SE Asia on a shoestring: 13th edition

LP’s SE Asia on a shoestring just came out with its 13th edition. This book is a great resource for anyone travelling in the region, and includes a secton on Bali. Here’s what the opening paragraph says:

Bali is a brand unto itself, an island that has long outgrown its cramped spot on the map to become the very epitome of the prepackeged paradise. Like a stack of picture postcards, the images are straight from drawer marked ‘SE Asian cliches’: a technicolor fanfare of golden beaches, ultramarine seas, emerald palm tops and bootpolish suntans. Thrumming along to a soundtrack of late-night shinanigans, breaking waves and chatty souvenir sellers, Bali is SE Asia’s answer to the Spanish Costa’s.

Flip the postcard over, however, and you will find that there is plenty to discover behind the predictable, seaside motifs. While much of southern Bali looks like it was designed over cocktail hour at a convention for concrete fetishists, the isloand also offers a heady mix of untouched wilderness, vibrant Hindu culture and white knuckle activities. Whether you are here for the suntans, the hangovers, the waves or the culture, Bali is the little isle with everything.