BALI, Indonesia — I always thought of Bali as such a cliche Southeast
Asian tourist destination. Not that Phuket, Thailand — a place I’ve
been twice — isn’t, but perhaps it was Julia Roberts’ visit to Bali in
that abysmal “Eat. Pray. Love.” film a few years ago that turned me off.
For the record, I watched that film in 2012 only because I was on a Los Angeles to Dubai flight and had 16 hours to kill. The movie lacked a lot of things, but its major downfall was that it didn’t show the side of Bali that I fell in love with last May.
Ryan and I wanted to see another side of the island, a side far away from the wild nightclubs in Kuta where drunken tourists stumble around the beaches by night and surfers crowd the water by day. We had just spent a week on a beach in Thailand, and we’re not surfers or club hoppers, so we headed for the hills in central Bali rather than the coastlines.
Upon landing at the Denpasar airport, I was quickly overwhelmed with how crowded it seemed. There were blonde-haired tourists everywhere, which initially confirmed the cliche I pictured in my mind. Luckily, as soon as we got out of there and headed north, most of that disappeared.
Traffic on the island is bad. The roads are not in great shape and there are a lot of cars and motorbikes fighting for room. It’s no different than most Southeast Asian destinations we’ve been to, but it seemed more crowded on Bali — at least in the vicinity of the airport. The roads also got narrower and narrower as we headed toward Ubud, the culture-rich town set in the hills surrounded by brilliant green rice terraces.
My love affair with Bali began right away in Ubud. We checked in to a gorgeous hotel with lush gardens, set right beside a rice paddy field. The architecture — with Indian, Chinese and Arab influences — and the gardens were exactly what I imagined.
We got our first laugh at an ATM machine when we took out millions of Indonesian Rupiah — $180 dollars equals about 2 million Rupiah. It’s a hoot to carry around such large denominations.
‘You go eat’
By the time we hit the town, things were quiet and shutting down already. We found a restaurant that was still serving food — about the only one still open in town — so we got a table even though it looked touristy. We typically eat street food and pick small, local restaurants when we travel. My general rule of thumb is that any restaurant in Asia with pizza on the menu is immediately eliminated as a contender.
We ordered a beef dish with rendang sauce, which exploded with flavors of lemongrass, ginger, chili and coconut milk. The beef was unctuous and tender enough to cut it with the side of a fork. Sometimes you find the best food by accident. After seeking out hotspots throughout Asia visited by Anthony Bourdain and written about by the New York Times, which have surprisingly tended to live up to the hype, sometimes I put my notes away and we just pick a place based on pure intuition. This place was found with more luck than intuition. We ate there three more times.
Because we had booked the Bali trip very last minute — we decided to head there just a few days prior while discussing our options from our hotel room in Thailand — I hadn’t done the proper amount of food research. I’m usually not so casual about where to eat. I’m the type of traveling foodie that must try the staple local dishes, but in the case of Bali, I hadn’t even studied what those would be and felt kind of lost when we got there.
Thanks to a Facebook response to one of my posts from Bali, I discovered our next delicious meal from a friend who had been to Ubud: “Ibu Oka,” he wrote, “you go eat!”
Ibu Oka is definitely one of those hyped up food places on every “must eat” travel list about Ubud. The funny thing was that I hadn’t heard of it, because we spent our time researching what to see and do rather than what to eat.
We got there at some magical time when there was no wait for a table. We took our shoes off, sat down on the floor and ordered the special.
A few minutes later, out came a steaming bowl of rick topped with roast suckling pig. Sprinkled around the bowl were also pig intestines — which I only learned about later, and my boyfriend Ryan will only learn of that small detail as he reads this article — spicy vegetables and a secret, spicy sauce. Perhaps the best part of the dish is the crackling or crispy pork skin served on top. Perfection.
While food is always a highlight on any trip to Asia, the Balinese countryside was the uncontested highlight this time. It’s a landscape so green and beautiful that it’s hard to describe the feeling you have when you see it for the first time.
The sights
We fell in love with mountainside rice terraces in Sapa, in northern Vietnam, in 2010. We fell in love with hillside tea plantations in Sri Lanka in 2012. Now, it was the Balinese rice terraces that had stolen our hearts in 2013.
We hired a driver to take to the terraces north of Ubud and to see as many other sights as possible. We were in Bali for just three nights, the culmination of three weeks in Asia that included Taiwan; Phuket, Thailand; Penang, Malaysia; Sabah, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo; and now Bali. Needless to say we wanted to see as much as we could in such a short amount of time.
