Sex, sun and surf …it’s everywhere in Bali but it’s packaged in poetry….you’ll never find a napkin without a fragrant frangipani or a stone deity without a sarong.

When it comes to sheer joie de vivre, no one quite knows how to have fun like the Balinese, exults Prabha Chandran, as she sips frozen margaritas in a jacuzzi and dines under the stars.

Nehru called it the ‘Dawn of the World’ for its unique beauty and vibrant, artistic people, but there is another reason why Bali attracts one million revellers every year as one of the world’s foremost holiday destinations. It’s not just the dramatic vistas of a tropical, volcanic island with the lake-filled crater at Batur that lures trekkers. Nor is it the artistic mountain hamlets and crafts villages in Ubud where carvings, paintings, textiles and handicrafts fill 24 km of roadside stalls. It may be the world famous surfing beaches and coral reefs in Nusa Dua that offer a thrilling variety of sea and adventure sports. But there is another reason why Bali could be the holiday of a lifetime – when it comes to sheer joie de vivre, no one quite knows how to have fun like the Balinese.

You’ll see it in the strolling minstrels that sing kuch kuch hota hai as you savour a dish of succulent seafood on Jimbaran Bay at sunset. You’ll find it in the effortless hedonism of sipping frozen margaritas in jacuzzis camouflaged as rock pools in magnificent landscaped hotels. The romance of dining al fresco in a windswept cliff pavilion is rivalled only by the consummate cabaret at the smart new Music Room in downtown Kuta. But, if the Balinese know how to stoke your senses, then the extroverted Aussies, who swoop down in droves like migrating birds flapping their surfboards and snorkels, know how to make you lose your inhibitions as they romp the beaches by day and party in the trendy streets of Legian by night.

The world will never forget the bloody explosions, which ripped through this island paradise taking 300 revellers in one grisly night in October 2002. But the Balinese bounced back and within the year, the nightclubs were rocking with partygoers, some defiantly displaying anti-Osama bin Laden T-shirts.

Regular Verve contributor, Prabha Chandran, has been living in Timor-Leste since October 2003, working with UNFPA. Currently with the World Bank as a Communications Specialist, she has also been mentoring local journalists. She has been an editor with Hindustan Times, India Today Plus and Saturday Times of India.

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