Comments on: Visiting Kuta in Bali (aka: What Was I Thinking?!)

By: Nora

Nora — Sun, 16 Apr 2023 16:20:42 +0000

In reply to Mick.

I’m sorry you feel this way, Mick. I’m sure 20 years has changed the place, dramatically. In fact, I’ll bet the last 6 years alone since I was there would be startling!
That said – I’m thrilled you found some new places in Bali that are better than before! This is testament to your open-minded attitude and seeing/finding new opportunities/destinations/etc that didn’t formerly exist in the same way.

By: Mick

Mick — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 10:58:53 +0000

I know that this is quite a few years after this was written but I feel like Ubud has lost its magic and it’s so sad. I have travelled there over the last 20 years and just find it too packed and cliched now. Amed and Pemuteran for me now and I actually don’t mind stopping over in Sanur - a place I used to detest

By: Nora

Nora — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 19:17:26 +0000

In reply to Nick G.

Hi Nick,
I’ve visited pharmacies (brand-name ones) in many countries where you have to get even “over the counter” medications from somebody behind the counter. With no price tags, I’ve often wondered how different my price is from the local price. In Vietnam in particular, I was astounded at the cost of some fairly mundane medications. It happened to me again (with some different meds) in Guatemala.
I’m sorry that you confirmed the price gouge and felt taken advantage of. In a place like Kuta, I can totally understand how it would be a last straw.

By: Nick G

Nick G — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 03:00:55 +0000

The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was price gouging at the Seminyak branch of an international pharmacy chain. I needed to buy some medicine and was quoted more than 1,000,000 IDR for 7 omeprazole tablets. This is at LEAST a 500% markup, if not more. No way are locals paying this much. I expect to get ripped off at tourist trap hovels selling junk, but a legit pharmacy?
What is the point of all the bowing in the smiling if you end up scalping somebody to take advantage of their medical condition, just because their skin is white? It’s just hypocrisy so you feel good about getting gouged.
Our previous visit to Ubud was nowhere near as bad. I’m put off Bali for good, I think.
Sitting in the villa, leaving tonight. Can’t wait.

By: Nora

Nora — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 22:29:33 +0000

In reply to Tony.

Hey Tony,
Glad you enjoyed my Ubud Market vlog (https://www.theprofessionalhobo.com/ubud-market-art-negotiation-vlog-ep-25/), and hopefully got some entertainment from this post!

I’d like to return to Ubud…..and I never properly explored Sanur, as I would have liked to. That damn volcano sent me running, and I’ve been nervous to return ever since.

By: Tony

Tony — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 09:44:47 +0000

In reply to Nora. So true!

By: Tony

Tony — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 09:36:04 +0000

In reply to Nora.

Hi Nora
Thanks for the Ubud bargaining vlog. and tips. I reckon you’re right on the money! The market is such a vibrant, engrossing, INTERESTING place (it could use a cafe…) and you captured it so well. I love your honest reactions!
As an Aussie, I’m ashamed at what we’ve done to Kuta. I had a girlfriend who was there in the early 70’s when it was a simple fishing village.
Too late for regrets.
These days, I love Ubud, of course, and Sanur.
Thahnks for your wonderful vids, Tony

By: Nora

Nora — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 09:40:56 +0000

In reply to Peter O’Rourke.

Hi Peter,
Great story about Kuta circa 1972 – thanks for sharing! One of the things that impressed me about Bali (and that is written about by others) was how indeed, the Balinese people have (on the whole) maintained their culture despite influxes in tourism since the 1930s. Although perhaps Kuta is no longer a proper reflection thereof…..

Funny you should mention going back to find the Balinese family you knew. I’m currently in Chiang Mai Thailand – where I was 10 years ago. I was hoping to find a Thai family I knew back then, and while there are aspects of the Old City that haven’t changed at all, in other ways it’s totally different. I’ve all but given up on my mission. (But I’m still enjoying the place and noting differences in the last 10 years with curiosity).
I’m sure your own revisit to Bali would be quite the shock…but then again, neither would you expect the place to be now what it was back then.

By: Peter O'Rourke

Peter O'Rourke — Sat, 25 Nov 2017 11:30:59 +0000

Hi Nora
There are always some good things to being old(er). And one is having been to Bali when I was a very young guy in 1972. I arrived in Kuta on Christmas Day. It was a magical experience with Legong performed by young girls – children really – on a stage in front of my losman. I think my room in the losman was 75R a day. At that time, the rate was 450R to one US dollar. You could get a restaurant meal for 25-50R, usually good too, and I treated myself to lobster for 75R – just once a week – at the only “hotel” in Kuta. A lonely hotel nobody I knew went to at the far end of the beach.
There was no paved road in Kuta – only when you got on the road to Denpasar. There was no electricity. Usually at night you depended on moonlight – and if no moon, your torch/flashlight guided your way along through the waiting dog packs.
Even then, there was a big “restaurant” scene – a thatchy hut myriad of competitors, but no really hard sell. Usually took about an hour and a half to get served, but nobody cared much. Some restaurants would fry up mushrooms if you gave them to fry. There were no nightclubs whatsoever. There was no dancing other than ketchak performances and other Balinese plays.
The beach at Kuta was beautiful then and we enjoyed the huge waves.
At that time, Balinese were afraid of the sea and knew nothing of surfing. That time was just the beginning of Australian travellers to Bali, who introduced surfing to the guys of Bali over the following years.
Even then, there were crazy times. Remember that this was already post-hippie era. The motorbike rental scene was getting active and the occasional traveller missed a turn and got himself killed. The families, who let out the rooms at the losmans, put up with a certain amount of partying, coming and going of “guests” to their rooms. They were learning about these foreigners just as we were learning about Bali. In the morning, they would bring a breakfast and travelling artists would spread out paintings in front of your room. I had batik pajamas I wore all the time ( and continued to travel around in later all the way to Jakarta). But even the westerners’ dress was conservative compared to the Balinese women who were often barebreasted.
I haven’t mentioned Ubud in this writing – I did go there also. It was just starting up and not significantly developed yet. It was “quieter” than Kuta, but in those times, it didn’t make too much difference because you would have had to go to Denpasar to experience anything like a city – and nobody bothered to go there as there was no night life. Just kind of a dusty big town that had a bank in it, and customs office for visa extension, or whatever.
Anyway. Since that time, I haven’t been back to Bali. I keep wondering if I’d recognize a single thing. One thing I’d really like would be to find the young family in whose losman I stayed. But I imagine that would next to impossible now.
One thing I think I sense from what you’ve said – Balinese people are still Balinese. So I might go anyhow.
Peter

By: Allyson

Allyson — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 15:58:36 +0000

In reply to Nora.

I think any time we create expectations about something we “hope” for, we create a platform for disappointment. I know it’s certainly been true in my own life. And so I think you had quite an adventure…. it just wasn’t on Wayan’s table! If you head back to Bali I’d love to meet up for some nasi goreng and some good laughs! ?