In the 90s I worked on Trawangan as a divemaster and instructor and left Indonesia every two months, flying from Jakarta to Singapore and back, traveling by train through Java by bus through Bali, never stopping in Bali unless there was no more ferry from Padangbai to Lombok and I got stuck there for one night.
Already in those days Bali was far too touristy for my taste and I can only imagine what it must be like today.
For sure you can still find nice spots there, because tourists tend to stick to certain areas, but I always prefered the "Wild East", Lombok, Komodo, Flores to Bali.
But to each his own, and I am glad that you spice up the ecotrain with some Indonesian topics.
Terima kasih!
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its only touristy if you go to the touristy spots! i normally find in most places you dont have to go far to get out of the traps.. and suddenly its a whole new world.. The hard part is meeting that special person who whisks you off to some unheard of spot ;-)
Yes! I remember how disappointed I was when I arrived in Paharganj in Delhi, so touristy, quite some shock after 3 months of wild, wild Pakistan. But then that special person appeared and took me to his home and from there I went to Kashmir to his family´s houseboat from where you could hear the sound of gunfire and explosions at night and from there on an adventurous trek, including an encounter with Kashmiri mujaheddin, who gave us a mock demonstration of how to throw handgrenades and ambush an Indian army patrol, to Ladakh. There the truck I was riding on fell into the Indus river and I had to swim for my life.
Nothing of this was planned. The plan was to follow my professor´s advice and go to Mussoorie to keep studying Hindi. Well, I chose the road less travelled by and this made all the difference. 😇
nice! yes totally agree! mad amazing journeys are had with spontaneity
Kashmir, definitely not #1 on the list for fun tourist adventures...
I completely agree with this, I prefer this method as well <3 See where the road leads!
Hi @likedeeler, I can completely understand your sentiments. I myself have not traveled out to Gili T, just because of its party rep and large tourist influx. I think with travel becoming more accessible, we run this problem everywhere as tourists encroach on the natural world to see the wonder and grasp those picturesque moments. However, my piece of paradise lies within a local community of Bali, I have to travel into town to find the tourists hanging out and even still, they are just mostly here to do yoga, chill out, take some courses or do a juice cleanse but I live in a pretty amazing area. I try to spend my time "off the beaten track" looking for the lesser known views and hope to continue sharing those as well. I hope they end up inspiring a better image of Bali for you, as you know, it's a large enough island with many aspects and pros and cons going on in each sector =D
Way cool to find someone who used to live here as well on the ecotrain though! Nice to meet you <3
Yeah, I heard about Trawangan getting overrun nowadays, I was there in the mid-90s.
I also watched some videos about it, lots of development has taken place there.
Same in Boracay, Philippines.
Now for work as a diving instructor I had to be in touristy places and Trawangan was very nice in those days, but when travelling I prefer to be in more remote places.
Ya I hear you, the more toursity the better in that case right? :)
I had friends who went out there recently and came right back claiming it was just too much, beautiful but really intense.
I guess there is a time and place for all of it, when I finally make it out there, I'll let you know how it is firsthand =D