Back to Bali

Vegan ice-cream in more flavours than you've had hot dinners. Certified-organic smoothie cafes. Bad urban planning. Upmarket clothing stores. Chakra unblocking retreats. Taxi mafia.

Yes I am in Ubud,Bali.
(It's basically like Kuta but without the drug dealers, prostitutes, and rampant alcohol consumption.)

I arrived in Bali as a complete greenhorn - fresh off the plane. I'm now back where i started, although this time without the rose-tinted filter of novelty.

What is Bali really like?

I'll start off blunt. Bali is the most commercialised and tourist-orientated place I have visited throughout my entire journey. The economy here has adapted itself to Western preferences to such a high degree that large swathes of the island have lost any sort of authenticity - if we are making a comparison to the island of Java next door.
Having been to parts of the country which don't cater towards the tourist market, it is easy to see what does cater to the tourist market and in Ubud it is blaringly obvious that the western gentrification has pushed all local-oriented businesses to the outskirts, beyond reasonable walking distance for those staying in the centre. I can confidently say that the the central area of Ubud is more akin to a Balinese Indonesian theme park for Westerners than an actual town.

I think this leads onto the question of what tourism itself actually is because many people can fall under the category of 'tourist' yet simultaneously hold polar opposite ideas and desires. I think one of the largest topics of contention is authenticity and more importantly, whether authenticity is even desirable.

In my experience, a lot of what is popular within the tourism industry falls within the 'pseudo-authentic'. By that, I mean things which take influence from customary practices or remnants of the past, but over represent them in a way which is highly exaggerated and commercialised, or beyond what would occur in a regular society. There is a lot of overemphasis with simultaneous watering-down of local customs which may not necessarily be present within the greater society. In a lot of cases this overemphasis can reach such a degree where it becomes caricature-like, bordering on the ironic (eg a supermarket parking warden wearing a sarong and a udeng headscarf).
To a certain degree, it can be said that the image portrayed by the pesudo-authentic is a western construct or is at least a form of international gentrification, and that without the presence of rich foreigners, the landscape as it stands currently would implode and assume a much more utilitarian form. I think that if tourism were to cease indefinitely in Bali, then the bamboo huts and restaurants where you sit on the floor would disappear pretty quickly.

I think one of the best examples of this outside of Indonesia is Hoi An,Vietnam. Hoi An was a major trading hub along the east cost of Vietnam. It's significance waned during the 18th century and since then had regressed into a backwater, leaving behind a rich architectural and urban legacy. Hoi An currently stands as an extremely popular tourist attraction, perhaps the most popular in all of Vietnam if we are talking in terms of the number of international tourists in relation to its size.
I spent a few days in Hoi An after having already visited a few cities and villages in Vietnam, and one of the first observations I made was that it felt like a Vietnamese theme park for foreigners. I said this because it seemed as if 90% of the local economy was based off tourism and that there was very little else there. There were a few 'functional' businesses around the outskirts of Hoi An, but it was very clear that the nearby city of Da Nang was where things actually happened. I stayed in Da Nang for a few days and personally I found it to be a more authentic experience than neighbouring Hoi An, I think because it wasn't trying too hard to present an 'authentic' face to international visitors. Da Nang might not look as 'exotic' or a beautiful as Hoi An but I think that in itself is an indicator of authenticity. By staying in Da Nang and visiting a few other areas in Vietnam, it was possible to see what things were like when no one was trying to fulfil some kind of expectation for the benefit of outsiders.

From time to time you come across quiet areas such as this

That said, I acknowledge that as a traveller, I inevitably rely on the tourism industry for basic necessities such as accommodation and that without a tourism industry, it becomes extremely difficult and expensive to visit a particular area. This is the double edged sword that backpackers such as myself have to constantly watch out for. The benefits of mass tourism in a particular location means that the price of visiting an area is driven down by competition, however at the same time as this is occurring you have the decline in authenticity as the hotels and tour agencies push the local residents out from the area. It's common knowledge to any traveller that tourist 'ghettos' are often rife with inflated prices, cowboy taxi drivers, and cheesy trinkets, and that in order to do something like eat dinner at a 'normal' restaurant, you actually have to leave the ghetto. Bali is no exception, and in my opinion in is an island which has massive tourist 'ghettos', (the largest I have ever encountered) and they are expanding every year.