We visited the verdant, terraced rice paddies in Jatiluwih near Mount Batukaru, hiked to the Tegenungan Waterfall along the banks of the River Tukad Petanu, visited the Pura Ulun Danu temple complex at Lake Bratan in the Bedugul highland, and countless other temples, including the Taman Ayun Temple in Mengwi.
In Bali, one of the most stunning and impressive pieces of the culture is that every family has their own temple at their home. Some families share a common temple, but every turn you make — no matter where you are on the island — there are elaborate Balinese Hindu temple entrances and gates to private residences. They’re all built by hand and often take years to complete — it’s truly spectacular.
For our final night of the trip, we headed to Seminyak Beach, a seemingly more sophisticated beach town than what we had learned about Kuta. We checked into a nice beach-side hotel, dropped off our stuff and immediately walked out to stick our toes in the sand. Ryan took a nighttime dip in the ocean, as I stood back and watched the glimmering city lights of Kuta off in the distance. We then dried off and did the obligatory visit to a nightclub, expecting to hate it and to last for an hour at the most.
About three hours and many beers later, we had made friends with some Kiwis and were swimming in the club’s pool. We partied into the early morning before going back to the hotel and taking another dip in the pool. In just a few short hours, our cab would arrive to take us to the airport and end our latest journey through Asia. The last day of such an amazing adventure is always so bittersweet.
Lauren Glendenning is the editorial projects manager for Colorado Mountain News Media. She can be reached at lglendenning@cmnm.org and 970-777-3125.
For the record, I watched that film in 2012 only because I was on a Los Angeles to Dubai flight and had 16 hours to kill. The movie lacked a lot of things, but its major downfall was that it didn’t show the side of Bali that I fell in love with last May.
Ryan and I wanted to see another side of the island, a side far away from the wild nightclubs in Kuta where drunken tourists stumble around the beaches by night and surfers crowd the water by day. We had just spent a week on a beach in Thailand, and we’re not surfers or club hoppers, so we headed for the hills in central Bali rather than the coastlines.
Upon landing at the Denpasar airport, I was quickly overwhelmed with how crowded it seemed. There were blonde-haired tourists everywhere, which initially confirmed the cliche I pictured in my mind. Luckily, as soon as we got out of there and headed north, most of that disappeared.
Traffic on the island is bad. The roads are not in great shape and there are a lot of cars and motorbikes fighting for room. It’s no different than most Southeast Asian destinations we’ve been to, but it seemed more crowded on Bali — at least in the vicinity of the airport. The roads also got narrower and narrower as we headed toward Ubud, the culture-rich town set in the hills surrounded by brilliant green rice terraces.
My love affair with Bali began right away in Ubud. We checked in to a gorgeous hotel with lush gardens, set right beside a rice paddy field. The architecture — with Indian, Chinese and Arab influences — and the gardens were exactly what I imagined.
We got our first laugh at an ATM machine when we took out millions of Indonesian Rupiah — $180 dollars equals about 2 million Rupiah. It’s a hoot to carry around such large denominations.
‘You go eat’
By the time we hit the town, things were quiet and shutting down already. We found a restaurant that was still serving food — about the only one still open in town — so we got a table even though it looked touristy. We typically eat street food and pick small, local restaurants when we travel. My general rule of thumb is that any restaurant in Asia with pizza on the menu is immediately eliminated as a contender.
We ordered a beef dish with rendang sauce, which exploded with flavors of lemongrass, ginger, chili and coconut milk. The beef was unctuous and tender enough to cut it with the side of a fork. Sometimes you find the best food by accident. After seeking out hotspots throughout Asia visited by Anthony Bourdain and written about by the New York Times, which have surprisingly tended to live up to the hype, sometimes I put my notes away and we just pick a place based on pure intuition. This place was found with more luck than intuition. We ate there three more times.
Because we had booked the Bali trip very last minute — we decided to head there just a few days prior while discussing our options from our hotel room in Thailand — I hadn’t done the proper amount of food research. I’m usually not so casual about where to eat. I’m the type of traveling foodie that must try the staple local dishes, but in the case of Bali, I hadn’t even studied what those would be and felt kind of lost when we got there.
