36 — Sunday, April 18, 1999 — North Shore News

nerth shore news

NEWS photo David Wishart

NEAR Ubud, the artistic centre of Bali, villagers gather by the roadside for a procession to a Hindu temple.

In the morning of the world

Real Bali just a few

minutes out of town

BALI: The flight from Bangkok to

Bali is not much more than three

hours, and it was very kind of

Amanusa to send a car and liveried

driver to pick me up at the airport,

but it was still a huge relief to take

my clothes off, and I mean all my clothes, and fall into the pool.

Needless to say, my suite at Amanusa had its own pool, and the only other living things in sight were a lizard on the wall who was more interested in passing flies, and a small frog doing a realistic demonstration of a youngster out of his depth.

As the frog was between me and my welcome drink I scooped u the frog and deposited him on dry land, where

he flopped and had a deep gulp.

I might well have donc the same thing, for returning to a place after 20 years is usually a disappointment, particularly an island like Bali which has been remorselessly promoted as a tropical paradise. Legends date back 400 years to the first Dutch sailors who met a king with 200 wives and a chariot pulled by two white bullocks (but can you imagine 200 mothers-in-law?). Half the crew jumped ship on Bali.

Signature promoting stay-at-home options

SIGNATURE Vacations has just launched their annual program: targeting Carada as a summer destination from coast to coast.

Their new brochure showcases the “classic” Canadian tour components: affordable charter airfares, motorcoach tours in A¢lantic Canada and the Rockies, and the C algary Stampede. Accommodation ranges from informal downtown hotels to some of the country’s best such as The Empress in Victoria and The Algonquin in St. Andrews By-The-Sea.

This year, they have added a number of novel components, affordable day trips which can be booked in advance. These include whale watching in the Bay of Fundy and off Vancouver Island; Peggy's Cove and lobster lunch from Halifax; the Niagara wine country from Toronto; and Victoria from Vancouver.

Signature has a network of 19 cities served by their charter flights on board Royal Airlines and Air Transat.

From Victoria to St. John’s, the network offers the flexibil- ity of onc-way as well as round-trip fares at considerable sav- ings over scheduled cazriers. For more information on Signature Vacations contact 688-1102.

Happily not a lot has changed, at least in the

last two decades.

For sure traffic jams have arrived on Bali,

and Kuta has a tout everywhere you turn,

but the rea! Bali is still there just a few min- utes out of town. This is the island of ter- raced rice fields, te aples, smoking volca- noes, stately banyan trees and sweet frangi- pani, of gentle people who embrace

Hinduism and deily live its ancient culture

and traditions.

Aman, from the Sanskrit word for peace, has three resorts that are just the place to get the best out of Bali, if you can afford it. Each has about 30 suites, some with private pools, impeccable service and food, and a fleet of cars and drivers poised to show off the best.

At Amankila, on the cast coast, J was welcomed by nwo

. Balinese girls wrapped in gold brocade and offering a flower

of jasmine in a coconut leaf cone. On the beach that night a chanting choir of 100 young men from a nearby village per- formed the Kecak dance.

Over at Ubud, the artistic centre of Bali, Amandari is perched on an escarpment high above the winding Ayung River gorge, and outside the walls of my suite a fierce warrior in stone wears sacred sarongs, and whimsically, a frangipani behind his car.

Being a Scotsman, the Amandari manager, Henry Gray, encourages guests to play golf at Bali Handara, which not

See more page 31

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