Trip to Bali, Indonesia – The Asian Tour

Since most of my previous trips were mainly in UK and continental Europe I will be visiting more and more of the Asian countries in my next few years on holidays. I visited Bali Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei Darusalam last year and this year (2006) I have just returned from my repeat trip to Bali. I will be heading to Bangkok, Thailand in August and Manila, Philippines in October.

Just a rough guide to those visiting Bali, here are excerpts taken from Lonely Planet – Southeast Asia: On a Shoestring (2006) a company that is always in my baggage. This is just a guide, for more info you may need to purchase the book.

Dangers and Annoyances

Persistent hawkers are the bane of most visitors in Bali. The best way to deal with them is to ignore them from the first instance. You may be offered drugs on the street, particularly in Kuta, but you’re unlikely to get a good deal. The government takes the smuggling, use and sale of drugs very seriously, and entrapment by police us a real possibility. Bali’s famed oong (magic mushrooms) contain psilocybin, a powerful hallucinogen that can have unpredictable effects. A different danger exists at the beaches at Kuta and Legian, which are subject to heavy surf and strong currents – swim between the flags.

Scams

Travelers have been stung badly by card game cons and dodgy holiday ‘timeshare’ deals. Some have been tricked into paying large amounts for unnecessary repairs to rental cars and motorcycles. Gigolos, ‘guides’ and friendly locals have persuaded visitors to handover money to help pay for education expenses and life-saving operations and moneychangers are adept at switching notes at the last minutes – a healthy skepticism is your best defense.

Hinduism

Although the Balinese are nominal Hindus, there are dozens of differences between the way the religion is practiced in Bali and India. While the Balinese worship the same trinity of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu, they also have their own supreme deity, Sanghyang Widi. Additionally, the Balinese never put their trinity on show, employing vacant shrines and empty thrones where Indian Hindu use layers of Technicolor iconography. One element of Balinese Hinduism that is impossible to avoid – try not to step on them – are the small offerings placed on the pavement every morning to placate bad spirits and pay homage to the good ones.

Denpasar

At first glance, Denpasar is the Jekyll to Kuta’s Hyde, straight-faced city of government and bureaucracy, where tourists are anathema and life plods along at a distinctly workday pace. Although little more than a skip and a jump from Kuta’s seafront strip, Denpasar feels a million miles from the razzmatazz of its most boistrous suburb, offering little more than a handful of hotels and nothing in the way of night life.

Kuta

Bali’s backpackers and package tourists meet on the promenade of Kuta Beach, a boisterous, fun-filled moment to holiday hedonism. Tourists sizzlw in the sunshine by day, gyrate through the happy hours of Jln Legian and Jln Seminyak at night and then stay in bed with their hangovers and who ever else they might have met over their cocktails – the following morning. A bustling menageric of surf shops, bars, touts and travelers, Kuta is the place where Indonesia slips on its boldest Bermudas and really lets its hair down.

Central Kuta

Many cheap places are along the tiny alleys and lanes between Jln Legian and Jln Pantai Kuta, only a short walk from the beach, shops, bars, and restaurants.