I write this from Bali airport as I am waiting to leave. I had 4 weeks in Bali, travelling to a few spots I had been before, and a couple of new ones. They are very mixed, some great places and some that I really did not like at all.
I have been to Bali 4 times. The first in 1986, yes 1986, nearly 40 years ago. I don’t think that a return here at any time can beat that experience. We weren’t the first tourists to come, the tourist boom started in the 70s, but mass tourism was still in its infancy. We stayed in homestays, losmen (simple lodgings), turned up and checked out the hotels before booking, did not have the internet! We were welcomed everywhere we went. My then boyfriend and I hired bicycles and rode round the island (except for the steep volcano ascents, when we put the bikes in a Bemo’!). While we were biking around people smiled, waved, talked to us, directed us. We saw lots of ceremonies on the road and even found a cockfight and special ceremony which we were invited to.
There was no rubbish to speak off, it was clean, the beaches were clean, the restaurants and hotels simple and it really was another world to the Bali of today.
In 2004 there were rice fields between the airport and Kuta, space on Kuta beach not overun by bars, and I don’t recall any rubbish. Even in 2009 it was pleasant and didn’t feel too busy and commercial.
2024 is something else. What has overwhelmed me is the commercialism and the amount of rubbish. The only climate change concession I have seen here is not selling plastic bags in bigger shops. Every hotel (except a few exceptions) provide plastic water bottles rather than filling them up. One hotel even provided 2 little ones instead of 2 big ones. All the toiletries in hotels come in little plastic containers. I went to a temple ceremony and a funeral, and the hosts provide cakes, food and drink for the guests. All in little plastic packages, or water in plastic cups with a seal and plastic straws. It is very hard to see that going on all around me. It creates piles of rubbish, some of which ends up in the sea, and washed back ashore.
Locals are being pushed out by tourists. I was told by several people that in Sanur, expats are buying land and putting big villas on it, driving up the price of buying and renting for the locals. Some places have been taken over by tourists, and the traffic is horrendous as there is only one way in and out, such as Canggu.
But, and it is big but, the people are still as welcoming and friendly, that hasn’t changed. You can get fed up being asked all the time if you want a taxi or a massage, but it is easy enough to just say no. I went into 2 families with my driver, and both were so inclusive of me, wanting photos with me, asking me questions, offering me food. A complete stranger to them.
Maybe if enough of us start trying to educate people about the use of plastic, something might change, but doing nothing won’t change it. I could try if I came here.
So many people here rely on tourism to feed their families, that it would be wrong to stop coming because of the other problems. You just have to pick the places that you enjoy the most, which for me are the quieter places.
So will I return to Bali? Probably. I found a couple of lovely spots I could definitely return to, Sanur and Gilli Air (which strictly speaking isn’t Bali). I found them relaxing, quieter than some of the other tourist hot spots, good value, great food, nice beaches.
Could I live here? Maybe. I have been considering staying longer somewhere in South East Asia, and Sanur would fit the bill.
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