Bali Travel Tips

December 17th, 2007, in Opinion, Travel, by dewaratugedeanom

Tips for travelling in Bali, by Dewaratugedeanom.

Travel Warnings

Following the suggestion of iamisaid (another commenter in this blog) in his opinion piece “Travel Horrors” I would like to submit a surat pembaca published in the Bali Post of April 11, 2006 by a Balinese individual whom I suppose to be a member of the Indonesian police force.

As the letter was published in Bahasa Indonesia I took the liberty to translate it into English for those who are less familiar with our national idiom. Coming from an Indonesian citizen with a public function I consider the message ample food for thought. Therefore I will refrain from adding my own comments except for some advice for the benefit of visitors to our beautiful island.

Experiences from accompanying visitors in Penelokan.

Last March 29, 2006 around 14.30h I came to the ‘obyek wisata’ (officially recognized tourist site) of Penelokan, Kintamani, Bangli accompanying a group of 4 guests from South Korea, 1 adult woman with 3 small children of less than 10 years of age, to enjoy the beauty of the Gunung Batur volcano and its Batur lake.

As soon as she stepped out of the car tens of hawkers surrounded my guest, offering their merchandise in a rather obtrusive manner so that my guest felt disturbed and didn’t have a chance to enjoy the beauty of the scenery. Hoping not to be bothered any longer, my guest bought several goods that were offered for sale. But after buying these items the hawkers did not go away but on the contrary came in even greater numbers.

The problems started when a hawker came who offered a chessboard for sale.

In order to attract the attention of my guest the salesman in question offered a chessboard that he wanted to sell to my guest at the price of $1. However, when my guest paid the price that was offered she wasn’t given the chessboard but only one of its pawns. Thinking that she was fooled by the merchant, my guest felt disappointed and quickly wanted to get into the car.

The chessboard hawker followed us to our car and prevented her from closing the door while he kept on forcing her to buy his merchandise for the price of $30. My guest said she didn’t have this amount of money, but our hawker ordered her to withdraw the money while he pointed at an ATM terminal on the other side of the road.

This situation caused my guest, who is a woman, and the children to become increasingly afraid. Then I asked the hawker to let us close the door and leave, so we could continue our scheduled tour program for fear of being late because that day coincided with ‘pengerupukan’ (the evening before Nyepi, the Balinese New Year).

It wasn’t an answer that I got, but blows on my face and my body from more than three men, friends of the chessboard hawker. One of them took me by the collar of my shirt while he threatened me with a knife and told me that he was going to take out my bowels. This situation was witnessed directly by my guests. They were extremely frightened and cried all the way back. Unfortunately there was not one security guard on the premises, not even in the guard house at the entrance gate.

I hope that the government of Kabupaten Bangli and all parties concerned will undertake the necessary improvements and redress the situation in respect to the hawkers who operate in the Kintamini tourist area. If they leave it like it is now it’s not impossible that the Kintamani obyek wisata will undergo the same fate as Besakih or Trunyan, beautiful but uninteresting.

I Nyoman Gatot Wiradnya
Asrama Polri Kreneng,
Denpasar

Some advice for travellers to Bali.

Try to avoid official obyek wisata and all places listed in the Lonely Planet, unless you are in a big enough party to withstand the hassle. Bear in mind that the only thing that counts in those places is your money. Train at home in running the gauntlet.
Don’t expect too much of scenic beauty in downtrodden places. Most of the beauty has already been obscured and hidden by shacks and concrete (e.g. the Ceking rice terraces). Like the Balinese turn your gaze upwards and don’t look down too often; rubbish usually collects downstairs in ditches and ravines.
Be prepared to pay for everything that bears the title “holy”. While it is true that temples need money for upkeeping, monkey forests don’t.
If a Balinese tries to cajole you into buying real estate (and believe me, they will), put plugs in your ears, run away or punch him in the nose because every deal ends up in making him rich and you having bought only a piece of paper.
When doing business bear in mind that many Balinese have been spoilt by easy tourist dollars and sometimes lack any sense of proportion when making offers. Javanese and other Indonesians usually take on a more realistic approach.
For those who are not adventurous, stay in your hotel, sip at a mojito or have a massage by the pool and enjoy the sunset. Sunsets are still for free, mojitos and massages are not.
For the intrepid and those with enough time, try to get acquainted with genuine Balinese families. If you find one that besides your money has also an interest in your persona, stick with them. They will show you places and let you experience events beyond your wildest imagination.
If by chance you discover “pearls” of dreamland beauty, shut up, enjoy the view and never mention it to anybody. Next time you visit, the place might be swarmed with thong-clad Aussies, hawkers and tukang ojek, or fenced in by developers and investment brokers for villas and condominiums.