Thanks to a Facebook response to one of my posts from Bali, I discovered our next delicious meal from a friend who had been to Ubud: “Ibu Oka,” he wrote, “you go eat!”
Ibu Oka is definitely one of those hyped up food places on every “must eat” travel list about Ubud. The funny thing was that I hadn’t heard of it, because we spent our time researching what to see and do rather than what to eat.
We got there at some magical time when there was no wait for a table. We took our shoes off, sat down on the floor and ordered the special.
A few minutes later, out came a steaming bowl of rick topped with roast suckling pig. Sprinkled around the bowl were also pig intestines — which I only learned about later, and my boyfriend Ryan will only learn of that small detail as he reads this article — spicy vegetables and a secret, spicy sauce. Perhaps the best part of the dish is the crackling or crispy pork skin served on top. Perfection.
While food is always a highlight on any trip to Asia, the Balinese countryside was the uncontested highlight this time. It’s a landscape so green and beautiful that it’s hard to describe the feeling you have when you see it for the first time.
The sights
We fell in love with mountainside rice terraces in Sapa, in northern Vietnam, in 2010. We fell in love with hillside tea plantations in Sri Lanka in 2012. Now, it was the Balinese rice terraces that had stolen our hearts in 2013.
We hired a driver to take to the terraces north of Ubud and to see as many other sights as possible. We were in Bali for just three nights, the culmination of three weeks in Asia that included Taiwan; Phuket, Thailand; Penang, Malaysia; Sabah, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo; and now Bali. Needless to say we wanted to see as much as we could in such a short amount of time.
We visited the verdant, terraced rice paddies in Jatiluwih near Mount Batukaru, hiked to the Tegenungan Waterfall along the banks of the River Tukad Petanu, visited the Pura Ulun Danu temple complex at Lake Bratan in the Bedugul highland, and countless other temples, including the Taman Ayun Temple in Mengwi.
In Bali, one of the most stunning and impressive pieces of the culture is that every family has their own temple at their home. Some families share a common temple, but every turn you make — no matter where you are on the island — there are elaborate Balinese Hindu temple entrances and gates to private residences. They’re all built by hand and often take years to complete — it’s truly spectacular.
For our final night of the trip, we headed to Seminyak Beach, a seemingly more sophisticated beach town than what we had learned about Kuta. We checked into a nice beach-side hotel, dropped off our stuff and immediately walked out to stick our toes in the sand. Ryan took a nighttime dip in the ocean, as I stood back and watched the glimmering city lights of Kuta off in the distance. We then dried off and did the obligatory visit to a nightclub, expecting to hate it and to last for an hour at the most.
About three hours and many beers later, we had made friends with some Kiwis and were swimming in the club’s pool. We partied into the early morning before going back to the hotel and taking another dip in the pool. In just a few short hours, our cab would arrive to take us to the airport and end our latest journey through Asia. The last day of such an amazing adventure is always so bittersweet.
Lauren Glendenning is the editorial projects manager for Colorado Mountain News Media. She can be reached at lglendenning@cmnm.org and 970-777-3125.
Images of young Balinese woman (circa 1930s) clad in sarongs, exposing naked breasts, reached Europe at a time when knowledge of this small tropical isle in the remote East Indies was practically non-existent.
The women’s casual mannerisms, along with the alluring breasts, were misconceived, suggesting a culture of liberal sexual morality. The Balinese regard the breast as a symbol of fertility and of the abundance of Ibu Pertiwi (mother earth).
The Balinese woman is industrious, either at home caring for the family, in the village attending to chores and customs, or working in the fields. Spare a thought for the small armies of women who lug enormous quantities of materials upon their heads all day, from the roads to the many construction sites around Bali.
Women spend countless hours meticulously creating Balinese Hindu offerings. Their fingers delicately weave flowers and leaves into the ubiquitous ceremonial masterpieces.
The most exploited image of Balinese femininity, immortalized by the tourism juggernaut, is that of the beautiful young lady in magnificent traditional costume, poised gracefully while dancing.
The famous traditional expressions of Balinese painting and sculpture are, by and large, patriarchal. There are, however many talented female Balinese artists who complete their academic art training.
Yet rarely does one continue on to become a successful artist, much less one with an international profile. Ni Nyoman Sani, born in Sanur 1975, has achieved this distinction.
Sani had to prove she had the talent and dedication to succeed and then eventually she gained the trust and confidence of her parents. She now raises two children along with devoting time to her cultural duties and career.
