A transcendental travelation
We should have known better. We should have, yet again, trusted our instincts and the advice of fellow travelers. We should have....not gone to Kuta!
Having spent the majority of our time in Bali in the beautiful area of Ubud, we really were jonesin for some beach time. Nate and I have both shared fantasies of surfing our way around the world and from what we had read, Kuta is said to be a great place for beginners. Nice easy surf and some pretty inexpensive lessons. Boy howdy did we make a mistake. Well, I can't really say it was a mistake as we now know where we DON'T want to return to. Kuta is essentially Cancun but swarming with Australian "dude bros" on spring break rather then Americans. Had we not had the misfortune of landing there during the off season, it still would have been a poor choice. There is no resemblance of the beautiful Balinese culture and spirituality that we experienced in Ubud. Rather it is a massive, overwhelming display of neon, hawkers and vomit. Ha, well maybe not that severe but it really was such a juxtaposition. Sadly the beach is very dirty and you can't walk more than 10 paces without some swarm of ladies wanting to rub you down for a few rupiah. God knows where those hands have been before!
We managed to escape for the day on Sunday with our Dutch neighbor friends and take a tour to see two temples. One of which belongs to the royal family and the other being the famous and highly over-touristed, Tanah Lot. It is a series of three small temples, each built on its own natural peninsula on the ocean and one of which can only be reached at low tide. They are dedicated to three separate gods. The largest being for the Water God, the second for higher learning and the third for transportation. They were incredible to see but you cannot help but feel so saddened by the tourism surrounding what is meant to be sacred. It looks like the carnival came to town and brought the worst of the souvenirs with it- complete with live snakes and velvet posters! I know that we will experience this almost everywhere we go and as tourist we think, gosh how can they do this to their country? How can they exploit their heritage like this? But AS tourist we feed into it and just fuel the fire. It maybe wouldn't be half as discouraging if tourists on a whole were respectful but in the larger more populated areas it's as if all manners are forgotten. People seem to feel entitled. Entitled to "western food", demanding service right then and there and do not respect or learn about the customs of the country they are in. Why travel if you just want everything you have at home?
It takes courage and an open mind to step out of your comfort zone. We all want to feel safe and it always feels good to have a piece of home when abroad. I just hope that Nate and I will continue to follow the road less traveled...
...and I guess we must look pretty exotic over here because people from Java always want to take their picture with you!
No comments:
Post a Comment