Archive for December 18th, 2006
Eco tourism, or ecological tourism, as Wikipedia defines it, is a growing phenomenon around the world. The idea behind it, is to leave either minimal impact, or a positive impact on the local environment / culture. That sounds great, and identifies that fact that some people are actually thinking about the impact of tourism. A BBC article discusses some of the benefits of eco tourism, and asks whether its what it’s cracked up to be.
The central issue to the debate around eco tourism, is a refined version of the same debate around tourism in general, ‘is tourism good for the local people, land, culture, economy?’ Depending on who you talk to, whether it be Tony Wheeler, the head of Four Seasons, a spokesman for Greenpeace, or a local tribal person, you’ll get varying views, on the effects.
Bringing the subject of eco-tourism to Bali, one has to wonder what is the ideal, we are chasing. Do we let the locals (who have a perfect right to live as they see fit) continue to destroy Bali, with pesticide, burning of plastics, trashing rivers, roads, beaches, with garbage? Do we gently try to establish some rules of engagement and programs, eg. curb side recycling, car emissions standards, fines for littering. Or do we go for a ‘US National Park’ approach, enforcing strict regulations on the most scenic areas, charging for entry, and limiting the activitities inside that area?
The National park system in the US is wonderful, but it is restricting. Some organisations such as JED are trying to encourage Balinese locals to act in a more eco-consious way, realising tourism can pay the bills. The downside to this, is that a village area / rice fields, will have a ‘turnstyle’ so to speak, and remember, Bali is not that big. In 20 years, will Bali be a Sunshine Coast of villas, an over-used garbage dump, or a eco theme park, complete with Barong dances at dinner time?
In my opinion the goal of future development should be focused on 3 things: Preserving the natural aspects of the island of Bali, preserving the Balinese culture, by encouraging cultural events and developing an economic environment, with increased education, that creates realistic and desirable jobs for Balinese people.
There are reasons why people burn plastic, dump garbage and pull stunts, when it comes to money. Eco tourism takes into consideration my 3 main points, so for me its positive.
source : www.baliblog.com
December 18th, 2006
Lonely Planet puts out a book called the
Blue List, listing the new ‘hot spots around the world’, that offer the most tantalizing opportunities for adventure. Indonesia features, with good reason, thoguh perhaps Bali has passed the point where one could call it the ‘next hot place’.
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If we were to draw up a Blue List for Bali what would be on it? Here’s a start.
Top 5 beaches: Pasir Putih (Prasi), Biastugal / Pantai Kecil (Padangbai), Dreamland (Bukit), Pura Masuka (Bukit), Balangan (Bukit).
Top 5 restaurants: Warisan, Ultimo, Kori Restaurant, KuDeTa, Living Room
Top 5 nightspots: Double Six, MBarGo, DeJaVu, Paddy’s, Santa Fe
Top 5 overnight trips: Ubud, Balian, Candi Dasa, Cliff top on Bukit, Amed
What other categories are there and what are your choices?
source : www.baliblog.com
December 18th, 2006
The crest of Indonesia, the symbol displayed on all government buildings is the angry looking bird (the Javanese hawk eagle) with its wings outstretched. The bird holds between its claws a ribbon, with the statement, Bhinneka Tunngal Ika, Sanskrit for We are many but we are one. Indonesia has 17,000 islands and 180 ethnic groups.
Its a very challenging place to govern and getting everyone on the same page is difficult. Indonesia leaders have sought to foster a national identity by using the idea called Pancasila (5 principles). The 5 principles of Indonesian national identity are:
•1) Belief in 1 supreme God
•2) A just and civilized humanity
•3) Nationalism, the unity of Indonesia
•4) Democracy guided by the wisdom of unanimity arising from discussion (musjawarah) and mutual assistance (gotong royong)
•5) Social justice, the equality of political rights and the rights of citizenship, as well as social and cultural equality
Even with a homogenous society it would hard to get everybody to agree to these principles and with Indonesias diversity some people may not even understand them.
There have been advances in all these since the fall of Suharto in 1999. Every country has high ideals that often do not come to fruition. I guess stating the national ideals are a start.
source : www.baliblog.com
December 18th, 2006
Rice is the Balinese staple. Ask anyone ‘Sudah Makan?’ (already eat?) And they will say, ‘Yes, makan nasi’, which means, yes, rice. Bali and Java have the most well developed
sawah (rice terraces) in Indonesia. In Bali as well as Indonesia there are really 2 types of farming,
ladang and
sawah.
Ladang is carried out on arid land or land where the soil is only inches deep. It is usually used for crops requiring a small amount of rain or cattle. After 1 or 2 crops the soil is exhausted and the farmer must move on to another part of his land. With sawah, the rich volcanic soil, plentiful water and powerful sunlight mean the same land can be farmed without a break, producing huge amounts of rice. In Bali 3 harvests a year are possible on the same land.
The growing and harvesting of rice are governed by adat (traditional law) and the subak (water access governing body) approves and controls the flooding of fields and the diverting of streams. The need for communal cooperation in growing rice is a major factor in Balinese agrarian socialism.Balinese also believe that Dewi Sri, the Goddess of rice, must be honored and shrines are set up in every sawah to honor her. The Balinese believe that Dewi Sri dwells in every stalk of rice and during harvesting Balinese women use a small curved knife hidden in their palm, cutting only a few stalks with every cut so not to scare Dewi Sri.
