Only ourselves to blame for Bali's shortcomings

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Advertisement

This was published 12 years ago

Only ourselves to blame for Bali's shortcomings

By Roy Fleming

Bali is the same as it never was.

I've visited the island more than a dozen times since 1995. They started out as month-long surfing trips across the vast Indonesian archipilego, generally heading east from Bali, to Sumbawa and West Timor where the water is crystal clear and the pace far more relaxing.

Sumbawa: miles away from touts and cheap watches.

Sumbawa: miles away from touts and cheap watches.

Back then Bali, and the Kuta nightlife, were mere distractions to the greater pull of surfing perfect waves in remote parts of the island chain, uniquely blessed as the islands are with generous swell and perfectly-formed reefs. Getting back to Kuta, as insane as the traffic and noise can be, was very much like returning to civilisation. I'd stay a day or two and head off on another adventure.

Once you left Bali and explored further east or west, things changed, people mellowed. Rarely would you be offered cheap watches, or accosted for loose change, or offered drugs. Even in the early 90s the Kuta experience came with the customary touts; a polite "no thank you" was all that was needed. Persistence was easily met with a slightly more assertive "no thank you". Never rude or offensive; just simple, good manners.

To be honest, I've been more horrified and embarrassed by the behaviour of western visitors - including fellow Australians - than by any behaviour I have encountered with the Balinese people, or Javanese for that matter. For a minority of visitors it's as if they lose some humility as they walk through customs. The strong Aussie dollar creates a few monsters in third world countries.

The only discernible change in Kuta is that someone has turned up the volume. It's noisier, the touts more earnest, and the push to buy marijuana more obvious, the living more high-density. The beaches have struggled to cope with the enormous demand placed on them and are now filthy, and the road infrastructure moans under the load. The reefs are more crowded and the streets a little less safe than they used to feel. For this we can only blame ourselves, we love the place to death.

Which is why we should be more respectful, rather than derisive when describing a country we treat as our playground. The culture is still there, the beauty of the original Indonesia still available to us all.

Loading

You might have to leave Bali, however, to see it.

Follow WAtoday on Twitter @WAtoday

Most Viewed in Politics

Loading