Since living in Bali I have met other expats, who have had their parents visit. The way it often works is a person moves to Bali, loves it, tells their parents about it, only to have them offer reasons why they don’t fancy coming out. These might include “Its too far,” “its too hot,” “I wouldn’t like the food,” “I can’t speak foriegn languages,” “its like the jungle,” “I heard they’re all Muslim out there.”
Let’s knock these on the head.
Its too far:
Bali is a long way fron N. America and Europe, but for mums and dads, who have time on their hands, a stopover in Dubai / Bahrein / Seoul, Hong Kong etc. could be a nice part of their trip.
Its too hot:
During the wet season (Nov-Mar) it is extremely hot and humid. At the peak of the dry season (July-Sept) the weather is warm / hot during the day, but cool in the mornings and evenings, with lower humidity. The other night I put on a sweater as I was cold.
I wouldn’t like the food:
The popular tourist areas (Kuta/Legian/Seninyak/Nusa Dua/Sanur/Ubud) have an amazing array of international food places. If I want I can get fish & chips (Wrap a Snapper), just like in London, about 5 minutes from my house in Seminyak. If you can’t handle rice or spicy food, you never have to.
I can’t speak foriegn languages:
I know expats who have lived in Bali fulltime, for 15 years and can’t speak Indonesian. You really don’t have to worry about the language barrier.
Its like the jungle:
There is a little bit of jungle left in Bali, up around Batukaru, but for the most part Bali does not resemble a jungle. Driving around East Bali, or the hills of Tabanan, most people will be impressed with the sweeping rice terraces and exotic landscapes.
I heard they’re all Muslim out there:
Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, Bali is not. Even if you you visit Muslim Java /Lombok, you will not feel any weirdness, as people are pretty cool. I’m a Muslim and I won’t give you a hard time (unless you steal my Bintang).
Talking recently to a British expat who’s parents visited, he told me they had a good time, and liked Bali as the weather was cool, in the evening. They did not care to sample Indonesian food, and that annoyed him a bit. Whatever, at least they made it out.
I reckon most parents could find something they’d like in Bali, aside from the selection of good food. Shopping for gifts, getting spa treatment, going for a drive in the mountains, checking out the Irish music at Cat & Fiddle in Sanur, visit a village with a local, see a Balinese dance in Ubud. If the parents are active, that opens up a whole other range of possibilites, including hiking, snorkeling, horse riding on Seminyak beach.
If I was retired and living in a cold climate, taking a couple of months off in Bali, would be a thing i’d do every year.
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Geoff,
Thanks for your thought. I can understand where you are coming from. To many people there is a lot of injustice in Indonesia, corruption etc.
One long term expat recently commented that if you screw up, and get on the radar scope of the immigration / police, they can really make life hard for you, and its not just about right and wrong. I reckon that’s true, lots of corrupt people in positions of responsibility, and not a lot of intelligence, or trust in justice.
For a holiday this stuff shouldn’t touch you though. For visitors, Bali offers a different set of pluese and minuses.
All i can say that is My 77 year old irish mother-just loves Bali.She has been there 10 times and is itching to go back again.
You have met “wee Dorrie”
‘,Nick,and can vouch for her.
She reckons there is no other place on Earth wher she feels so comfortable and content.
She has never had any of the aforementioned problems.
Cheers laurs
I feel particularly unenthused about Bali, but not for any of the reasons you have listed. In fact Bali’s been high on my list of places to go until lately. But then came:
Sentencing Schapelle to 20 years for a bag of pot for chrissakes. After a year of terrorising her with the threat of the death penalty. And guards laughing at her at the airport while they ignored or contaminated evidence. And Bali people cheering when she was sentenced to 20 years. And Bali people writing to newspapers demanding that she receive the death penalty.
And then, a bunch of judges cold-bloodedly deciding that neither 20 years or a life sentence was enough for members of the Bali nine, and that they should be shot. For couriers! WTF?
Yet heaps of people involved in the Bali bombings get sentences like 4, 8 and 18 years for active involvement in the crimes.
And three Christians get arbitrarily selected for execution on pitifully inadequate evidence because otherwise it wouldn’t be politically acceptable to execute the three Bali bombers.
So, I’m thinking I don’t have shared values with the Indonesians. I value life, they don’t. And they are bloodthirsty ghouls and I’m not.
I’ve never supported a boycott of Bali. But nothing would ever make me set foot on the place.