See Bali and Cry.
After an absence of 15 years we decided to revisit Bali for our holidays, this was our 5th trip there over a 25 year period. Within 48hrs the lyric's of that old ‘Eagles' song, 'call some place paradise ...and watch it die', came clearly to mind. What was once an exotic island of smiling Balinese's, seductive aromas of cloves and spices and tropical hotel gardens and shrines has now turned into a tarnished tragedy.
Bali was once famous for its beaches. But a article I read in the ‘Jakarta Post' while there says the beach from Kuta to Semiyak is now so polluted with heavy metals and toxins from over-development and large hotels that your synthetic board-shorts are likely to start melting after a few dips. (The Post quoted it as being 65 times above an accepted level) I noticed the locals never swim in the ocean. That should tell you something.
On our previous trips we use to sit on the delightful beach at Jimbaran to watch a golden sun slowly set behind the majestic volcanic mountains in the distance. It was always a most spectacular sunset. This time around we were given the choice of 1000 plastic chairs to sit on from more than 20 shoulder to shoulder seafood restaurants set up along the beach. But worse of all was the smog is now so bad that not only couldn't we see Bali or the mountains through the pollution but the sun disappears into the top of the smog bank several kilometres above the horizon.
Why do Balinese's use all their rivers and roadsides as a garbage dump? In the old day's paper bags and banana wrappings would decomposed but today's plastic bags and bottles litter the environment like heavy confetti. Rivers and creeks flow with rubbish. While sitting in a barber shop at Ubud the hairdresser swept up all the cut hair off the floor and pushed it out the door and into the gutter. My friendly local driver shook his head sadly and said 'it was such an awful shame that Bali was so polluted' then five minutes later threw his plastic coke bottle out the car window.
Now my guess is the streets of Bali were originally built for bicycles and motor bikes and they still are but with the past 25year tourist boom many Balinese's now own a vehicle. Not a small sensible car but usually a large, fat 6 seater (to take tourists on trips of course!). Gridlock at happy hour is something you cannot miss. It wouldn't be so bad if the local authorities had spent some money on the sidewalks for shoppers and walking tourists but no, sorry. So walking on a Bali sidewalk is often more dangerous than trekking the western face of Everest. Whole slabs of concrete are often missing, shattered or buckled and as they usually cover a stagnant sewage drain and streetlights are few and far between, evening walks back to your resort after a few Bintang's under the belt are always spiced with a certain risk. You can pick the heavy drinkers by their bandaged ankles.
There were over ten money changers near my resort. Seven tried to cheat me when I changed money with them. This was a disappointment to me because in the past they were always quite honest. Fortunately most of these guys were such amateurs at the scam but it was still sad to watch them try to cheat you and muff it up. My past experience in several counties had taught me the signs to watch for. They use mostly two simple rorts. The first is they always used small 20,000rp notes and after counting out the correct amount due to you they tried to drop the bottom of the big bundle into an open drawer behind the tall desk they were standing at, usually when they asked you for some small change and you look in your bag. The other was they would underpay you on the exchange rate. If $1 is 7500rp and you changed a $100 they would give you 700,000rp and then a 5,000rp note instead of a 50,000rp. This works well on new arrivals that are not familiar with the currency. Always use the authorized changers who sit at low desks and politely ask you to count your money before you leave.
I had read many posts in the Bali Forum to research information on Bali and possible accommodation for our trip and I seldom came across many negative sides to modern Bali, they all seemed to paint an idyllic picture of a tropical island in the sun. Alas my dreams were deeply shattered and although Bali still retains some of its original gloss away from the overdeveloped tourist haunts you may have to go deeper into the mountains villages to seek it. I am a 58yo male who has lived and travelled in many countries and these are my own personal opinions of the negatives as I saw them. They may help forewarn others. They may not apply to you personally or the younger generations who love the surf, shopping and nightlife that Bali has to offer. I was once like you were but with age sometimes comes a desire for something more in life. In my case it may be just travel and adventure with more truth and understanding of our planet and its people. Bon Voyage