I have been to Bali 3 times before this trip (December 24).
My first trip was in 1986, yes that’s right, nearly 40 years ago. I spent a month here with my then boyfriend from Australia. No smart phones or internet of course. We booked rooms by turning up and asking to see them and negotiating a price. We consulted the Lonely Planet Guidebook for recommendations where to go, and also from the people we met along the way.
Being only 25 and fit and healthy, we hired bikes to go round. Didn’t know there were so many high hills, so ended up getting the local transport (Bemo’s) up the hills with our bikes coming in with us. Rode down, and after the first steep volcanic descent, were in the bike repair shop fixing the breaks!
It was magical.
In 2004 we took our 2 children back, spent a week or so in a nice resort in Kuta, but then returned to a few spots with them (Lovina and Ubud) and checked out a new place that hadn’t been on the ‘banana pancake trail’ first time, Amed.
2009 saw me back with a new partner who had not been there before. Took him round to some of the same spots and some new ones that had opened up.
Boy has it changed! In particular I recall that driving out of the airport to Kuta it was fields and countryside, now it is built up from the moment you leave the airport.
The biggest change is Gili Trawangan. One of 3 islands off Lombok. In 1986 we had to get a ferry to Lombok and then a small wooden boat out to Gili T (the furthest out island of the 3). There were some wooden and bamboo huts, no road, no horses and carts, no hotels and no restaurants. It was a homestay with a family, who had a couple of rooms for bedrooms, cooked for us in their kitchen and served us the food in a covered hut. We walked round the island and saw noone.
Fast forward to 2024, and the next time I visited. Gili T is the ‘party island’ of the 3, as it is now closest to Bali as there are hundreds of boats that come across directly from Bali.
If I didn’t know it was the same place, I would not have believed it. The sandy walkway, has turned into a highway with motorbikes, bicycles and horses and carts. There are hotels and restaurants practically all the way round, and piles of rubbish in the middle. ‘Foam parties’ and ‘pub crawls’ are advertised galore.
I hated it to be honest. I am a tourist, but look what we have done to some places. There is no answer, because we all want to visit what we hear are wonderful places, but our presence, despite giving locals income, has more often than not spoiled it.
On this visit (2024) I went to Gili Air from Gili T, which in 1986 had more infrastructure than Gili T because it was the closest from Lombok, but now is the furthest from Bali, and much quieter. There are still horses and carts and rubbish, but it has a much nicer feel that Gili T.
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