Sani is a gifted painter, photographer and fashion designer and her expressions reflect the sovereignty and liberation of women.
The Seniwati Gallery of Art is a women’s only collective established in 1991 in reaction to the invisibility of women artists in the galleries and museums of Bali.
A longtime member, Sani has recently become the new director and is a driving force behind Seniwati.
“Women of Two Continents”, 1993, by Cokorda Isteri Mas Astiti, is an icon of contemporary art by a Balinese woman. In the painting’s foreground — a beach scene — she depicts Balinese women in traditional costumes holding offerings, while in the background three foreign women, two dressed in bikinis and one taking a photograph observe. This is a remarkable composition of contrasts and cross-cultural dialogue.
Indonesia’s most important female artist was the petite Balinese painter Ni Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih (1966-2006). Murni started life as the child of a farmer, poor and uneducated, rising to the ranks of artistic distinction. Her father sexually abused her at the age of nine.
Murni’s compositions often explored gender politics in her minimalist, naïve figurative style with powerful coloration. A dedicated member of Seniwati, her first solo exhibition was held at the Seniwati Gallery in 1995. Via the courage to confront her darkest emotions, Murni’s intuition was instrumental in forging new thematic grounds in Balinese art.
A notable work by Murni depicts a woman holding aloft a huge dripping penis. Her unique art was derived from a nurturing source that initiated her healing process, while also seeking to set her free.
Balinese tradition encourages figurative expressions of naked and sexual content. According to Hindu cultural practices, artworks are in no way meant to be offensive, rather their intent is to educate and communicate about the essence of life and existence.
— Richard Horstman is a cultural observer residing in Ubud
via bali - www.
What are the odds? You go to Bali to discover how Australians are transforming the island with their fine food, energetic hospitality and hip bars, and you're match-fit for the big nosh-up when you're felled by the band of pain across the top of the stomach known to generations of Australians as Bali belly.
This is what Alanis Morissette would call ironic but the rest of us call unfortunate coincidence. Anyway, you know it when it comes. You find yourself engaged in urgent perusal of the menus of restaurants where you have no intention of dining. Luckily, in 24 visits here since 1988 it's only the second time this little charmer has touched my life, and it's not going to slow me down in checking out how a band of Aussie chefs and entrepreneurs are doing their bit to confirm Bali's growing reputation as a food destination.
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Now, 25 years later, there's good coffee everywhere, and we even found a creditable bottle of rose for $20 at a popular local place called Trattoria (Jl Oberoi, +361 737082, trattoriaasia.com).We've come to Bali to see what Australians have brought to the hospitality business here, and our first stop is the hot new diner and hang-out joint Motel Mexicola, a technicolour riot in the heart of the cool Seminyak area.
Mama San.
It's bordering on audience participation and the crowd love it. After two weeks in Bali having done the daily dodge of touts offering Viagra on Jelan Oberoi, it comes as a refreshing change to be offered something you actually want - a heart-starting tequila shot - without fussing with a glass, and all free.
With its candle-dripped shrines, crucifixes regaled with rosaries, eye-catching icons and hilariously kitsch soundtrack (Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass always sound better with tequila), the place brings a slice of Mexico to Bali. Reed, who co-owns the Mexican Rojo Rocket in Avoca, NSW, is an energetic part of the Australian invasion of the island's restaurants and bars.
A Thai Thai cocktail in the making.
Next stop is Mama San (135 Jl Raya Kerobokan , +361 730436, mamasanbali.com). With its red lamps, leather club lounges and ottomans, Mama San is more genteel. The only icon here is Sydney chef Will Meyrick, who in 2007 opened the famous Sarong, the sultry salon with chandeliers and ornate curtains, and in 2011 launched its cheekier little sister.
We find a corner seat upstairs near the pots of elephant grass in Mama San's bar area and marvel at Meyrick's food and the eclectic photographs on the walls.
With its moody elegance and superb food, the place is full every night and no one serious about food or fun should miss it. It's Asian street food in a remarkable setting.
Halfway through the snapper, I was about to announce to my partner this was shaping as the best night out of our three trips to Bali together - but I was speechless because I had eaten a whole chilli by mistake and found myself writhing among the scatter cushions pushing yoghurt and hunks of ice into my mouth. Beware.
Sarong is a different evening. With its lush curtains and ornate chandeliers it's Bali's high-end bling, and you'd better be wearing your designer thongs at least. It almost demands you have an occasion to celebrate.
