
see Gunung (Mt.) Agung, the highest point in Bali, with an elevation of
3,142 m. (10,308 ft.). It is 61 km. (38 mi.) from Denpasar, bearing 42
degrees east of due north. If it is not too smoky (from rice straw fires),
or not too cloudy, you can also usually see Bali's second highest mountain,
Batukaru, 2,276 m. in elevation (7,467 ft.) at a distance of 39 km. (24
mi.) from Denpasar, bearing 21 degrees west of due north. It is the most
southerly of a chain of mountain peaks that appear on the northern horizon
on a clear day.
The geographic center of Bali, equidistant from extreme north and south
points, as well as from extreme east and west points of the island lies
on the south slope of Gunung Batukaru, about 13.2 km. (8 mi.) south, and
slightly east of its summit.
The Southeast Trade Winds prevail during the dry season. These blow
from the (then) cool interior of Australia and hit Bali's east coast. But
the ocean over which they blow is entirely different on the east side of
Bali than that on the west side. If you draw a line from Jimbaran a little
south of due east to Darwin, Australia, and another one almost exactly
southward to Onslow, Western Australia, the hypotenuse of this right triangle
is almost exactly coincident with the northwest coast of Western Australia.
This right triangle encloses practically all of the Indian Ocean and a
bit of the Timor sea that are interposed between Bali and Australia. This
triangle has an area of only about 17% of the land mass of Australia. The
maximum width of this stretch of ocean is only about 1,200 km. (746 mi.),
which stands quite in contrast to the vast stretch of water on the west.
And this relatively small water area, plus the prevailing southeasterly
winds, are responsible for our dry season.
For those who have not lived in the tropics, Bali's climate seems unusual.
It isn't. Bali has typical tropical monsoon weather. There are no winter
and summer, autumn and spring. Seasonal variations are almost entirely
related to changes in wind direction, which, in turn, affect the yearly
rainfall pattern. There are only two seasons, rainy and dry. February is
the wettest month with 20 average days of rain; August is the driest, with
only 3 days of rain on the average. The average annual rainfall over the
period 1961 - 1993 was 1,718 mm. (68 in.), 60% of which fell during the
period December through March. Even during the rainy season there are long
periods of sunshine. The storms tend to be short and violent. But the strong
westerly winds of the rainy season may make it difficult to enjoy life
on the west coast beaches. The waves are often quite high, and the beaches
are littered with debris.
Because of the almost constantly high humidity, around 75% with little
change, there is only minor temperature fluctuation between day and night,
and between rainy and dry seasons. The average daily temperature range
is only 6.6 Celsius degrees (11.9 Fahrenheit degrees).
Bali has no tropical rainforest because typical flora and fauna of the
rainforest cannot survive the protracted dry season. True rainforests are
almost always located nearer the equator than Bali's latitude of between
8 and 9 degrees, where rainfall is abundant during all the months of the
year.
The sun moving toward the north is directly overhead in Bali at noon
on February 27th. Going south, the sun is directly overhead at noon on
October 15th.
The determining geological factor of Bali's geography, and, indeed, its existence, is Plate Tectonics, popularly called Continental Drift. According to this principle the solid surfaces of the earth, both above and below the oceans, consist of a number of so-called plates, made up of materials of relatively low density that float upon the denser, liquid mantle of the earth, some dozens of kilometers below. These plates move relative to each other in various ways and at various speeds. About 170 km. (106 mi.) south of Bali the floor of the Indian Ocean, which belongs to the Indian-Australian Plate, is sliding down (subducting) below the edge of the Eurasian Plate, upon which Bali rests. The motion has produced the Java Trench, about 6,000 meters (20,000 ft.) deep. And here the Indian Ocean floor is diving almost due north below Bali at the astonishing rate of about 6 cm. per year, about the rate of growth of a person's fingernail. If you stop to consider this, it is equivalent to 60 kilometers per million years. Bali floats on the over-riding plate, and the disturbances that this subduction zone produce are the cause of Bali's volcanoes, earthquakes, scenery, and, in fact, its existence.
