Bali Warnings and Dangers

On an Island where it is common
to use wells as a source of water,
ground water pollution is
becoming a major problem.

In most cases,
it is caused by water waste
which is not processed
by correct septic tanks.

Then with more and more
structures getting build,
like the unneeded 17 Hole golf course
the already limited supply of water
is being put under much strain.

It seems that there are plenty
of developers out there,
willing to make a profit,
but not to many are considering
in contributing to an already
very, week infrastructure.

Those who will probably
pay the price at the end,
are not only the Balinese,
but those who buy into the projects
created by these greedy developers

Everyone remembers the Bali bombing on Kuta Beach in 2002 that killed 202 people and injured 209 more. Terrorism must not win. Here is a photo of the memorial built on the site that used to be a bar. Many foreigners were murdered in the suicide bomber attack including 2 Canadians. I felt safe in Bali even though I was there a week after the second bombing in 2005. The only unpleasant time I had was at the airport when I arrived the immigration officer took a liking to my watch and asked if he could have it.

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I can’t help but to laugh and laugh,
over and over again,
at how some foreigners come over here,
stubborn headed and seeing life here
through a pair of rose spectacles…
wanting to invest into property and then
go as cheap as they can in construction,
or at least cut a corners here or there.

In Spanish we say,
‘Lo barato, sale caro.’
(Look it up)

Anyway, sometimes especially
if you are going to invest a
certain amount of money here,
it’s worth your while to
pay a bit more and get an engineer
and a construction manager that
really knows what they are doing.

Not that they have only built a house or two,
but that they understand the land,
know how amateur the locals work here,
and knows about building materials found here.

I keep seeing people who may
not want to pay a firm
that is knowledgeable in the subject matter
and then they trust a local Balinese
or Indo to do the job.

Soon, within a short time,
you are bound to start realizing
there is a crack here,
or your electricity is a fire bomb,
or simply, the house is sinking because
you didn’t have a deep enough
foundation built on what
used to be a rice field.

Anyway, the choice is yours.
I’ll just be watching and
laugh again and again.

Life is beautiful!
Smile!

, There are so many places for visiting a monkey forest sanctuary in Bali, but don't visit the one in SANGEH, the monkey in Sangeh is a very bad habit one, they can steal everything of your own, even something from your pocket, your money, sun glasses, necktie, camera, your wallet. Ther is one please to visit monkey forest sanctuary in a safe, the one that situated at Alas Kedaton

I just came back from my Bali trip. At the airport, the immigration police demanded bribe from me. They said that my U.S. passport only have 1 page left even though the passport is still valid until 2009. They asked me "Do you have anything to give me?" I pretended not knowing. They just kept fidgetting with my passport. He then passed to his boss and then they asked me to pay them $60 U.S. dollars on top of the $25 Visa fee. When I gave the money to them, I saw them just putting the money into their own pocket. I later met an Australian who have visisted Bali many times. When I told him of the incidence, he said that I should tell the Immigration police to go "f**k themselves." His passport has no pages left and when he made a scene shouting out loud that they are a bunch of corrupt officers in front of the tourists, they left him alone -- too ashamed to demand bribe. It is a well-known fact that the Immigration police at the Bali airport is extremely corrupt. Most of them are very uneducated but due to the money they got from the police, they drive luxurious Mercedes cars and live in extravagant villas while most Balinese people suffer in dire poverty. This is an embarrassment and a disgrace to the Balinese and Indonesian people.

If you’re a foreigner
planning to get intimate
and personal with a local,
and then things don’t turn out
as they expect,
which may be a life time,
financial commitment,
be warned; telephone terror
is a popular pastime in Indonesia,
where direct confrontation is avoided
abusive anonymous messages are favored.

The driver whom I hired was reluctant to take me to Besakih initially, but after some insistance, he gave in ( I never found out why - could it be out of the 'tourist route'? or he has no commisions?)

At the entrance you are required to register and then hire a guide. I'm not sure if these are guides licensed by the government - or basically 'mafias' running the show - they did show us their tags - but I wasn't convinced. Unfortunately, you must pay for a guide. No way out.

Price:
To further convince you regarding their guide fees and worth, they will show you a 'guest book' which lists the names of the visitors and the corresponding prices they paid to the guides (mostly ridiculous/*** prices). I have been warned by the driver, to only pay a fixed price (I think it was IDR 60,000 per person - price Feb2005).
Remember: Unless you're a rich person, pay the correct price. Don't spoil the market for other travellers. If you choose to pay more - don't write it down on the guest book (I wasn't even given the opportunity to pen my name :-)

More scam:
After showing you the temple, the guide will ask for more money! At first I was reluctant, but later I paid him a small amount ( I think about IDR 20,000).

Imagine this: If every tourist gave in (just like me).. these guys are making heap lots of money!

While outdoors, be careful of ants, they bite! I was bitten while sitting in our hotel room veranda and did not notice it till afterwards when i had a big unusual bite which i showed to our driver. He asked if i sat on any bamboo furniture, so there was my answer! The ant that i remember seeing and which is probably the one that bit me was a silver coloured one.