BALI — THE "PARADISE ISLAND"

Among the around 14,000 islands that consist the Indonesian archipelago, Bali anchors east of Java, branched aside the small Strait of Bali, and surrounded through the Java Sea on the north, the Indian Ocean on the south, and the Strait of Lombok on the east. A string of volcanic mountains crown the northern part of Bali, with Gunung Agung (Mount Divine, literally) as the highest at 3,142 meters. This volcano, also as Mount Batukaru, Mount Batur, and Mount Merebuk is still active.

Highly important to the agrarian life of Bali, specially for rice crop, the rivers of Ayung, Unda, Sungsang, Balian, Yeh Sumi, Petanu, and Saban contain the water from the highland to the seas. At that place, there are four great lakes: Lake Batur at the crater of Mount Batur, Lake Buyan, Lake Bratan, and Lake Temblingan.

Bali enjoys equatorial atmospheric condition, being just a few degrees south of the equator. It means that the sun rises at 6 AM in the morning and sets at 6 PM in the afternoon, day-after-day of the year. It means that temperature fluctuation is very small, averaging about 26-30 Celcius, and it doesn't have four seasons (exclude the hotel, of course). It only has a wet season, typically from September to February, and a dry season for the other half of the year. But the difference is marginal; at the peak of the wet season you will see about a half-hour to an hour serious downpour in the afternoon, about perfect for a siesta. The rest of the time: nice, warm temperature, specially on a twist of sea breeze in the beaches of Kuta or Nusa Dua.

This climate endows Bali with a number of unique flora, including waringin trees (banyan), salak Bali, and a battalion of flowers from a very aromatic cempaka (Michelia champaca) to literally thousand forms of orchidaceous plant. The fauna is equally variable. Bali is the native land to the Bali Tiger, which is almost extinct; Bali cattle, graceful animals not like other cows; bats that haunt caves like the Bat Cave near Kusamba; sea turtles of Nusa Dua; Jalak Bali or Bali Sterling (Leucopsar rothschildi) that has inspired countless number of painters and artists.

Some photos of bali island