This tiny little island has it, in abundance. The south offers the most developed tourist areas, with accommodation ranging from luxury hotels to budget rooms in Losmen, and a buzzing nightlife, gay, straight and mixed, to complement the usual attractions of sun, sea, sand and surf. These, of course, can be chased around the Balinese coast, with some of the finer spots a long way from overdeveloped Kuta. Inland, meanwhile, you can make your way to Ubud, the cultural centre, which offers traditional music, dancing and a fantastic range of art to view or to buy; it is also an excellent base from which to explore the stunning Balinese landscape, or historic sites such as the beautiful water garden at Tirta Gangga, my own personal favourite, a tiny gem of a place. Built in 1948 by the King of Karangasem, it is a simple courtyard garden, structured around a series of linked pools: a place to sit and relax, or to wander for an hour or so, inspecting the statues of gods and goddesses that range across the water.

Looking up the hill, banyan trees dominate; looking back, you gaze across the valley to the mountains beyond. There is, of course, no part of Bali that remains untouched by tourism; development has brought great benefits to the island, but has certainly transformed it from the tropical island paradise that it still features as in the imagination. Nonetheless, there are places on the island, to the north and east especially, where the transformation is less thoroughgoing and tourism is a second industry, rather than the economy’s main plank, and where it is possible to stay and simply enjoy the quiet of the island; and if the entertainments there are fewer, so too are the hawkers and the offers of transport that come every second step in the more commercialised centre and south.