Next day, dodging the open drains - is that how I got Bali belly? - we made our way to the legendary Ku De Ta, where chef Ben Cross from Byron Bay has cooked for five years, and settle on the grass with our $15 cocktails to look at the surf of Seminyak.
Opened 12 years ago by Melbourne-born Arthur Chondros, the kitchen is co-managed by Cross so the Australian connection is undeniable and therefore, like Neil Finn and Phar Lap, we're claiming Ku De Ta as our own.
Hating paying $15 for a cocktail but loving the chance to be horizontal on a lawn at the beach listening to the chill-out soundtrack, we accept Ku De Ta retains its crown as south-east Asia's best Australian bar.
Cross took some time to show us around the upstairs kitchen, which he says is called "mejekawi" meaning sacred table. Ku De Ta offers diners a seven-course or 11-course degustation menu with wine pairings, all matched with that remarkable view of the ocean.
Cross says the standard of eating in Bali has improved enormously. "Anywhere else in the world that's a tourist destination, the food's rubbish. In Bali it's always been quite good - Japanese, Italian, Indonesian. Now there's a new level coming through."
At Potato Head, a little way down the road, there is another chilled-out beach experience, with a heavy nod to retro evidenced by the Ernest Hemingway novels and Le Specs on sale in the gift shop.
The only Australian connection we noticed at Potato Head was the young woman in charge of the long queue to get in. This is a first for me: a half-hour wait to enter a bar the size of a small football oval. But there are some blue-chip people-watching opportunities, and it's not like we're in a hurry.
Next day we went to what's sometimes called the "Paris end of Seminyak" and stopped in at Petitenget, a French-inspired restaurant opened in 2011 by Melburnian Sean Cosgrove, former owner of the street fashion label Mooks. With its French bistro feel, Cosgrove has brought his undeniable style to this restaurant named after the area. "Petitenget has quickly become an island institution," he says, "having been built around the expat community and the regular Bali visitors."
We join the morning coffee crew working their iPads in the courtyard, just slightly pretending to be expats. Australian chef Simon Blaby says hello. "Australia has no discernible cuisine so you can't sum it up in a sentence," he says of the work Australian chefs are doing in Bali. "That's its strength and its weakness. We're not tied down by anybody's roots."
The next night we travel to Jimbaran Bay to experience one of the island's new star spots, Sundara, located in the Four Seasons Hotel amid flaming torches and with the sound of waves lapping gently on the beach. It's a world away from the craziness and potholes of Seminyak, and well worth the 30-minute drive.
Chef Greg Bunt, 42, who grew up in country NSW, established six restaurants in Brisbane over seven years, which were destroyed in the 2011 floods. "A lot of hot young chefs are coming here now, particularly in the past five years," he says. Why do they come?
"It's nice to be in a summery environment. It's nice to be in an environment where people are travelling and happy."
Back in Seminyak, in the middle of "Eat Street", is Ginger Moon (Jl Oberoi/7 Laksmana, +361 734533, gingermoonbali.com). It serves modern Asian food a step away from the madness of endless streams of cars and motorbikes, sometimes including a family of five with a baby and a chicken!
Australian chef Dean Keddell explains the challenges. "Bali in some instances is a million miles away from home," he says. "Consistent and varied produce is difficult to find. A reliance on imported items by restaurants and hotels and the local government rulings are at odds with each other - this can make things very difficult and in some cases very expensive.
"There are no apprenticeships in Bali for cooks, so the only real way to have good staff is to train them yourself, which is a very slow but rewarding process."
And the rewards have never been better for the gastro-traveller. "Why this sudden proliferation of Australian operators in Bali?" asks George Muskens, who is making a television series about the best restaurants in various countries for the Australia Network. "Maybe the annual intake of nearly 10 million hungry and thirsty tourists landing on the island might help explain the attraction."
And the surf.
"I'm a surfer, so I'm always out in the waves," Greg Bunt says. "That's a big draw for me."
And Ben Cross at Ku De Ta on the attractions of cooking in Bali? "It's the endless summer, for starters," he says.
After all this fine dining we were now looking for simple local food, which we found at a cafe in Uluwatu, about a 90-minute drive from Seminyak. The only Australian connection we found was Mark Richards, the four-time world surfing champion from Newcastle, here to compete in a veterans' event at this world-famous surfing mecca.
