Bali: A Cultural History

Bali is unlike anywhere else. Despite the advent of international tourism, this Indonesian island remains an untarnished cultural gem set in an idyllic landscape. Spirit-haunted as is the rest of Southeast Asia, Bali boasts a unique mixture of beliefs because Hinduism overlays a much older relationship with the physical world. Nothing is considered to be inanimate. Towering volcanoes, majestic lakes, lush forests, gushing springs, flooded paddies, golden sands and blue seas—all these specta...