A Blog Post on Bali
This is it! I’m back in the United States (though I wrote most of this in Taipei). I can’t believe it. But it the meantime, I’m going to be chugging out these blog posts, before I forget all of the crazy memories that the trip has given me. You can read my other posts here.
Bali (Ubud)
Our hopes were high for Bali. Sadly, they were too high. One thing that has always bothered me about Southeast Asia is how touristic it has become (a fact that I realize I am also contributing to). I feel there is a 1:1 inverse relationship between comfort & accessibility, and authenticity. That is, Bali was so accommodating to tourists, and with western creature comforts abound, it felt that the authenticity of a place with such lush culture had all but vanished. The people are friendly only in hopes that they can make some money off of you, the towns are filled with tourist shops and western food (there were at least 3 Polo Ralph Laurens in the tiny town of Ubud alone!), and the tourist attractions are overrun with tourists, even when we went in Shoulder season.
Our highlight of Bali did not so much have to do with the island, but with my anniversary present to Lena. I was able to get us two nights at the Viceroy Bali, frequently rated among the best luxury hotel rooms in the world (thanks, Credit Card points!) We were even upgraded to the Vice Regal Villa, where we had our own private pool, massive room, and a stunning view of the adjacent Valley of the Kings. We even had a flower pedal bath — a wonderful touch. The food was indescribably good, especially our 8-course dinner(which ended up being more like 15 courses) headed by a lovely Belgian super-chef.
Other than our 2 nights as kings, I was mostly itching to leave. Sure we made it to the silly monkey forest (one tried to steal food from my bag!) in Ubud, but the taxi mafia and gridlock made it next to impossible to get around. While trying to call a grab to our new hotel, several drivers cancelled on us. I soon got one, but a nearby taxi driver came up to me and started talking. He laughed in my face and mocked me, explaining that grab was not allowed here, and that I could take a taxi for 3x the price. I walked over, and one driver strangely offered to cut the grab driver’s price, but then laughed at me and said “no, not today, my back hurts”. His fellow drivers all cackled in unison. The grab driver soon pulled into the parking lot, but the taxi drivers corralled around him, and explained to the driver that we were not getting picked up, and that he was not allowed in Ubud. They then make sure he turns the opposite direction of the way we are walking.
I soon look and see many Uber/Grab are banned signs in Ubud. I also see that they have men posted about every 50 meters on the main road, not only heckling tourists for taxis, but making well sure that no tourist ever gets into a car that’s not a taxi. Grab would not let me cancel the ride, and our driver wouldn’t/couldn’t cancel either, and we soon see him turn around, heading towards us. (Keep in mind that the main road is 2-lanes and completely saturated with traffic, inching along). He pulls into the nearby Circle K, so we head there, but as there was a taxi guy there, we were all powerless. He inches down the road, and we essentially walk next to him. Suddenly, realizing that no one was there, he motions for us to hop in the car, and we near-throw our luggage and ourselves in, and make it the 2km south to our new hotel. We made it, laughed, and I left him a tip for his patience.
I felt vindicated, able to shake off the taxi cartel and make it on our own, not being ripped off for the color of my skin. I’m a bit sad, as my memories of Bali focus on the bad and not the good, and I’ve tried to focus on the good on this trip and my blog. But it was so defining of the place. I felt like I was in the midst of a war between the locals and tourists, with tourist money being the grand prize of it all. We stayed a couple more days, even at a separate hotel, but it was too demoralizing to get around and deal with the taxis, crowds, and traffic that I didn’t want to do much of anything. Thankfully, our next destination was Gili Air.
