Wherever in the world you are and whatever you do, feel greeted and hugged. Welcome to my Bali-Diary: Life on the Island of Gods!
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Bali has become one of the most famous travel destinations in the world. Some say itโs because of the weather and the landscape, some say itโs because of the nightlife.
What I personally love about this island is that you can be in both worlds at the same time: You can live a westernized modern life but at the same time you experience real Balinese culture.
When there is a ceremony (so basically every other day), they close main roads, they have parades in the middle of the street and clubs are not allowed to play music. They keep their culture no matter how many white people โ โbulesโ โ come to this wonderful place.
When you drive through Jalan Petitenget in the middle of the tourism center Seminyak, there suddenly is this beautiful rice field. It does not fit in at all but it is a very welcome diversion.
It really seems like sometimes you donโt even have to go to quieter parts of my beloved Island of Gods to get your daily dose of nature.
How about you: What is special about the place you live in? Have you ever been to Bali?
VERSI BAHASA
Dimanapun kalian berada dan apapun yang kalian lakukan, selamat datang di buku harian Bali aku: Life on the Island of Gods!
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Bali sudah menjadi salah satu tujuan berlibur yang cukup terkenal di dunia. Beberapa orang bilang itu karena cuaca and pemandangannya, beberapa bilang karena kehidupan malamnya.
Tapi menurut aku, apa yang aku suka dari pulau ini, kamu bisa ada di dua dunia pada waktu yang sama: Kamu bisa jalani hidup dengan cara kebaratan tapi di waktu yang sama kamu bisa ngerasain budaya bali.
Pas ada upacara (hampir setiap hari), mereka tutup jalan utama, mereka bersembahyang di tengah jalan dan klub nggak boleh memainkan musiknya. Mereka tetap melestarikan budayanya walaupun banyak bule datang ke tempat ini.
Waktu kalian melewati Jalan Petitenget di pusat wisatawan di Seminyak, tiba-tiba ada sawah yang indah. Nggak pas sama sekali tapi bagus untuk perubahan.
Terkadang kamu nggak perlu pergi ke tempat yang lebih sepi supaya kamu bisa merasakan alam dari pulau ini.
Bagaimana dengan kalian: Apa yang spesial dari tempat tinggal kalian? Apakah kalian pernah ke Bali?
Hi! That looks like a nice little place in Bali. I just came from Bali about 2 weeks ago or so, and honestly i didn't liked it too much. The beach was so dirty, the plastics were tingling the toes in the water, very salty cooked food and the pushing vendors to get you to buy something from them no matter what, was few of the things that made Bali so terrible to me. I did enjoyed the Sun though, and that's about it.
In the 2.5 weeks i spent there, i noticed only 2 ceremonies (1 with some wierd creatures standing usually in one leg, and another one was a funeral). Yes indeed few roads were stopped to allow that to happen, but it only made the bad traffic, worse. Made yeah there are nicer places, but so far where i have explored, it wasn't. Thanks for your post, and maybe you can share some of those places you have in mind. :^
Hi @viog37.
I totally get what you mean and can imagine what strange impression you have of this island. But I need to correct it as someone who loves this place.
Yes, a few weeks ago the beaches and water were crazily dirty (I even wrote an article about it here on Steemit). That happens every year for a few weeks on the west coast because of the current. It has passed already... I know it sucks a lot and it has to be changed, but most of it comes from the sea and it is temporarily, so you were on the wrong side of the island at the wrong time unfortunately.
The traffic is crazy, I know, but we are talking about the most touristy places. I would say most of Bali is still villages, sometimes lonely beaches, and pretty quiet.
People who come here often have very wrong expectations. Bali is a tourism center, of course there are traffic and vendors on the main beach. If you want tranquility all you have to do is take a taxi for about an hour and you can reach anything you want: Lonely beaches, yoga centers, rice terraces, waterfalls, a national park, volcanos and even a harbor where you can take a boat to other small islands.
I feel bad for you because you didn't liked my beloved island, but I guess you were either expecting the wrong things or going to the wrong places...
Mhmm if there's one thing i learnt from my travels, is never have expectations, and never assume the best circumstances. And nevertheless, the experience there was a bit worse than travelling through Morocco.
And yes i went with 2 indonesian friends, who were locals and showed me around, jalan jalan with their car. I can say that food was still quite bad even taking distance from the touristy places, vendors still trying to rip off the tourists, crazy taxis, still a lot of dirt pretty much everywhere, nobody seems to wash hands in restaurants as everytime i was asking for savon they were giving me a very strange look . As for rice terraces, i can say it's much more beautiful in Vietnam, especially in Sa Pa, and the yoga centers way better in Thailand. And even the massage centres were a bit more relaxing and better quality in Morocco. And Morocco was so far the last one on my list value and enjoyment wise .
I don't think there's such a thing as wrong places, as what you see and what you get, is part of the way of life and culture of the country. It does not change drastically in 2 weeks. But hopefully it will change in to better in the future, and hopefully i'll replace what i've witnessed with better memories. Thanks for your input though; I know that the majority has their love for their country, and sometimes can not see the objective side of the things, which can mostly be seen when you come from the outside. Have a lovely day @herbaliblog, looking forward for you next posts :^ .
Well, I get your points but I still think they are more subjective than my view would ever be.
I mean, if what you say is true, how come that Bali is one of the top travel destinations world wide? It can't be just the weather, there are many places in the world with better weather (less long rainy season for example). It can't be the location either, since the island is incredibly far away from most of the western world.
And yet, there are few places with so many tourists coming and loving them and - most importantly - few places where so many tourists end up staying for years.
Anyways, we don't need to argue about it, I am just a bid sad that your experience here was so much worse than that of most people :-)
Mhm idk why is top destination, but is definitely advertising only; I've been there and i regret visiting Bali. indeed it can't be the weather cause is daamn way too hot, so weather wise just the right temp at most of the times was Philippine to (in Asia speaking). And many tourists come and love Tibet as well or Zimbabwe, but that doesn't mean anything. Bali may have been a good place to come to before, but now is a lot of dirt, rubbish pretty much everywhere, food salty most of the times, undercooked often but not most of the times, vendors are crazy, have little common sense there. The temples were fairly nice and the cultural statues that you can see them at almost every entry of a home . As for my experience, is not just me. The people i met in Philipine that had bought a ticket to Bali after have heard what i've seen there, now regret as well for buying the ticket and for not having heard earlier how it actually is, comparing to what is described on the internet . I'm also sad too, like others.
Advertising so much about it and not being too much truth in it, is false advertising. And is all about selling and making an extra buck on behalf of tourists. Just how the Government does of course, charging tourists an entry fee usually 4x times higher than of the locals, at whatever temples or museums etc. It's a shame things go this way (worldwide); we should be more real and choose our words wiser rather than 'enhance' the content for extra views, or to sell something, or to get some exposure. Leaving that aside, i like some of your perspectives from the previous posts. You have some potential, so it's good to direct it in the right way. That's what this platform is about, to right some wrongdoings. Thumbs up ๐ ๐ .
Nice pictures and article :)
Whats the second language?
I hope I can visit Bali next year.
thank you! The second language is Indonesian :-)
So you can easily talk to the balinesian (?) people
Yes of course haha, we are all Indonesian :-)
Haha i thought they maybe speak a dialect or something.
Wow! So glad I found you! Just setting up my account and have been stuck on your page reading all your posts and I st want to say I LOVE your free spirit! Will be following you to read more of your adventures! Lots of love! ๐
wow, thank you so much! Happy to have you onboard :-)
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keren fotonya mbk
makasih mas!