Bali is an Indonesian island with the provincial capital at Denpasar. Lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east, the island is home to the largest tourist destination in the country and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking and music. What's interesting is that while Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population, on the island of Bali, 93% of the population is Balinese Hindu and one can find Hinduism in each and every aspect of the life and living.

Balinese performing arts often portray stories from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana but with heavy Balinese influence. Famous Balinese dances include pendet, legong, baris, topeng, barong, gong keybar, and kecak (the monkey dance). Bali boasts one of the most diverse and innovative performing arts cultures in the world, with paid performances at thousands of temple festivals, private ceremonies, or public shows.

Bali has many different aspects. Ubud and the Central & North Bali has many art & traditional areas. Culture, tradition and slow paced. Sanur is towards the South-East and a beach location. A bit up market but not as much as Nusa Dua which is at the Southern part of Bali and has some of the most expensive beach resorts and hotels. South-west lies Kuta which is a popular beach location which also has a very active pub/night-life and draws a lot of crowd. Depending on your taste, and where you visit you can experience Bali in a variety of ways. June, 2009.