More to come with “jual-beli ekor” (cattle marketing).

Om santi santi santi om.

Tags: Advice, Bali, Balinese, Beautiful, Denpasar, Holidays, Stories, Tips, Touring, Tourists, Travelling, Vacations

14 Comments on “Bali Travel Tips”

iamisaid Says:
December 17th, 2007 at 2:36 am
OMG ! *speechless about that related incident.

and THANK YOU Dewaratugedeanom for sharing this with us. Even though this is not something for that any civic minded Indonesian would feel proud about, Indonesia is not Bali.

Your advice is pure dynamite. Enough to blow incapacitate these thugs if the visitor to Bali takes heed of your advice.
Sputjam Says:
December 17th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
This things happen at Jogja and borobodur as well.
And if you go overseas, even in paris at versailles and eiffel Tower, hounded by Africans.
And if you are not careful, your pockets will be picked in the mayhem.
Janma Says:
December 17th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
I’ve been here 20 years and I have never seen a ‘thong clad’ aussie, except on the beach.
Bas Says:
December 17th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
“I’ve been here 20 years and I have never seen a ‘thong clad’ aussie, except on the beach.”

Are you living on the beach?
Pena Budaya Says:
December 17th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Last time I visited Bali was in 2003 and it was already unpleasant due to increasing numbers of hawkers who were constantly following tourists. I guess nowadays is even worst.

Actually the above mentioned situation in Bali reminds me of India. I had more or less similar experience when travelling to New Delhi, Fatehpur Sikri and Agra. I felt so unsafe when travelling to those areas. Some guys forced us to accept them as our tour guide or bajaj driver or taxi driver and they threatened us as we didn’t want to use their services. Honestly, Lonely Planet book was actually helped us a lot in dealing with this situation and made us aware of. The book mentioned all lousy behaviour of certain type of locals that to be avoided and how to deal with them. So, if that is now the current situation in Bali, I hope that Lonely Planet would not miss it.

And as I notice the Balinese and Indians hawkers were majority children. I feel that is then the worst part of all. They should go to school instead working on the street..otherwise they colud becoming the adult hawkers who perhaps more aggressive that the older generation…
dewaratugedeanom Says:
December 17th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Pena Budaya

And as I notice the Balinese and Indians hawkers were majority children. I feel that is then the worst part of all. They should go to school instead working on the street..otherwise they colud becoming the adult hawkers who perhaps more aggressive that the older generation”¦

That’s why one should never - I repeat never - buy from children hawkers. These kids are forced by their families or others to sell all kinds of stuff to tourists instead of going to school. It’s easy to imagine what will become of them.
This is one of the reasons why I think mass tourism is more of a curse than a blessing to Bali.
nenek sihir Says:
December 18th, 2007 at 8:02 am
This happens pretty much all over Indonesia, my personal experiences are, apart from Besakih (horrible stressful experience!), Borobudur, Prambanan, Yogya, (those ubiquitous batik tours with aforesaid batik being sold for more than you would ever pay at the most exclusive boutique in the west) Bukit Lawang (constant hassling to go on ‘easy’ jungle walks), Kuta Lombok (feeling forced to buy kelapa muda and pineapples from aggressive kids-no such thing as a quiet stroll along that beautiful beach), oh and the port at Bangsal (my absolute worst Indonesian experience ever!!), Lombok, where you catch the boat to the ‘Gillies’, Padang and Bukitinggi (aggressive and persistent men trying to sell overpriced trips to the Mentawai islands, while insisting that Siberut is malaria-free, LOL!!) Our car being chased, and the doors and windows being pounded on before we even stopped, by scores of souvenir sellers at Papandayan and Tangkuban Perahu. Oh yeah, and the hawkers at Cihampelas. A friend was hounded day and night in Makassar to go on a tour to Tanah Toraja, another friend felt frightened for her life in Dumai when surrounded by men at the port grabbing at pulling at her belongings. All part of living/travelling in a developing country though, you do have to expect it to a certain extent-and I do have to admit my first trip to Bali was equally marred by those thong-clad (back in ‘95 they were everywhere!), vegemite sandwich clutching HeraldSun reading inebriated Australian cliches (and the odd German, Japanese, Brit, etc) Happy travelling all!
Janma Says:
December 18th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Yeah, I guess I don’t know what I’m talking about…. I don’t live on the beach, I never spend much time in tourist area’s…. so I don’t see any aussies… thong clad or otherwise… once I saw a japanese girl on a bicycle in Jalan Melasti in a thong. She had a clear raincoat on over her thong, and if you looked from the back she seemed naked, cause the thong was nowhere to be seen! Caused quite a ruckus.
dewaratugedeanom Says:
December 21st, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Oops, I forgot to mention an important tip in the article above.

