BLISSED OUT IN BALI
TOURISM HUB HAS SPIRITUAL SIDE IN SPITE OF MASSIVE POPULARITY
In Bali, beauty and blessings are an industry. Hotels advertise “meditation area” on road signs, shoppers visit Reborn Gifts, graffiti is simply “KARMA” spraypainted in capitals.
Its allure is obvious and since Elizabeth Gilbert’s 2006 book Eat, Pray Love, the island has come under increasing pressure from tourism: international visitors rose from 4.8 million in 2006 to 6.5 million in 2018. But if Bali’s on your bucket list, there’s beauty to behold and sustainable ways to see it.
I’m about to share a bath with 100 people, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.
The Pura Tirta Empul is one of the most popular water temples, and it is colourful chaos — like most things in Bali — crowded with supplicants heaving armfuls of offerings for purifications. This ornate 960 AD temple is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, the protector, and he’s overseen centuries of devotees washing karmas clean.
Swathed in a sarong, I lower myself into the icy water of an ancient stone petirtaan pool to be purified in the holy spring with scores of soaking strangers. I bow repeatedly, splashing water over my head.
As I emerge from my melukat (water blessing), it seems like something’s washed away.
If you’re interested in wellness and spirituality, you know Bali, jewel of the Indonesian islands, where orchids grow like weeds by the road and hydrangea and chrysanthemum fields colour the countryside.
We begin at Puri Bagus Jati Resort and Spa, near the heart of the island’s wellness centre, Ubud, but worlds away in a deep bamboo-forested valley.
Our guide, Hesti Rialita Elvandari, joins us for morning hatha yoga followed by dragonfruit juice and homemade yogurt with coconut muesli.
The five-hectare grounds invite strolls to temples, koi ponds, organic gardens, exotic orchid, Balinese statuary and even a waterfall.
Being in this valley feels like resting in the curve of a lush, green palm.
Rest is only one route to wellness. With instructor Buda Siwantara Ida Bagus Gede we make palm basket offerings called canang, pile
them with petals, burn incense and are blessed with rice pressed to foreheads and a gentle, “Om Swastiastu.” (May God give every kindness.)
I’m here with G Adventures, a Canadian small-group adventure company offering 700 trips in 100-plus countries.
Among them, 10 new wellness tours to that feature a slower pace, daily yoga, meditation, visits to Balian healers and temples, cultural immersion, outdoor exercise and healthy food to restore and renew.
Travellers support charity projects, eat at family restaurants, hire area guides and stay at locally-owned hotels to grow the economy: wellness abroad includes travelling ethically.
Come afternoon at Puri Bagus Jati, there’s lounging by the infinity pool post frangipane oil massage listening to monkeys, then a garden tour — the resort grows avocados, mangos, jackfruit and more — and an outdoor cooking class. We pound spicy sambal with mortar and pestles, chop fiddleheads for lawar pakis, make chicken satays and dadar gulung, pandan-leaf pancakes with palm-sugared bananas.
Then it’s time to explore; head into Ubud to visit the Monkey Forest, shop the Gianyar night market, join a vinyasa session at Yoga Barn, or pay US$35 for a “Bali swing” Instagram photo op.
“When I came in 2009, there weren’t so many hotels, no traffic, no swings, no Instagram,” Elvandari says of development. “You can’t stop it. But Balinese are still doing rituals and offerings. That is the best thing, to respect the culture, tradition and local people, especially if they’re performing ceremonies. It may be unusual, but this is what Bali is.”
Next, we head through highlands, stopping at spectacular scenery: the 15-metre Munduk waterfall, spring green rice terraces, sparkling Twin Lakes — to explore the northwest coast in Permuteran and relax at Taman Sari Resort. Here, fruit drips off trees and staff sweep frangipane blooms at sunrise like floral snow. Follow a morning “smiling yoga” session by basking on the beach.
The underwater views are even better. Nearby Menjangan Island, one of 17,508 in the Indonesian archipelago — many disappearing with tides — is home to Hindu monks and some of Bali’s best coral reefs. We take a traditional boat over the swells and float weightless in the warm sea, swimming with unicornfish.
Come evening, I watch sunset and dine on king prawns with my toes in the sand.
I’m at ease knowing my vacation matches my values: protecting the marine environment from over-tourism and fishing is a community priority, with plastic bag bans, bamboo straws and reusable water bottles on offer on the island. Taman Sari supports a biorock project to restore reefs and guests can visit an adjacent baby turtle sanctuary.
I leave knowing I supported a company that travels sustainably, preserves the environment and empowers women. After all, a wellness journey is incomplete unless it’s an inner journey too — one everyone’s invited to pursue.