There is an immense amount of information on the web about Bali. And an even larger amount on related topics, such as, for example, gamelan orchestras, or the Legong, a Balinese dance. A great many of the websites on Bali have to do with travel and tourist information. The island is legendary of course as a tourist locale.

Kasi, this site, among its other explorations, will explore the mass of information on the web and bring a little bit of order into the search for information on Bali, its culture, history, art, what vistas it offers the traveler, or tourist, as well as incidental information, current events, etc. These sites, together with a bit of detail re what they are really about will eventually be drawn together in one place here on Kasi.

One theme of Kasi’s posts will be looking into some of these sites out there and seeing what they are really about. Let’s take a look at a couple of them now. If we were to do a search on either Google or Yahoo for ‘Bali’ what would we see?

The top three include the following: the Wikipedia article pops up, The Best of Bali, and Bali Guide.

Here is the introduction from Wikipedia:

“Bali is an Indonesian island located at 8°25′23″S 115°14′55″E / -8.42306, 115.24861 Coordinates: 8°25′23″S 115°14′55″E / -8.42306, 115.24861, the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. It is one of the country’s 33 provinces with the provincial capital at Denpasar towards the south of the island.

With a population recorded as 3,151,000 in 2005, the island is home to the vast majority of Indonesia’s small Hindu minority. 93.18% of Bali’s population adheres to Balinese Hinduism, while most of the remainder follow Islam. It is also the largest tourist destination in the country and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking and music.”

The article, like many Wikipedia articles, is wide ranging and covers History, Geography, Ecology, Administration, Economy, Demographics, Religion, Language, Culture, and includes a gallery of images as well. It is chock full of information in the manner Wikipedia offers but it can be difficult to wade through. The scholar in us will warm to this site.

What about ‘The Best of Bali’? Here is their summary statement:

“The Best of Bali lists only links to web sites providing interesting, important and up-to-date information on the island of Bali in Indonesia. As this site is up-dated frequently, you are invited to visit often and bookmark this page.”

‘The Best of Bali’- bali.com- is aimed at the tourist. There are some good articles, many links to the baliguide.com site, and information about more than one aspect of Bali, but still it is geared toward the tourist.

And ‘Bali Guide’- baliguide.com? Here is their introduction:

“This BALI GUIDE is maintained and updated regularly by foreign residents living in Bali, usually once a week – sometimes more often. You’re invited to visit frequently and to bookmark this page.

You’ll find on this site current information on the island of Bali in Indonesia and down-to-earth advice, sometimes biased by personal experiences but never influenced by commercial considerations. (The server space is provided by Balivillas.com/Bali.com Ltd as a free service to all visitors to Bali.)”

That’s an interesting introduction! We have the word of insiders… but again this site is designed for the tourist. It has plentiful information but it is again mainly looking for the tourist in all of us.

Kasi will continue this exploration of Bali on the web in many posts to come and will eventually offer a directory of sorts for the Bali afficionado.