Bali is battling ‘bad tourists’, but there’s still a beautiful island to be discovered

The streets of Bali’s capital are a din of commotion, and tourists are shouted at from every direction. The main thoroughfare is full of knock-off bags, hats and beer-themed tank tops. The air is filled with the constant blare of horns, and it’s hard to figure out if people are beeping at you because you have committed a heinous traffic crime or are just offering you a taxi.

Within a few hours, I had encountered more Aussie tourists in Balinese bars and restaurants than I had seen in most of the Northern Territory combined. It reminded me of similar scenes on the streets of Benidorm in Spain, only with beads braided into Australian boys’ mullets.

Interest in the Indonesian island has exploded since it gained a reputation as a spiritual gateway for Western tourists to discover the gems of Southeast Asia — for a low price. Its reputation as an idyllic, third-eye opening haven was further popularised by the Julia Roberts movie Eat Pray Love (2010) and the more recent boom of Instagram swings and selfies taken against luscious backdrops.

However, an uptick in antisocial behaviour from tourists on the sacred island has made international headlines, and a 150,000 rupiah (€8.90) tourist fee looks set to kick in next year. Recent disruptions include foreign visitors posing nude in front of a sacred tree and arguing with local authorities in a viral video, as well as many incidents of reckless driving and indecent exposure.

Despite all of this, Bali remains a beautiful place — as long as you don’t get distracted by the tourist traps.

In Europe, Rome gets all the fame for having breathtaking architecture around every street corner, but Bali leaves it in the dust. There is incredible craftsmanship in every empty hostel and bar you walk past. Every door frame, cabinet and ceiling features ornately carved pieces of art that are remarkably commonplace for the island.

Bali is known as the ‘island of the gods’ and is an outlier in Indonesia for having a majority Hindu population, with the rest becoming strongly Muslim as you travel north. There are immaculate Hindu temples along almost every street and every business has a shrine to the gods. The same streets are full of basket offerings made of banana leaves which the Balinese usually make three times a day, after cooking a meal. The little baskets contain rice, pieces of meat, crackers and even cigarettes, which you must weave around to avoid kicking over as you walk.

In Denpasar, footpaths are lined with vendors. Motorbikes mount every surface to get around and there are more unlocked bikes lined up along the roads than a Dublin bike thief could dream of. There’s an ecosystem to the way locals zoom about on their motorbikes, but to the uninitiated eye, it just looks like an absolute maelstrom.

One thing that’s clear is that clueless tourists who are hiring motors for the first time and hitting the roads are definitely disrupting the locals’ flow. One taxi driver I got was extremely upset when a tourist on a bike cut in front of him on a busy road. He said that foreigners try to copy the crazy driving style they see but don’t have the experience to pull it off. He complained that Balinese people are too nice, and they let tourists walk all over them.

In my experience, the Indonesian people are truly lovely. Everywhere I travelled in Bali and further north, people went out of their way to be helpful and courteous to a clueless backpacker like me.

After Denpasar, we travelled to Ubud, a town known for its handcrafts, terraced rice paddies and even more temples and shrines dotted about in every direction.

Ubud is a very charming spot and it is clear to see why it’s a favoured spot for Aussies. Lavish hotel rooms cost less than a night in a 12-bed hostel in Sydney and the local beer Bintang — the logo of which can be found on muscle tees, tattoos and swag of all description — is eye-wateringly cheap.

I would advise those seeking a truly “authentic experience” to perhaps skip some of the more heavily advertised excursions on offer. Many companies organise day-long ‘Instagram tours’ of photogenic spots, where tourists can line up for photo ops in front of incredible landscapes and then pour back into the bus to race to the next backdrop.

In one famous rice paddy field, locals even made a business renting out flowing red dresses that can be hastily thrown on over your clothes for an Insta-worthy snap on a huge swing. These Instagram swings can be found in most of the beauty spots featured on TripAdvisor and seemed too cringe to pose with, until I checked the location on Instagram and found hundreds of near-identical pictures of women in flowing red dresses and manicured hair swinging out into the backdrop of a rice paddy.

But thankfully, this is as touristy as the island gets and there is still stunning beauty to be found on Bali if you choose to avoid the way of the influencer. Those seeking a more tranquil holiday, for example, could visit the local Gili Islands, known for their sandy beaches and stunning coral reefs, and the larger island of Lombok — a must-see for surfers and diving enthusiasts.

Ironically, I got some of my best views of Bali on my bus ride out of it. Travelling to the ferry, I got to see the inner workings of the island in the early hours, the food markets starting up for the day, the ladies hand-making baskets for offerings on the streets and the mothers loading multiple kids onto one scooter for the school run.

The landscape showed the less commercial but no less picturesque paddy fields and the people working in them. The traffic didn’t get any less crazy on the way to the harbour, but I chose to close my eyes and trust the local driver to know the secrets of Balinese driving etiquette that I am resigned to never fully understanding.

Don’t miss

The Gili Islands, a group of three tiny islands near the coast of Lombok Island, are the perfect escape from the chaos — and just a ferry ride away from Bali. Their stunning beaches are known for snorkelling and yoga retreats.

Travel basics

Travellers to Indonesia can apply for an electronic Visa on Arrival (e-VOA). The single-entry visa costs around €30 and is valid for up to 30 days for tourism purposes. Passports require six months validity from date of departure. molina.imigrasi.go.id

Get there

Connecting flights are available with airlines like Emirates, Turkish and Qatar, among others. Tour operators like Cassidy, Sunway, Trailfinders and Tui also do packages, and travel agents will be able to help with itineraries.

See indonesia.travel and bali.com for more.