Adventures of an Urban Nomad - Welcome to Bali

Laurence Harrould - Sunday, January 08, 2012

Recently, we spent 8 days in Bali to attend my nephew's wedding.

Prior to leaving Sydney we had arranged to be picked up from the airport and taken to our villa. On our arrival there was no-one to meet us at the airport - not a good start. We managed to call the villa (it was 10pm) who then sent someone to collect us. When we got to the villa we were taken to the wrong room. Here we found the air conditioning didn't work nor did the hot water. So no way to cool the room or to have a decent shower.

The next morning we tried to find someone to help and managed to connect with the owner's partner who made it clear the villa was his wife's business but he'd do what he could. He was a lovely guy who gave us the best piece of advice for our Bali stay - "Welcome to Bali". It's hard to express the tone of voice when he said this. It wasn't "welcome - have a nice time". Rather it said "so things don't work - that's normal". We found out later just how true that is.

On a trip with a local who was showing us around he was telling us about his life. In his village the electricity and water supplies are erratic. In the dry season it's normal for the water to be cut off to the whole village for a couple of days in order to "share" the load when supplies are low. Similarly, with electricity except that's usually for a few hours not days. For the Balinese this is "normal" and so they seem to accept it.

Another example of this incredibly laid-back and relaxed attitude is the driving. For me it was total chaos - traffic lanes are marked but no-one bothers with them. Driving on the footpath or going the wrong way are common. You regularly hear horns tooting but only gently - simply saying "I'm here". In the cities and tourist areas being driven was scary enough, I wouldn't contemplate driving myself. The country areas are different but that's another story.

While we were in Bali we never heard a horn sounded in anger nor saw a single car accident. On our return to Sydney things were quite different. Within 10 minutes of our return to Sydney there was aggressive honking and between the airport and home (less than 30 minutes) we saw two bad car incidents. 

Also, on the news there was a report about the bush fires near Adelaide. The power company had turned off the electricity in the area experiencing fires, as a safety precaution, and shop owners were demanding compensation because it was their busiest trading period. 

While Bali is chaotic and things don't work we seem to have a lot to learn from the Balinese about attitude.

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