I've been to Bali too - but not this year!

(turn up sound and click on full screen)

 

Bali to me is the small village of Tegehe in the foothills south of Lovina. Denpasar and Kuta have become such congested, noisy hellholes that it is hard to image anybody staying there of their own free will.

Kuta comes as a culture shock - or more like a lack-of-culture shock: it's a jungle of pumping bars, nightclubs, restaurants, tattoo and piercing parlours, surfwear and novelty T-short and junky art shops. And it is full of seriously inebriated Aussies in Bintang singlets, staggering from the Aussie Koala Bar to the Aussie Kangaroo Bar.

On a much earlier visit I thought it would be nice to see the famous sunset, and so I headed down to the famous, or infamous depending on which way you look at it, Kuta Beach. In all my travels, I'd never seen such a jam-packed beach. Walls and walls of bodies walked, sat, laid and squished together on the sand, with smiling locals handing out small envelopes containing letters that read, "CONGRATULATIONS you have won a video camera. And one week's accommodation." Ah yes, timeshares are alive and well in Bali.

As I said, for me Bali is a small village in the foothills south of Lovina but there won't be any jalan jalan (literally 'walk, walk') this year. Maybe the next.

 

Bali - as it used to be

Bali, the island of love, Part 1

Bali, the island of love, Part 2

Bali, the island of love, Part 3

Bali, the island of love, Final Part

Travelogue (Part 1)

Travelogue (Part 2)

Heaven can wait

Yours truly. Why buy when you can rent?

 

If you have visited Bali and discovered its amazing natural beauty and low cost of living, and then considered buying real estate on the island, you are far from alone. The departure lounge at the Denpasar Airport is always filled with people trying to sort out how they’ll one day exchange their current hectic life for one of bliss and simplicity in this magical place.

Unfortunately, moving to or investing in Bali can be a complicated process. Indonesian laws strictly prohibit foreigners from owning land in the country, although this situation morphs a bit each year.

Bali is loaded with foreigners who love living on the island, but there are also many tales of people who fell victim to fraud, so this isn’t something anyone should consider doing on a whim. And certainly not in a hurry, as a certain German couple did when they signed up for a lease and purchase option on my favourite little hotel in North Bali, all in a couple of days - click here.

Apart from what can be quite a nasty expat community, there are real estate frauds and more real estate frauds aplenty, so, before you sign anything or hand over any money, read about real estate agents and follow some of the forum discussions and read some of the countless newspaper articles here and here.

There are plenty of true stories here and here and elsewhere, so my advice to you is: don't trust anyone!.

Don't even trust me; GOOGLE for it yourself:

 

They came, they saw, they leased

 

My favourite hide-away in the cool hills of northern Bali now has a resident lessee from Oldenburg in Germany!

Ralf Pelzner and Anke Sawalies came to Bali for the very first time two months ago. They came to stay at Banjar Hills and ask the obvious question "How much?"

It must have been infatuation at first sight because what they really wanted to know was how much it would cost to buy the place!

As it turned out, the asking price was rather more than they could afford, so they leased it instead - initially for two years, with an option to extend the lease or buy the property outright ("investing" in Indonesian real estate is fraught with danger for non-citizens - see here - so the next two years will give them enough time to check it all out before they buy - if they ever do!)

They've just been back to sign the lease and will take up permanent residence in mid-June. Will there be a new menu? ☺

 

Bali, Java, in My Dreams

Rummaging through a second-hand bookshop in Ulladulla today, I found this beautifully written book by Christine Jordis.

From ancient temples to the muddy streets of Jakarta, from the volcano to the mini-cab, Christine Jordis leads an intoxicating, sensual tour of Indonesia.Relying on atmosphere and sensation over fact and statistic, Christine Jordis has written a deeply personal, vividly impressionistic account of several journeys to the Indonesian islands of Bali and Java. Dazzled, wide-eyed, but always astute, Jordis describes famous monuments, native dances, encounters with locals. She conjures up the various literary and artistic figures who sought refuge and inspiration in Indonesia - Arthur Rimbaud, Herman Melville, Joseph Conrad - and brings ancient legends to life. She chronicles fascinating sociological observations and historical curiosities, but it is Jordis' sensual, emotional responses to her surroundings that most distinguish Bali, Java, in my Dreams from the average East-meets-West travelogue. From the heart of the lush tropical forests, Jordis guides her readers through the technicolor paradise that makes Paris seem grey in comparison. Ultimately, it is these very colours that infuse her life - and her readers' lives - with new meaning.