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 😉 👍 .