Just as it has been for centuries, farming is the principal occupation
of most the Balinese people. And rice is the principal farm crop. Only
about half of the island is arable because of the central spine of high
mountains. But, about half of the arable land is planted to rice. Bali
has been self-sufficient in rice for more than a decade, thanks to the
introduction of new strains of rice that are more productive and disease
and insect-resistant than the old variety.
However, Western civilization is sweeping over the island. Bali’s major
export is now ladies’ ready-to-wear garments, designed by Westerners for
Western use. Not far behind is the manufacture and export of handicrafts
for the tourist trade - primarily items of wood and bamboo. And with the
tremendous growth of the tourist industry, more and more Balinese people
are giving up the old traditions of farming and fishing and taking jobs
in hotels, art shops, and other tourist-related businesses.
Two-month tourist visas are granted at Ngurah Rai airport to; visitors holding valid passports of major countries plus proof of on-going transportation. These visas are non-renewable.
The unit of currency is the Rupiah. Its exchange rate is pegged to the U.S. Dollar. As of mid-1996 the exchange rate was about Rp 2,330 per US$1.00. Currencies of most major countries are readily exchangeable at hotels and money changers and are accepted by many shops. Credit cards are accepted by almost all hotels and most large shops and businesses. However, an additional 3% is usually added to the bill for use of a credit card. Hotels are required to add a 10% service charge and 11% tax to all accounts. Thus tipping is not usually expected in these establishments, (although, of course, is welcome). Tips are appropriate elsewhere, as in other parts of the world.
Public transportation in the form of bemos (vans) is available in most areas frequented by tourists. However such service is usually unavailable or infrequent after dark. Self-drive cars and motor bikes can be rented in most major cities and tourist areas. If you plan to rent a vehicle, get an International Driver’s License before you come. That saves a great deal of time and money. However, be warned. The roads in Bali are very crowded. Most of them have no shoulders. There are traffic laws, but most people either don’t know what they are or chose to ignore them if they do. Driving anywhere is extremely dangerous and should only be attempted by those who absolutely must be independent. Transportation is cheap and reliable, and you should only drive if you are willing to take the risks involved. A helmet is required for drivers and passengers of motorbikes. Taxis and hired cars with drivers are available in all tourist areas. There are travel agents everywhere who are eager to arrange tours both in Bali and in the other islands of Indonesia.
Hotel food can be eaten without impunity. Elsewhere, observe the same precautions as you would in any developing country. If you have a sensitive stomach, use caution and pick your eating places carefully. Drink only bottled water, which is available everywhere. Most hotels have regular doctor’s hours. There are 24 hour clinics in most of the tourist areas, as well as several large hospitals in Denpasar. Most villages have small public health clinics that can treat minor wounds and illnesses. There are no serious epidemic diseases in Bali. Malaria pills are not necessary, nor are Yellow Fever shots. Cholera cases have been reported, but Western vaccines are generally not effective against these. Hepatitis shots are recommended for those who will live outside of the protected environments of hotels. Insects can be a problem, but repellents are readily available. There are drug stores, called apotik, in most tourist areas that sell a variety of over-the-counter and prescription medicines, many of them Western brands.
Hotels and restaurants serve a great variety of dishes, both Western and local. But, real Balinese food, as eaten in the villages, is not particularly appealing to most tourists, nor is it served with the style and amenities that visitors are used to. So most restaurant food is not really authentic Balinese, but, rather, a combination of Indonesian food, Chinese food, and just plain Western food with exotic, Balinese-sounding names. One can get real Balinese food at any village warung or market. But most of the sellers cannot speak English, and so it is difficult to know what one is getting. Of course, local food is quite cheap. A package of rice plus small amounts of side dishes mixed in costs Rp 1,000 or less and is enough for one meal. There are specialty restaurants of all types, but, of course, the food is no cheaper than it is in any tourist restaurant anywhere in the world.
Drink only bottled water, which is widely available. Beer and stronger alcoholic beverages are readily available, but are rather expensive. Hotel bars offer a complete variety of western beverages, at a price.
>Several large supermarkets are located in the Denpasar-Sanur-Kuta- Nusa Dua areas. Here one can buy almost any of the personal items that one could possibly want. Many are imported brands familiar to most visitors. Some are locally made. You can buy beer and other beverages, canned or fresh meats and vegetables, snacks, fruit, even frozen foods at these stores. Prices are quite reasonable. Some of these supermarkets have their own bakeries.
