Indonesia, Bali – As You Don't Know It

However, it should be noted at the outset that you will enjoy Bali only if you hire a local guide or buy a tour. For the low-cost traveler, Bali is a nightmare. The world famous Balinese mafia is in full swing. Interestingly, you will not learn anything about this phenomenon on the Czech Internet, but in English Google will throw a lot of articles and discussions of disgusted tourists on you.

Of course - Bali has beautiful beaches, especially on the east coast. But the sand here is mostly dark, until black. Here you will find magical nooks with waterfalls, rice terraces, coffee plantations, temples, volcanoes. I definitely recommend visiting the gardens of Tirta Gangga, which combine natural elements - water, stone and colorful plants. There are beautiful fountains, and you can even walk on the water.

Other popular destinations include the temple of Besakih, where you will surely meet the Balinese mafia. This temple is the largest Hindu temple in Bali and has become a model for building other temples on the island. It dates back to the 9th century and is a complex of 23 smaller temples. Although it is the holiest Hindu site on Bali, today it is mainly a money factory. A kilometer before the temple, the young Balinese did not want to let us on the way until we paid him parking, although there is free parking right next to the temple. So we had to go another way, and there was another argument at the temple that we couldn't go in without a guide. But this is not true, the only thing is that the locals hold together and want to make the most of the tourists. It forces you into various “gifts”, the amount of which is more than 100 times higher than the official entrance fee. Sometimes you manage to make a donation to an acceptable level to let you go at all, other times the Balinese are not afraid to use rough ways.

We found the real essence of Bali on the rice terraces, where there was a big sign NO MONEY - NO LOVE. Bali is very beautiful and welcoming if you keep giving gifts and paying a guide. E.g. you can not reach the Batur volcano without a guide, although entry is officially free. Some tourists who did not want to pay the guide and wanted to go to the volcano themselves even described physical attacks from the Balinese. Unfortunately, our experience is similar. So watch out!

The mentality on Bali is just different, the kids shout at you money, money and have threatening eyes in their eyes. Others come with a weeping expression, and if you don't give them money, the expression immediately turns into contempt and annoyance. So if you want to enjoy Bali, be sure to pay a local guide, otherwise you will remember Bali like us - as a place where you never want to go again.

But in order not to talk about Bali just in the wrong light, in the next article I will show you places worth visiting.

GPS: Besakih temple 8°22'16.9"S 115°27'13.0"E

Text and photos: Jana Hejlová