Tourist Traps in Bali: What to Skip and What to Do Instead
The reputation that Bali has is mostly nothing to do with the island itself, but rather with the version of Bali that is promoted. Between the search results, the videos on social media and the tourist information desk by the corner, a limited number of sites have been presented so frequently that the majority of first-time visitors end up with an itinerary that has been entirely put together on the basis of other people's photographs.
The majority of those places do exist and some of them are truly beautiful. The issue is that the gap between what is shown online and what actually takes place in reality has grown so wide that the trip ends up being an act of confirmation rather than one of discovery; you go, you join the queue, you take the photograph, and by the time you've left you are a bit poorer and a bit flatter than you had anticipated.
I am not opposing anything that is popular since popular things are generally so for good reasons. Rather, I am saying that it is important to know what you are getting yourself into, and that the more quiet version of the same experience is usually just twenty minutes down the road and completely empty.
The photograph is not the place
The best example is Pura Lempuyang in eastern Bali, which is known online as the Gates of Heaven; the well-known photograph depicts a split stone gateway with Mount Agung situated between the two halves, the entire scene being duplicated in a sheet of still water. However, there is actually no water present. The reflection is produced by a piece of glass or a small mirror which is held under the phone camera by the photographer positioned at the front of the queue. During the busy season this queue can last two or three hours and forms at an operating temple partway up the mountain, while the rest of the temple complex, the surrounding forest and the view itself are almost completely left unvisited by the people waiting.
Handara Gate, which is near Bedugul, operates on the same principle; it is the entrance to a golf resort where you have to pay in order to stand in front of it, take a photograph and then leave. Likewise, the Instagram swings and the bird nest platforms scattered around Ubud and Tegallalang work on a similar basis: there is a charge for each swing, a fee for the dress, a queue, a photographer, and a photograph that is just like all the other photographs taken at those places that same morning. Although Tegallalang is worth visiting, be ready for a number of informal donation points along the way down the terraces, all of which are presented as being compulsory even though none of them are officially required.
This is no kind of fraud; it is a market reacting rationally to what visitors claim they want. Still, it is important to be honest with yourself as to whether you went to Bali in order to see something or merely to prove that you had been there.
Where the money actually goes in Bali
Another type of trap is not primarily concerned with disappointment but rather with the fact of what your payment enables.
Kopi luwak is at the top of that list. In the romantic account, wild civets are said to choose the fully ripe coffee cherries in the forest. The version that most tourists come across, however, involves civets kept in small cages and being given cherries throughout the day so that the tour company can ensure a steady supply. Animal welfare organisations have repeatedly recorded the conditions in question. If we set aside ethical considerations, the coffee is also of only average quality according to any specialist standards and is priced according to the story rather than the taste.
Free coffee plantation tours are based on a similar principle. The tasting itself is truly free and is usually a pleasant experience. It concludes at a shop where packaged coffee, cacao and spice mixes are sold for many times the price that these same products would fetch at a supermarket in Denpasar or at a roaster in Ubud. It is entirely reasonable to purchase an item you have enjoyed. One simply has to see the tour as a sales funnel, since that is exactly what it was designed to be.
Turtle Island in the area of Tanjung Benoa presents itself as a conservation initiative. In reality, the majority of visitors report seeing animals kept in shallow enclosures and being given the opportunity to take photographs with them. The conservation wording on the sign is not equivalent to true conservation, and the same warning holds true for any attraction in which visitors are allowed to hold, ride or pose with a wild animal.
There is also the smaller matters which accumulate. Money changers who advertise rates that are noticeably better than all the others on the street usually make up the difference by using a bit of trickery when counting the money, or by charging a commission which is only mentioned at the end. Instead, use an authorised counter which has a proper office and a printed rate board, or take money from an ATM located at a bank branch. At the airport, don't pay attention to the drivers who come up to you inside the terminal and instead book your transfer through Grab, Gojek or the official Blue Bird counter. Each time, before leaving any counter, count your notes without apology.
Another one worth mentioning: the purification ritual at Tirta Empul, known as melukat, is a genuine religious practice which has a set order, a meaning and follows certain rules of etiquette. It is open to tourists and can truly be a moving experience. It is also becoming more and more marketed as a chance to take photographs by individuals who have no right to be giving guidance. If you wish to take part in it, go early, enquire at the temple office and regard it as a ceremony and not as an activity.
Overrated, undercooked, or simply misunderstood
Certain destinations are more the result of bad timing or poor framing than actual traps.
Kuta isn't a scam; it's a crowded and noisy beach town with inexpensive nightlife, and that's precisely what it offers. The letdown occurs when tourists book it because they recognised the name only to find that it has nothing at all to do with the Bali they had imagined. You should read the description of the place where you're staying rather than just the name.
The island of Nusa Penida is plagued by day trips. When you only stay for one day, you have to take a fast boat there and back, spend several hours in a car on roads which in some places are still bad, and at both Kelingking and Diamond Beach you have to stay for about forty minutes alongside several hundred other people who are on the same schedule. The situation is entirely different if you spend two nights on the island: you then have the viewpoints to yourself in the early morning and the drive no longer seems like a race.
The Kecak fire dance held at Uluwatu is busy, requires a ticket and is well worth the visit. It's best to get there early if you want a seat on the ocean side, as the monkeys at the temple are well organised and show no sentiment, and you should realise that the sunset is just as important as the performance itself.
What to do instead
The most effective thing that most visitors can do isn't to change their destination but to change the time. The well-known places in Bali are enjoyable at six in the morning and become unbearable by eleven o'clock. Campuhan Ridge in Ubud, Tirta Gangga, Tegallalang, Tanah Lot and the Sekumpul waterfall are all very different before the first tour bus comes. Waking up at five thirty will do more to improve your trip than any hidden spot.
There are no alternatives hidden from view. Sidemen is located one hour east of Ubud in a river valley featuring the same rice terraces which made Tegallalang well known, although it doesn't have the entrance gates or the swings. In the northern highlands Munduk provides waterfalls, coffee smallholdings and cool air. Amed and Pemuteran, on the northeast and northwest coasts respectively, offer black sand, peaceful diving and villages that continue to function as villages. West Bali National Park is, by a large margin, more empty than any place in the south.
Go a little further and spend the morning at Pasar Ubud before eight o'clock, since it will then still be a market for local people rather than one that sells souvenirs. Have your meal at a warung that has handwritten menus and is run by a family. Take the Sari Organik path through the rice fields to the north of town, which is free and empty at dawn. Find out from the person who is making your coffee where they go when they have a day off and then go there yourself.
Bali doesn't have to be obtained by means of logistical effort or by relying on inside information; it gives a greater reward to those who are patient and get up early than to those who carry out research. Throughout most of its area the island remains an agricultural one with people living normal lives and welcoming visitors with a generosity which the most busy of the southern few square kilometres have not been able to destroy. This kind of Bali is not difficult to find; all one needs to do is drive past the queue.
Guests usually come with a list of places they have been instructed to visit and then end up spending most of their time in some place that wasn't on any of those lists; it is typically during the week that they discuss it.
