My wife has been going to Bali since 1971, me since 1990, 30 + trips.
40 years ago in Bali there were only 2 large hotels in Sanur, a few shops and Warungs on Jln Pantai up from the Hard Rock hotel and a few artists and gay guys up in Ubud
Wow what changes in 40 years!
20 /40 years ago traveling around Bali was easy, a few Bemo's and Taxi's to get you anywhere and you actually saw the countryside/paddy fields after a few minutes driving outside the main tourist areas
There were street touts everywhere.....thank God they were all registered and then kicked out a few years ago.
The beach used to be pristine and clean
No traffic jams at all
In 1990 we got about 1750 Rp to the $Au
Lots of markets around(still there) and Matahari on Legian St
There was a choice of either San Miguel or Bintang beers
Life was easy, the Balinese were in their element and very happy with their new found prosperity
Walls had broken glass on top of them to keep out the Javanese/non Balinese invaders
Japanese travelers were escorted by tourist operators in large coaches/buses and were allowed out occasionally to take photos before being taken back to their 4 or 5 star hotels with their translators.
You rarely saw old deviates with young girls/boys
NOW.... Hotels going up everywhere,traffic horrendous and getting worse, the Balinese culture slowly being eroded due to the effects of tourism, the Americans are the worst offenders in this respect with their MacDonalds, Burger Kings and other junk food outlets. Reports of violence and theft on tourists are common. Corruption is on the rise, prices skyrocketing, fat tattooed Aussie Bogans abound, aggressive Russians with their dolly bird botoxed girlfriends and restaurant menu's written in Russian, noisy Jap surfers having pool parties in the middle of the night, Legian St at night???????????WTF disco music everywhere, fireworks noises all night,half naked people walking around the streets and in restaurants/bars,crude stickers and T shirts everywhere, phallic wooden bottle openers, Javanese hotel owners refusing to maintain their properties,rent a kid beggars, dynamited coral off the beaches, and more.
We used to LOVE Bali.....now we just like it, mainly because of the Balinese people and culture.
Bali's future: not good
I may have offended some people, if so:
Go to Bunnings, buy some timber, build a bridge and GET OVER IT !!!!