Monday night I went out for a drink with an old expat friend who has lived in Bali for 15 years. He's a character and is known to go off on long animated rants about life in Bali and other things.
I learned things about local politics that I wouldn't dare put online, as I want to reach my next birthday. Nevertheless he told me about the recent visit of his 20-year-old son from the US. He hasn't seen him for a few years and was showing him and a couple of other friends around Bali. My friend said his experiences were so frustrating, firstly because his son didn't listen to his suggestions and secondly because the places they visited were total tourist traps.
"I would suggest somewhere beautiful where they could relax and enjoy themselves, and they would say, 'but the book says we should go here'." I have had the same experience with some people who have asked for my advice. Getting your own transport and heading off to explore off the beaten track will show you the Bali you imagine, but people just love their LP and have to go to the well known spots.
The recent Batur trip triggered him to say, "They wanted to go to Batur and it was a nightmare, as soon as we got out of the car we were mobbed." His son went off to get a boat to Trunyan with his friends while he locked himself in the car, only to have vendors bang on the windows, "You want necklace, you want sarong?" Next stop for him was Besakih temple. "We get there," he said, "and the guy at the booth says, "Tickets are 7,000rp each"." "So I say, "That's not too bad"." "Then he says "but you must have guide"." "I asked how much and he pulls out a book with foreign names and prices in." "Look he says', this man from Japan pay $200, this man from USA pay 150 Euro"."
My friend knows how to play the game and turned it into a jest. He pretended he couldn't read and offered 50,000rp and got in. He said the kid who was their guide was mumbling and looked disinterested. My friend said that he knew more about the temple and it was basically just a waste of time. So there you go, try not to hit the big places if you can help it and if you run into obstacles play the game rather than be confrontational.
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There is no word in the Balonese dictionary for lying. Telling a story to sav face is all good out here.
When confronted with a series of logical questions that lead to a single conclusion, a person will often say ‘Don’t know’ rather than state the obvious.
There is no word in the Balinese dictionary for lying. Telling a story to save face is all good out here.
When confronted with a series of logical questions that lead to a single conclusion, a person will often say ‘Don’t know’ rather than state the obvious.
ROFL! Can’t read. I’ll have to remember that!!