Bahasa Indonesia is the national language of Indonesia, closely related to Malaysian. All government offices and educational institutions use this language in their daily affairs. However, almost all Balinese speak their own language, Basa Bali, when talking to each other. It is not closely related to the Indonesian language. Most people in the tourist industry can speak a little English. Some can communicate in Japanese or German or French. Generally speaking, you can make yourself understood with clear English and lots of gestures.
There are many large luxury hotels in South Bali, catering to the international
trade and with all that one would expect from such an establishment anywhere
in the world. They are not cheap, however. And there is nothing particularly
Balinese about them, in spite of their claims to the contrary. They often have
lots of nice gardens, ponds, waterfalls, carvings, and other decorations. But,
they are really just hotels such as one would find anywhere, with much
decoration. In recent years several small, so-called "boutique" hotels have
opened in the South Bali, Amlapura, and Ubud areas. These are very nice, but even more
expensive than the large five-star companies. An attractive alternative is the
bungalow type establishment, with separate cottages for guests. Some of these
are quite attractive and are reasonably priced. Most villages have small, basic
inns that offer a bed and food, but not much else. For those on the go, these are
a bargain.
Each part of Bali seems to attract different sorts of tourists. The young,
disco-seeking, beer drinking, surfers migrate to Kuta. Large tour groups usually
stay at one of the large hotels in Nusa Dua. Sanur, with its more sedate
atmosphere, seems to be the favorite of older people who find peace and quiet
to their liking. The Ubud area is for those who want to get away from the urban
areas and be near the centers of arts and crafts. Accommodations
along the north coast and in the Candi Dasa area near Padang Bai offer handy
access to those parts of Bali that are not usually visited by those who stay in
South Bali.
Over 90% of the Balinese people practice Agama Hindu, a form of Hinduism that is overlaid with animistic beliefs. Religion plays a very important part in the lives of the people, and most Balinese, ladies in particular, spend a fair share of their lives making offerings and preparations for the many ceremonies that attend rites of passage for their families, special auspicious days, temple festivals, and such things as illness.
Modern telephone service has spread rapidly over Bali. All major hotels offer direct distance dialing to overseas locations via satellite. These luxury hotels also have business centers were computers are available as well as the usual business amenities. E-mail and Internet services are provided by Wasantara Net, an organization of the Postal Service of the Indonesian Government. Computer stores offering sales and service are found all over the Denpasar area.
History and Government Indonesia is divided into 24 provinces (Propinsi),
of which the entire island of Bali constitutes one. In addition to these
provinces, which are more or less equivalent to states, there are 2 special
territories, Yogyakarta in Central Java and Aceh in northern Sumatera,
and the special capital city district, Greater Jakarta. Each Propinsi is
under the charge of a governor, and elected representatives are sent to
both provincial and national parliamentary bodies. The population of Indonesia
in 1993 was somewhere around 200 million, of which 60% live on the island
of Java.
Indonesia declared itself independent of The Netherlands in 1945 and
became a real political entity in its present form about 1950 after a series
of bloody battles and local uprisings. The central authority of Indonesia
is the People's Consultative Assembly, the Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat,
or MPR. It consists of a body of 1,000 representatives, half of whom are
also members of the House of Representatives, the Dewan Perwakilan Rakykat,
DPR, and half of whom are appointed by the government according to the
results of the general election that is held every five years. The president
acts under a mandate from the MPR and is answerable to it for the conduct
of the government. The DPR has 500 members, of whom are 100 are appointed
military officers and 400 elected in the general election. The MPR meets
every five years, after the election to elect the president. The DPR meets
regularly and is the law-making body.
