In Reply to: Look, I feel uncomfortable with these posted by Hillary on Friday, 6. July 2007 at 09:18 Bali Time:
In a sense I understand where you're coming from, but I feel you're being a bit heavy handed in response to the experiences related here, considering you know nothing or me or the way I behave when in Bali.
My use of the words "they" and "them" was in no way meant to be derogatory, but I'm hardly going to type "the domestic tourists" every time! If I were talking about a group of people from ANY country, the following comments would have been referring to "they" and "them" as well - EVEN if talking about Aussies, so you can get back off your high horse over that reference. The tone you read comes from your own reading, NOT from my keyboard.
As for customs in different cultures, I've never been anywhere that it was common practice to physically push people out of the way when they were somewhere first and waiting for the same thing as you. Perhaps I just haven't traveled far enough yet, but I can't see that being the norm in many places. And for me personally, I DO make an effort to follow local customs where possible, regarding things such as pointing, which hand to give and receive with etc, and have NEVER called anyone dirty for not using bathrooms the way we do here.
So yeah, there's rude western tourists everywhere you go too, and I've certainly commented on those in the past but that's not relevent to the topic at hand. I was merely giving my experience of my time at one hotel and one section of Bali during a particular holiday - which someone asked the question about.
I most certainly am not anti-anyone, religious or nationality based. I work in a very multicultural environment and I do have a few friends who are muslim, so please hold off on the accusations of 'us and them' mentalities.
To be honest with you, Christmas is another time I'd avoid in Bali. Partly because of the masses of families visiting, and partly because I'm not a fan of the weather at that time of year, but the question wasn't asked about Christmas - it was asked about Idul Fitri and Ramadan.