“¢ Instead of visiting and spending your money, consider staying at home and send us your money.
Bali Boy Says:
March 15th, 2008 at 2:18 am
That last suggestion would most likely save tourists the discomfort of being harassed and would most likely achieve a similar outcome.

Thank you for raising the awareness of this issue. Tourists certainly need to be aware of the potential dangers as well as knowing how to avoid or resolve difficult situations.
uwie Says:
July 5th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Actually, I have an interesting experience in here …

When I went to Gili from Bali, I bought a ticket travel and end up with many foreigner backpacker in a car …

Most of them, if there was someone trying to offer something to them, just stood there, pretend not to see, pretend not hear, pretend they are no exist, and thats really brake my heart. I ever be like them, someone that trying really hard to gain money from everything for living.

i am angry that time, to those foreigner, I just said to that “if you don’t want that stuff, just give your hand, and say no!”.

They are just little man and not understand of silence gesture meaning. They are just knowing of “Yes” or “No” mean. It makes them waiting for the response because he was silence but still watching for a many long times until I said “Udah pa, dia ga mau”

Please!!!! If you don’t need it. Just say it directly. It will easier your life and their life. They will easily get another person to be their costumer.
Teng Says:
July 5th, 2008 at 6:58 am
Yeah beautiful story Uwie…. except when I said ‘no’ very politely… the kid made a ‘cut-throat’ gesture and said in bahasa Indonesia that he would kill me.

When I confronted him with that he did apologize… but I have to agree with some of the above statements that kids on Bali and Lombok can be really agressive in their “selling methods”. Your statement about “If you don’t need it, just say so” is the most naieve I heard in years…. I have had to fence of sellers for hours at Prambanan, Borobudur, Bali, Lombok and Gili… even if you say you don’t want it they still haunt you. That’s ok… it’s their right to try…. but don’t start crying if a tourist who endured that their entire holiday starts ignoring the sellers
uwie Says:
July 5th, 2008 at 11:01 am
I am not commenting of yours actually …
but the first one from dewaratugeneanom …

o really? why it is work for me every time? no it is not naive … I just look in their eyes … and said it briefly “no”, and they are not following me anymore … thats why i am talking about it … it always working for me …

why do you think that I have to say it politely? hehehehe … of course not. sometimes you must showed in anger in “NO” word. Give the improvisation of your “NO” word but just make it clear. the adult one make a not appropriate word because i was going alone that time, and I just said”E, LO GA SOPAN YA. GW BILANG ENGGAK!! BANGSAT!” with anger. The point is said no, and make it clear. They will not bugging you again.

the last time, i talked to the kids in there (in lombok Ferry port). whether they are studying or not. and he said to me that yes, he is studying @6 grade elementary school. and that day is his holiday. Maybe because I was going there when the student in their holiday.
kinch Says:
July 5th, 2008 at 11:04 am
The correct approach to Bali is to lose all the silly Western ideas about some Morning of the World type paradise and throw away the Lonely Planet (especially the Lonely Planet, actually) and check your ass into a nice Nusa Dua resort and don’t go out. My favourite image of Bali is the Nusa Dua split gates - one side the usual mess and the other a nice big Dilarang-this-that-and-the-other sign (looking a bit the worse for wear last time I saw it) and things magically looking a lot more golf-course like.

Do I care that Tutut, Bambang, Tommy related members of the devil’s spawn own a large chunk of it? Frankly no.

Get bored after a few days: jump in a taxi to Seminyak and see the sunset with all the other pseuds at you-know-where and gobble down the usual fusion nonsense at a different restaurant and then head back.

A few resorts around Ubud are OK too.

Treat Bali as a place to go to to unwind in a totally contrived and artificial environment and it’s not so bad at all. Go looking for the meaning of life and either (a) you will be sadly disappointed or (b) if you find it - you’re nuts and read too much Margaret Mead as a teenager.

Frankly, I find it hard to understand why anyone would want to subject themselves to third world hawkers and beggars… well actually I do understand - it’s partly a form of masochism + I guess for infrequent travelers, it’s a novelty to be harassed by some tosser hawking leather jackets in Kuta of all places.

And don’t get me started on Australian low-lifes who infest Kuta/Legian. I’m Australian myself and queuing for the Garuda Death Bird a few times in the past I’ve found myself wondering ‘where do these people crawl out of?’