Bali beyond the beach

Journey into the country's interior to experience its culture and critters

By Colleen Cason, ccason@venturacountystar.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
November 19, 2006

Heading north from Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport is the road less traveled.

It definitely is less traveled by a million, mostly western tourists who flood the Indonesian island each year.

Most visitors head for the coastal enclaves of Kuta and Nusa Dua, both on sugar-sand beaches minutes south of the airport.

"You might as well be in Cancun," Nyoman Gunawan, an export executive, said of the generic resorts with their luxury high-rise hotels frequented almost exclusively by foreigners.

The true Bali, said Gunawan, can be found in the desas or villages of the island's interior.

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