Some thoughts on Bali
I'm currently in Ryoshi, a Japanese restaurant that's playing smooth jazz. They aren't serving cocktails at the moment.
I've spent the better part of the past week in Ubud, the main tourist center in Bali, Indonesia's Hindu island.
Despite it being "touristy" here, there is no question of whether things here are "authentic" or not. Somehow, it hasn't caught on here that authenticity is something in demand enough to be worth faking. Or, maybe, tourism is now so fundamentally a part of the Balinese world that it is integrated seamlessly.
For example, this is a pious country. The Balinese people are unashamed of it, and aren't going to let tourists stop them from practicing their beliefs, which involve large public cremation parades and offerings at the shrines that are everywhere. Whereas elsewhere the colorful or exotic might have to be sought out deliberately and/or invasively, here it is a genuine encounter.
I wonder if this is a result of Dutch colonialism being generally lighter-handed than other kinds. Ubud became a Dutch protectorate rather early on and was allowed to do its own thing. The main Western influence has been, as far as I can tell, voluntary adoption of technology and the building up of tourist infrastructure to attract Westerners.
There is also a thriving art scene. In the 20th century, European artists would sometimes land and settle in Bali and make it their life's work to teach Western painting techniques to the (plentiful) local artists. There's now Balinese Impressionism, Balinese Expressionism, etc. There's even a character, Antonio Blanco, who is sort of wannabe Salvador Dali who's mostly into painting nudes and sometimes prints obscene poetry and pastes it to the canvas. Though he sets off all kinds of weird red flags for me (he's got a little bit of Heart of Darkness going on, I think).
I just discovered that there is no current English language Wikipedia article on this guy. I am stoked. And yet he has his own museum here.
Though WiFi is prevalent, I haven't met any internet junkies here. In the rural areas, they still call the television the "magic box." It's a big deal that kids see wrestling, think its real, and drop kick each other. (Wrestling has been banned.) While some of the tourist infrastructure is getting wise to the internet (airline booking.
One cab driver tells me that the students in school now are learning about the internet and computers. He was concerned about whether Bali was up to speed. He, at least, knows what's up. I'm very curious to see how that connection changes things.
I've spent the better part of the past week in Ubud, the main tourist center in Bali, Indonesia's Hindu island.
Despite it being "touristy" here, there is no question of whether things here are "authentic" or not. Somehow, it hasn't caught on here that authenticity is something in demand enough to be worth faking. Or, maybe, tourism is now so fundamentally a part of the Balinese world that it is integrated seamlessly.
For example, this is a pious country. The Balinese people are unashamed of it, and aren't going to let tourists stop them from practicing their beliefs, which involve large public cremation parades and offerings at the shrines that are everywhere. Whereas elsewhere the colorful or exotic might have to be sought out deliberately and/or invasively, here it is a genuine encounter.
I wonder if this is a result of Dutch colonialism being generally lighter-handed than other kinds. Ubud became a Dutch protectorate rather early on and was allowed to do its own thing. The main Western influence has been, as far as I can tell, voluntary adoption of technology and the building up of tourist infrastructure to attract Westerners.
There is also a thriving art scene. In the 20th century, European artists would sometimes land and settle in Bali and make it their life's work to teach Western painting techniques to the (plentiful) local artists. There's now Balinese Impressionism, Balinese Expressionism, etc. There's even a character, Antonio Blanco, who is sort of wannabe Salvador Dali who's mostly into painting nudes and sometimes prints obscene poetry and pastes it to the canvas. Though he sets off all kinds of weird red flags for me (he's got a little bit of Heart of Darkness going on, I think).
I just discovered that there is no current English language Wikipedia article on this guy. I am stoked. And yet he has his own museum here.
Though WiFi is prevalent, I haven't met any internet junkies here. In the rural areas, they still call the television the "magic box." It's a big deal that kids see wrestling, think its real, and drop kick each other. (Wrestling has been banned.) While some of the tourist infrastructure is getting wise to the internet (airline booking.
One cab driver tells me that the students in school now are learning about the internet and computers. He was concerned about whether Bali was up to speed. He, at least, knows what's up. I'm very curious to see how that connection changes things.