The cabinet of the president is composed of 21 Ministers, each heading
a Department, 4 Coordinating Ministers, 13 Ministers of State who are in
charge of specific Bureaus, and 3 other officials at the same level as
Ministers
Now let us look at the local picture. As mentioned, Indonesia is divided into 24 Propinsi and three other somewhat different divisions that are more or less equivalent to states in the U.S.A. (not exactly, because American states have considerable autonomous power, whereas Indonesian Propinsi have almost none). Each Propinsi is under the jurisdiction of a Governor. The entire island of Bali constitutes one of these 27 political subdivisions. Bali is then subdivided into 8 Kabupaten, more or less equivalent to counties in America. Each Kabupaten is headed by a Bupati. Jimbaran is in the Kabupaten of Badung, as are Kuta, Sanur, and Denpasar. Ubud is in the Kabupaten of Gianyar. Each Kabupaten is further divided into Kecamatan, each governed by a Camat. The Kabupaten of Badung is divided into 7 Kecamatan. Jimbaran is located in the Kecamatan of Kuta. The office of the Camat, Kantor Camat, is located just east of the night market, Pasar Senggol, in Kuta, one block north of the main road from the airport to Kuta. Within a Kecamatan are political units called either Kelurahan or Desa. These differ considerably in the organizational structure of provincial government. A Kelurahan usually is a larger and more important area and is directly under the authority of the Camat, whereas a Desa is usually a more rural area, more sparsely settled, and has more local authority. One cannot go very far equating the governmental structure of Indonesia with that of the U.S.A., since provincial governments, right down to the level of Lurah, are in many ways empowered by and representative of the central government in Jakarta. There is not nearly as much local autonomy anywhere in Indonesia as there is in many developed countries. Each of the major political subdivisions of Indonesia has its own provincial House of Representatives, called DPRD, or Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah. Bali's DPRD building is located in the general area of the central Post Office, in Niti Mandala, the government center of Bali. The Governor, who is elected by the Bali parliament, DPRD, wears two hats. He is the highest representative in Bali of the central government of Indonesia, which is called Level I, or Tingkat I. And at the same time he is head of the local provincial government, or Tingkat II. Many government offices reflect this duality between centrifugal autonomy and centripetal unity. Most of the Ministries of the central government have offices, called Kantor Wilayah, or Kanwil, in the Denpasar area - many of them in the government complex area called Niti Mandala, southeast of the main part of town. And most of these departments are also represented in the form of autonomous offices, called Dinas. Thus, for example, there is a Kanwil Departemen Agama in Denpasar, which is the Level I office of the Ministry of Religion for all of Bali, a representative of this Ministry in Jakarta. At the same time there are 8 Dinas Agama, one in each of the 8 Kabupaten of Bali, each representing the Provincial government of Bali rather than the Ministry of Religion in Jakarta. At the local level, one must distinguish between the government of a Kelurahan and that of a Desa. Jimbaran and Benoa are Kelurahan. The differences can best be understood if one considers the office of the Camat. This is not an autonomous office and has no representative council, but, rather, is simply an administrative subdivision of the Kabupaten, or county. Each Kecamatan consists of a number of Kelurahan, and the Lurah, the heads of these Kelurahan, are responsible to the Camat. Thus, each Kantor Lurah is, in a sense, a branch of the central government, working up the chain of command and the lines of authority. The Lurah is a civil servant from the ranks of government employees. An appointed body of village elders and other responsible people in the Kelurahan acts as a kind of advisory council to the Lurah. This organization is called the Lembaga Ketahanan Masyarakat Desa, LKMD, the village social activities group. A Desa, on the other hand, has considerably more autonomy than a Kelurahan. The head of a Desa, the Kepala Desa, is elected by the people of his village. and the Desa is not an organization of the central government. It can, within certain limits, decide local policy, without having constantly to refer to a higher office for approval. A Desa can even produce income for itself, which would be quite impossible for a Kelurahan. A Desa, and only a Desa, has an organization called Lembaga Masyawarah Desa, LMD, or village council, a deliberative body that makes decisions in concurrence with the head of the village. Each populated area is divided into neighborhood organizations called Banjar. Each Banjar has two heads, or Kelian. The Kelian Dinas is the civil head. He is responsible to the Lurah and meets with him regularly. It is through the Dinas authority of the Banjar that the government touches most immediately the average person. In addition, there is a Kelian Adat, or religious head. Perhaps it would be best to call him the administrator or head of customary law in the village, as contrasted to civil law. But, since Jimbaran, as well as most other villages in Bali, is predominantly Hindu, the customary law administered by the Kelian Adat of a Banjar is, for all practical purposes, a body of traditional Hindu-Balinese beliefs and practices.