Uluwatu is something to behold, especially if you enjoy watching the world's greatest surfers in action.
I ordered a tuna salad, which was almost inedible. I say almost, because watching surfing in the sunshine makes you hungry, and it was a long ride home.
It was our worst meal but our best day. And all those other meals more than made up for it.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Peter Wilmoth fell in love with travelling when, age 21, he first saw the Eiffel Tower and laughed out loud because of its sheer familiarity. He has since discovered many other heart-stopping sights around the world.
GETTING THERE
Jetstar flies to Denpasar, Bali, from Sydney and Melbourne five times a week, starting at $399 economy one way.
STAYING THERE
The W Resort and Spa, Jl Petitenget, Seminyak. +361 4 738 106, wretreatbali. com. It's expensive but it's worth saving up and splashing some cash for a couple of nights here — it's stylish and cool with a great pool.
The Royal Beach Seminyak Bali, Jl Camplung Tanduk, Seminyak. +361 4 730 730, accorhotels. com. Excellently located; choose a villa on the beach, or a room, and enjoy the view of the ocean from the pool.
GETTING AROUND
If you don't want to hire a motorbike or a car, taxis are cheap and the best way to get around. Make sure you pick a taxi driver happy to use the meter. For day trips to Ubud or the Bukit Peninsula (Uluwatu, Padang Padang), hire a driver for the day. Costs about $40, but this is negotiable.
TRIP NOTES
More information: indonesia.travel/en
FIVE BEST BALI BARS
Ku De Ta9 Jl Laksmana, +62 361 736 969, kudeta.net.
Hot place to watch the sunset, preferably while half-lying on the lawn.
Potato Head
51 Jl Petitenget, Seminyak, +62 361 479 7373.
Lounge on the day beds at this retro beach club. ptthead.com.
Motel Mexicola
9 Jl Kayu Jati, Petitenget, +62 361 736 688, motelmexicolabali.com.
Cool Latin design meets quirky retro tunes.
Woo Bar at the W Retreat and Spa Bali
Jl Petitenget, +62 361 473 8106,
wretreatbali.com.
Stylish outdoor lounge area overlooking the ocean.
Rock Bar at Ayana Resort and Spa
Jimabaran, +62 361 702 222,
ayanaresort.com/rockbarbali.
This famous spectacularly located bar features "grass-roots Australian" acts.
via bali - Google News www.smh. com.au/travel/activity/food-and-wine/balis-new-wave-chefs-20130808-2rj5w.html
The Adventures of Travel Cat: At a Temple in Ubud, Bali
Kitty cats. They rule the internet and, whether we realize it or not, pretty much the world too. Ever noticed how cats sometimes stake out the coolest spots in a city? This new feature—Travel Cat—focuses on exactly that. Submit a photo to be featured by tweeting or Instagramming it to us (details below).Travel Cat spotted in: Ubud, Bali.
This chill feline was photographed by Kenzi Henna in the cultural heart of the Indonesian island of Bali, a town named Ubud. Having been before, we can vouch for its awesomeness and say it's totally worth detouring from the beach for a day of temple and art market exploration. Do as the kitties do, as Kenzi shares she caught this "ginger kitty paying her respects at a temple in Ubud, Bali."
· Have a pic of a cute cat in an interesting world location.
· Tweet it to us @Jaunted with a few words on where you took the snap.
· OR Instagram it to us by posting the pic and including us (@Jaunted) and #TravelCat in the description
· Or you can always just email us the old-fashioned way.
If your kitty makes the cut, we'll feature it on Travel Cat (every Wednesday!) and link to your Twitter/Instagram/Facebook—whatever social network you get down with the most.
[Photo: @kenzihenna]
via bali - http://www.jaunted. com/story/2013/8/7/161629/4973/travel/The%2BAdventures%2Bof%2BTravel%2BCat%253A%2BAt%2Ba%2BTemple%2Bin%2BUbud,%2BBali
A Balinese economist, Professor Dr. Wayan Ramantha on Tuesday, August 6, 2013, confirmed that money laundering is taking place on the Island. “Money laundering takes place everywhere, including Bali,” said Ramantha, adding “that money laundering in Bali involves financially strong individuals.”
The economist said greater caution and closer monitoring of foreign investment in the name of local a business partner is needed. Saying such investments are in violation of the law from their inception, Ramantha continued: “they (the investors) use take advantage of easier investment requirements extended to local business people. They also manage to save money on the cost of permits and licenses.”
