Bali: Beaches, Bodies, Bombs, Scams, $3 Adventures

“You killed my God!” screamed the woman as I stepped on a Hindu offering and looked around guiltily. Less than two hours in Bali, and I was already offending people—nearly a record for me. Within the next hour I would accidentally step on yet another Hindu offering, learn about a very unusual cemetery, and have dozens of people try to scam me. This is Bali, a beautiful island, heavily influenced by Hinduism, but corrupted by tourism.

In few other places in SE Asia have I encountered so many people trying to con unsuspecting tourists. Balinese are very friendly and a pleasure to talk to, right up until they launch into a sales pitch. Unfortunately, the majority I’ve encountered have pitches. My beef is when I feel lured into what seems like an innocent conversation, building rapport with a Balinese person, then get blindsided with her pleas to buy a shoddy product. It’s barely a step up from flat out begging. Obviously many tourists are guilted into paying, otherwise these scams and “products” wouldn’t exist.

Perhaps economists have a formal term for this, what I’ll call a false market, wherein certain products continue being pushed by vendors (and bought by sellers) not because of the products’ inherent worth, but because of some guilt, feeling of obligation,  or even fear in the victim (the tourist) to pay money. Bali has been corrupted by tourism in this way. Tourists are to blame for continuing to fund these pathetic attempts at “making a living.”

Want examples? How about every night men offering to sell me marijuana, cocaine, ephedrine, Viagra, and other drugs. This, in a country which claims to have some of the world’s strictest drug laws and enforcement. How about girls every few feet offering manicures that leave nails in worse condition? How about prices that are marked up 1000% to try to scam the new unsuspecting tourists? How about internet businesses selling products for multiples of what can be found with a little groundwork? That’s enough of my rant on the Bali tourist problem. I’m disappointed, to say the least.

By avoiding eye contact, ignoring anyone selling anything, and learning to “just say no,” you can eliminate most of the frustration of Bali and focus your energy on the beauty of the beaches.

Bali’s beaches have some of the nicest, most consistently packed and smooth sand I’ve encountered. How nice it is to not worry about sharp rocks, coral, glass, and other harmful objects in the sand. Surfing and playing in the waves is safe and fun. I don’t remember having this much fun in the ocean since I was a kid.

Bali is unique in that most of the island’s residents are Hindu, even though Indonesia is a Muslim nation. Twice daily, little square religious offerings made of flowers and other plants are placed on sidewalks. A person can’t walk more than 10 steps without passing one. By the end of the day, most are destroyed from being stepped on and driven over. People clean up the waste and replace with fresh offerings. One particular town in Bali is known for another religious tradition.

Trunyan, a little Hindu village on a lake, sitting opposite an active volcano, places its recently deceased in bamboo “cages” under a tree. In other words, they are not cremated (like most Hindu), are not buried, but are left atop the ground until bones remain, which then get places alongside the other skeletons. All the bodies are placed under a tree, which Trunyans claim has a special scent, giving the entire cemetery a refreshing aroma, and eliminating any stench.

I drove several hours on motorcycle to reach the little village, only to be turned away because I didn’t have enough money to pay for the final few hundred meters to the cemetery, reachable only by boat. It’s too bad I didn’t reach my goal, but the whole thing started to offend me, when a local Trunyan kept talking about his religion and at the same time selling me his best pitch, trying to get me to pay $25-$35. I offered $5, which is really all I could offer and still have enough to get home.

My wallet had less than $10 when I left my hotel in the morning, enough for food and gas and a police bribe in case I were stopped. I was warned not to carry much money and to leave my ATM card at home because some police are crooked and will try to get as much as possible. I didn’t realize a trip to the cemetery could be so expensive, but luckily other things on Bali are not.

Through some luck and lots of work, I have found some true bargains here. Surfboard rentals are fairly expensive, costing over $10 for an hour or two, if rented on the beach. One shop advertises a weekly rental for $65. I was tempted to purchase a $150 board, then sell it back for about 30-40% of that (which is what some shops offer). Well, even better, I found a shop a little ways back from the beach that rents me the board of my choosing for $3/day! I can try out new boards, swap at mid-day, or whatever I want. When I’ve surfed, it has been for 4-5 hours per day, a few in the morning, then a couple right before sunset. Averaged out, that’s about $0.75/hour! Wow!

Motorcycle rentals range in price, but can be had for about $3/day if rented for a week or more. I really wanted to get a $2/day rental, but couldn’t get anyone to accept, so I pay $3/day. If riding motorbikes weren’t so dangerous here, I’d recommend it to everyone. There is no other way to see so much of the area at so little cost, with so much freedom. It simply can’t be done another way. Taxis, even if hired for a day, will cost a small fortune. Walking is great exercise, but good luck getting outside the city limits. I rode to a volcano two days ago, and will be going to another beautiful location tomorrow, stopping where I want, taking pictures where I want, eating where I want, etc. All one has to do is search the internet for some Bali tourist scams to see the advantages a motorcycle has over hiring locals.

Though the Balinese are very friendly and peaceful, the island has been chosen by Muslim terrorists as a target. With so many tourists from industrialized nations here, particularly Australians, it is very easy for extremists in nearby Java or neighboring countries to plan attacks. Talking with Balinese, it seems many Americans have been completely scared from visiting. It’s unfortunate that a couple highly choreographed bombings by non-Balinese, on specific, tourist-populated and symbolic locations, over the past decade, have scared off so many.

Bali really is an adventure and I can see why so many tourists visit. Bring sunscreen, avoid eye contact, and enjoy the beach and land!