| It is in the heart of Indonesia, between the Asian peninsula and Australia, that the delicate island of Bali can be found. Our idyllic exploration began with its inside lands. On the fertile soils of volcanoes, the exuberant forest was close to the prolific plantations of tobacco, vanilla, cocoa and coffee. We were hiking in the ricefields setup in terraces, then going downhill to feel the coolness of the lakes and waterfalls. On the verge of tracks, cloves were drying in the sun, perfuming the air around. |
| Captivated by this botanical island, we flickered in the Balinese eden. In the evening, the landscape of Hindu vestiges livened up in a religious, traditional and intense atmosphere. Temples, perched on the top of cliffs, were illuminated with ritual dances of this noble and antique culture. The kecak, this fervent entertainment executed by a choir of 150 singers representing the army of monkeys of Ramayana, was amazing. |
| In the early hours, oriental scenes perfumed with smells of incense made us travel out of time. Some young ladies, wrapped in their beautiful sarong, showed a happy and radiant face. They worshipped statues and deposited at their feet presents, flowers, rice and fruits, in carefully cut and woven banana leaves. |
| After the bewitchment of bougainvillaeas and the sensualism of frangipani trees, we were stunned by the sea bed of Menjangan. This tiny island in the northwest sheltered a diving site with an exceptional submarine variety. Real aquatic garden, its cliff was decorated with corals and multicolored gorgonia. We left wild creeks to dive into a crystal clear water with a perfect visibility. In this exotic aquarium, starfish, sea horses, sunfish, moray eels and mantas appeared in unspeakable abundance and beauty. |
| Coasts were so full of fish that fishing from the beach and also in dugout with pendulum was very wide-spread. On the market of Jimbaran, the Balinese, with cheerfulness and hospitality, invited us to taste a roasted baraccuda with fresh lime juice. After taking surf lessons in Kuta and going to sea in the middle of the dolphins in Lovina, we went on to the beach to have some local fruit wines. Elaborated from pineapple, mango or coconut, they were soft, refreshing and pleasant. |
| On this blessed island, the wine-producing activity had been through interesting intitiatives. In 1998, Hatten had decided to create the first Indonesian wine. This idea had arisen from an entrepreneur's logic aiming at matching supply and demand. The opportunity consisted in establishing a local production of easy drinking and thirst-quenching wines, with prices slightly lower than those of the imported competitors. The message was clear and coherent: an evocation of the paradise associated to a very tropical achievement, that is to harvest more than 100 times within 7 years. |
| Hatten |
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bali
dancer of kecak show
indonesian pirogue
fisherman and ship’s boy in Jimbaran
surfing in Kuta bay
keeper of a Hindu temple
rice growing in Ubud