Ramantha said the Provincial Investment Coordinating Board (BKPMD) must scrutinize and coordinated with the Central Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) in sharing information on quality investors. “When there are irregularities or suspicious elements (in investments) checks must be undertaken,” he said.
He said domestic and foreign investors in Bali should use the facilities prepared for domestic (PMDN) and foreign investment (PMA). In so doing, funds can be monitored by Bank Indonesia (BI) and Financial Services Authority of Indonesia (OJK).
Investors in Indonesia are compelled to make regular reports including clarifications on the source of their funds.
As reported by a number of media, there is a growing suspicion that
money launderers are active in Bali. This suspicion has been
strengthened by a number of cases in Bali where investments have been
linked to corruption. However, the true extent and size of investments
linked to money laundering and corruption remains anyone’s guess.Separately, the chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI-Bali), Tjok Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati (Cok Ace), said proof of money laundering practice abounds in Bali in the form the large number of hotels being built without reference to their future financial viability and also by expensive hotels being built but unprofessionally managed with little concern if the subjects hotels are full of empty of guests. Cok Ace says individuals desperate to grant legitimacy to “dirty” funds by creating reportable assets are responsible for building these hotels.
The PHRI-Bali chairman said the current rise in property prices in Bali is also linked to the prevalence of money laundering by local businesses with unscrupulous investors prepared to pay any price for land, with no regard that their actions marginalize the endemic population of Bali.
The Cost of Land
Cok Ace, who is also a prominent hotel owner, said it is now difficult to find land in Denpasar priced at less than Rp. 100 million (US$10,000) per are (100 square meters). In fact, he said, the current price for one are is closer to Rp. 300 million (US$30,000) per are with some parcels of land selling at Rp. 3 billion (US$300,000) per are.
He described the current free-for-all in Bali real estate as being controlled by Jakarta business interests. He also blamed a lack of control on the number of cases in Bali where blacklisted individuals involved in major corruption cases are investing freely in Bali. Cok Ace said this was, however, less the fault of investors and more closely related to a lack of local control over the investment process.
In closing, Cok Ace, said that the people of Bali do not want to make the Island a heaven for criminals and corruptors, adding that Bali must be made into a heaven for the people of Bali.
© Bali Discovery Tours. Articles may be quoted and reproduced if attributed to http://www.balidiscovery.com.
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As reported by The Bali Post, the round table discussion held on Monday, August 5, 2013, was attended by the secretary general of the Denpasar Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI-Denpasar) A.A. Ngurah Adhi Ardhana; the chairman of the Bali chapter of the Association of Tour and Travel Agents (ASITA-Bali) Ketut Ardana; the chairman of the People’s Alliance for Bali Tourism, Gusti Kade Sutawa; and an academic from Bali’s Tourism Institute (STP),Wayan Mertha.
The secretary general of PHRI-Denpasar, Adhi Ardhana, said that any calculation of the carrying capacity of tourist accommodation in Bali can not only look at the number of rooms, but must also take into consideration the quality of the overall tourism product. He warned that as the number of rooms approached 80,000, Bali once known as “The Last Paradise” is in danger of becoming “The Lost Paradise.” Adding: “The number of hotel rooms in Bali is over capacity in comparison with the number of tourists coming to Bali and those rooms are almost all located in South Bali. If we now create a new destination (i.e. reclaimed island resort) with thousands of more rooms in Benoa Bay, this will destroy Bali’s tourism atmosphere.”
Ardhana called on Bali governor Made Mangku Pastika to be cautious is issuing statements saying Bali needs many more rooms to meet the needs of travelers during major events. He added: “So what happens when there are no big events like APEC and the Forbes Global CEO Summit? Who’s going to fill the empty rooms? Because of this, the Governor should not recklessly make statements. With 80,000 hotel rooms on record and another 100,00 not recorded, I don’t think Bali needs to be reclaiming land to house another 25,000 tourist visitors.”
He also asked the governor to reconsider allowing large investors a foothold in Bali as the money they bring does not have the desired multiplier effect on the Balinese economy. This is demonstrated by the high rate of poverty and unemployment that still persist in Bali.