Rice means life to the Balinese and is much more than something to fill a belly.
Rice has 3 names: still in the sawah its called padi, in the sack it is beras, on the plate its nasi.
source : www.baliblog.com
December 18th, 2006
Bali Bombers Amrozi, Muklas and Samudra, are appealling their conviction, for executing the 2002 attacks in Kuta. The dateset for there appeal is December 22nd 2006.
Here in Bali no one has mentioned anything about this case, or these guys. Seems to me people wouldl ike to see them dead, but have enough personal things going on with family, ceremonies and the economy.
The 3 bombers are filing a Supreme Court challenge, insisting the use of a retroactive law, is against the law. The appeal will take place in Bali, since it was filed there, but Amrozi and Co. don’t need to attend. The bombers are currently incarserated in Nusa Kambangan jail on the Central Java coast. Fingers crossed for no suprises.
source : www.baliblog.com
December 18th, 2006
Singapore is the ‘go to’ place for Bali expats, when they have a medical emergency. Locally we have a couple of good clinics, SOS International and BIMC, and Sanglah hospital in Denpasar for emergency surgery. If you need surgery and you have the choice, get on a plane to Singapore.
I say have the choice, because some people do. Its not just a matter of time, its a matter of money. Do you have $20,000 to hand over for an operation? If the answer is no, you might want to ge some travel insurance. The package I’m on, allows me to choose where I want an operation to be done, regarldless of where the accident happens. Pretty sweet huh? My friend Mick has a motorbike crash in Spain and couple of years ago, and opted to have surgery in Melbourne. His insurance (same company as mine) runs a 24 hour hotline, so he was able to get local hospital treatment for free, and surgery the other side of the world.
The demand for decent hospitals in Asia, has created a whole new market, ‘medical tourism‘, with superb private hospitals in Thailand. Singapore doesn’t want to miss out, and are planning 2 new ones.
source : www.baliblog.com
December 18th, 2006
Singapore is the ‘go to’ place for Bali expats, when they have a medical emergency. Locally we have a couple of good clinics, SOS International and BIMC, and Sanglah hospital in Denpasar for emergency surgery. If you need surgery and you have the choice, get on a plane to Singapore.
I say have the choice, because some people do. Its not just a matter of time, its a matter of money. Do you have $20,000 to hand over for an operation? If the answer is no, you might want to ge some travel insurance. The package I’m on, allows me to choose where I want an operation to be done, regarldless of where the accident happens. Pretty sweet huh? My friend Mick has a motorbike crash in Spain and couple of years ago, and opted to have surgery in Melbourne. His insurance (same company as mine) runs a 24 hour hotline, so he was able to get local hospital treatment for free, and surgery the other side of the world.
The demand for decent hospitals in Asia, has created a whole new market, ‘medical tourism‘, with superb private hospitals in Thailand. Singapore doesn’t want to miss out, and are planning 2 new ones.
source : www.surabaya.eastjava.com
December 18th, 2006
Saturday night I ate dinner at a small restaurant in Seminyak. While waiting for my food, I chatted with a Balinese lady, who herself owns restaurants in Seminyak. She told me that no one is making money right now, and there are people who are losing 10m rp per month.
Bali is a weird market for restaurants. The 4 groups of people you’ll find in Bali are: locals, expats, domestic tourists, foreign tourists. If the style of food isn’t Indonesian, that pretty much cancels out the local market straight away. Tourists are okay, but they are only here for a short time, as soon as they find your place, its time for them to go home. Expats, contrary to what many people think, often go for the cheap places, even prefering to eat at home to save money. If you live in Bali, you can’t drop 100,000rp on every meal.
Some restaurants do well because they can bang out product for a low price, meaning they attract many customers. The thing is profitability, and what is their margin after all is said and done? With so many place opening and closing, people scratch their heads, to figure out some thing different. The lady I talked to has operated restaurants in other countries, and told me she was extremely successful. Here in Bali its a lottery, with too much choice in a small area.
I’ve often tried to look at restaurants, from a distance almost, and figure out what exactly is the difference, between the ones that are busy and the the ones that are quiet. Three places come to mind that are always fairly busy; Santa Fe, Cafe Moka, Warung 96. What do these places have in common? Santa Fe and Warung 96 are the kind of places that look ‘non-threatening’, a cool places to sit for a while. Some people are put off by a stiff waiter at the door, escorting them to their table. Better to make the atmosphere ‘easy access’ where people can stroll in and relax. Another place that does this is Made’s Warung in Kuta, the place is always packed. Cafe Moka offers expats a place where they can come 7 days a week, for simple breakfasts, lunches and dinners.
So it seems to me, the place is actually more important than the food. Just hope you can knock out the food at a low enough cost, that leaves you with a decent profit. Last night I suggested that Seminyak might be a good place, to experiment with a take-away type food business. I think if marketed right, a take-away ‘Asian rice’ type thing might go. Just ride up on your motorbike at the window, and get served in 2 minutes. Whatever, I’m glad I’m not in the restaurant business, and will leave it to the professionals to figure out waht works.
source : www.baliblog.com
December 18th, 2006