Indonesian Journeys

Documentaries

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In just over ten years, Indonesia has transformed from a centralised authoritarian regime under Suharto to a decentralised multi-party democracy.

With parliamentary elections approaching in April and a presidential poll later in the year, what are the issues, challenges and expectations of the world's largest Muslim population?

Anita Barraud of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) travels to four very different parts of Indonesia where 240 million people are preparing for their general election.

Part four - Paradise island - Bali

The first prime minister of India, Nehru, called Bali 'the morning of the world'.

Even after the Bali bombings of 2002 and 2005, most Australians still regard Bali as an easily accessible slice of tropical paradise.

Arts, culture, Hindu ceremony, beaches and surfing, the island attracts up to two million tourists a year.

Anita Barraud goes beneath the smiling and peaceful surface of Bali which has had a difficult rcent modern history.

This was especially true of the 1960s when a volcanic eruption and then a communist purge instigated by the dictator General Suharto devastated the population.

The trauma of those days is still apparent amongst those who saw terrible things as children.

Join Anita Barraud, as she discovers how the impact of the Bali bombings, tourism, globalisation and Indonesia's transition to democracy is affecting the local politics, economy and culture of Bali and its people.

Indonesian Journeys is co-production by ABC's Anita Barraud and the BBC's Neil Trevithick.

This documentary was first broadcast on ABC Radio National and aired on BBC World Service on Wednesday 18th March 2009.