Information from the Bali Center for Statistics (BPS-Bali) from March 2012, counts 168,780 people (4.18%) as still living below the poverty line. The poor are distributed to 91,440 people living in urban settings and 77,340 in rural areas. And, despite the rapid rate of development taking place in Bali, there is no appreciable reduction in the number of poor with 160,950 people still classified as impoverished in September 2012. This is a decline of only 0.22% from the previous March
Continuing his analysis, Ardhana explained: “Investment in 2012 reached Rp. 7 trillion (US$ 700 million) with only 5% of that amount from local investors and the remainder coming from outside Bali. If we now add the development of Benoa Bay rumored to be worth Rp. 30 trillion, we can only imagine what Bali will fast become. It is also uncertain that the 200,000 jobs created will be local Balinese as promised by the Governor."
Ardhana who is a member of Bali’s hotel industry is deeply concerned at the rapid rise in the number of hotel rooms in Bali. ‘’We are already overwhelmed with tariff wars and intense competition underway. If we add more rooms then Bali tourism will sink as a business,” Ardhana said.
The chairman of the People’s Alliance for Bali Tourism Gusti Kade Sutawa, expressed a similar sentiment for Bali Tourism. The rapid rise in tourist accommodation in Bali seriously threatens Bali’s future. He warned that uncontrolled growth will result in unhealthy competition and a cheap tourism product.
“Bali must market itself at an appropriate price, not cheaply. We have a unique quality not held by other destinations. Tourists who come to Bali want to see our culture, not hotels. So don’t build new hotels, let alone new hotels on reclaimed land that destroys the environment,” said Sutawa.
Sutawa warned that creation of a new island destination in Benoa Bay would cause a population explosion. Bali is already growing at a rate of 4.5% per year, much higher than the national average of 2%. At the same time the birth rate in Bali is only 1% meaning that the remaining 3.5% in population growth is due to migration from other islands. “Just imagine,” said Sutawa, “if we build a new destination (in the South), what percentage of newcomers will gather there. These are people who won’t support Balinese culture.”
To maintain Bali’s culture, Sutawa said, the government must pay attention to the endemic population of Bali, the Island’s culture and traditions, and the land of Bali. “If the people and their beliefs are different, it will be impossible to preserve Balinese culture. Bali must remain the property of the Balinese, don’t let it be owned by outside investors,” Sutawa said.
The governor recently defended the program for reclaiming large tracks of wetlands in Benoa Bay saying such development was needed for Bali’s future. Governor Pastika said the development would create 200,000 new jobs and would meet the needs of the estimated 10 million visitors expected in Bali within the coming five years.
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It made me realize that so much of Bali remains unseen to most of our tourist eyes. The reason I was up at dawn was that a mosquito was biting me under the covers, a feat I am still not sure how it was possible to accomplish. A few minutes later just as I was drifting back onto the other side of the dawn, I heard an unfamiliar sound. It was the low roar of the fog machines which spray a chemical smoke to kill off most of the mosquito population. I've slept through it every other time they've come through, so I don't know how often that happens, but it is imperative to keep the insects under control. I, who prefer to keep all chemicals out of my body, was dismayed that the hotel staff could not tell me what chemicals are used in the noxious concoction, but we take so many of these things for granted. In fact, last night I watch them smoke the lobby during dinner hour, and most people didn't even bother to move away.
Yesterday, we had a speaker come to our group meeting, the founder of Fair Future Foundation, which supplies health care for free to the indigenous Balinese. In the middle of his speech, he mentioned that the free education to Balinese children receive is not free, the free doctors visits that supposedly are offered by the government are not actually free. That the Balinese pay for everything themselves, all on a salary that would make an American McDonald's worker blush.
I don't mean to have white man's guilt, or rich man's burden. I am not attempting to lecture those of us who can afford to visit Bali on avoiding its beauty in favor of a seedy underbelly. What I am interested in is how much goes unseen before our eyes. Whether it is the Egret walking around my pool while I sleep cozy in my bed or the family of white street dogs who steal water from the decorate mall fountain, so much goes unnoticed unless we are willing to pay attention. In becoming more aware, in choosing to take more notice of my surroundings and my experiences beyond the first impression, I can bring more balance and choice into my life. I can donate money to help Balinese schoolchildren, I can leave bread out for the birds, or I can do nothing. But at least I know.
Join Spirit Quest Tours on our upcoming Eat, Pray, Love tour to Bali in October by visiting www.spiritquesttours.com/eatpraylove
Photos by Spirit Quest Tours
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welcome to BaliBox. information about Bali
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