(I just want to clarify that when I use the term 'tourist ghetto', I don't necessarily mean a run-down area but rather a particular area in which the the overwhelming majority of business within that area are reliant on tourist money. They are quite often devoid of shops selling things which normal people actually need, such as toothpaste.)

Is Bali a magnificent place? Yes I believe it is but I also think that as the development continues, the risk of becoming a caricature of itself becomes increasingly higher.  Everybody wants a piece of paradise but piece gained is also another piece lost.

Villas along the Campuhan ridge, Ubud.

The continental breakfast doesn't include transportation

Today was the day. It was time to leave Jodhpur and make my way to Pushkar. I knew it was the right day as the guesthouse owner had accidentally woken me up the previous morning at 06:00 because he didn't look at the calendar well enough.  

"It's time to check out!"

"No , I leave tomorrow"

"Are you sure"

"Yes, look at the voucher"

"Oh"

He had been standing outside my door for the past 15 minutes and was still awkwardly standing there when I left the room, like some kind of Beatles fan.

"Are you checking out now?" said the guesthouse owner.
"Yes" I replied.
"Ok your driver is here waiting, but you need to pay me 100 rupees for the driver"
'100 rupees? But the drop-off is included with the accommodation!"
"The pick-up from the railway station was included but the drop-off is not"
"Do you have the accommodation voucher?" I asked
He went back into the office and come back a few seconds later with the paper voucher in his hands and pointed to the abbreviated room plan checklist. He pointed to the ticked box for the 'continental breakfast plan' (CP).
"See this, it means that the pick-up is included in the service, and the drop-off is extra".
He then pointed to the unticked box for the 'American Plan' (AP).
"This one means the drop-off is included".
I stood there for about 5 seconds and then pointed to the writing at the bottom of the voucher.
"It says pick-up and drop-off included".

I'm not entirely sure what his reaction to that was as I was a little bit miffed at his cheeky move to extract some extra money from me, but basically what happened is I got onto the tuk tuk without paying the extra 100 rupees. 'I'll remember that place' I thought to myself.

I did remember that place, mostly due to the fact that I was actually supposed to be staying at a hotel with a completely different name, located 500m down the road!
Did I ultimately get ripped off?  It remains a mystery to this very day.

Accommodation as a backpacker in India

Sleeping in a tent in Jaisalmer

I want to talk about accommodation as unlike most of SE Asia, I have stayed within a greater range of accommodation types (whilst keeping within the reasonable price range of a budget orientated backpacker).
During my two months here I've learned that within the industry, there is a 'grey' zone which largely comprises of the lower-medium price range.  This 'grey' zone is what I consider to be a range in which the WIFI doesn't really work and the specified price is not really reflective in the level of service or facilities.

Lets assume you start at 100 rupees (INR) per night and work your way up in 50 rupee increments - at each increment, keeping a record of the quality of the service, facilities, and overall experience. I think every place falls onto a handful of distinct categories and this is how I interpreted my experiences while travelling in India....

100-250 INR. This is the budget hostel zone. Difficult to find outside of the heavily populated backpacker hot-spots. There may be hidden strings attached (such as a slightly expensive restaurant, a walking tour or even a commission-based activity booking service) which you may be able to avoid if you have a strong will.  There is a higher chance that the majority of your fellow hostel dwellers are Indian which can be a bad thing depending on how socially aware they are.
(In my experience, Indians are notorious for talking loudly on the phone at ungodly hours of the morning with no consideration for other people trying to sleep. This said, those who are highly educated or working in a professional capacity tend not to do this.)
Front-of-house tend to speak good enough English although don't be surprised if most of the people sharing the dorm room don't.
Breakfast is not typically included within this price range however at this price it doesn't come as a surprise, this isn't Vietnam!
There is a chance that bathroom facilities will have taken a hit in the name of space efficiency, especially in urban areas. By this I mean having to sit on the toilet diagonally because your legs don't fit in the front.
You may not have AC in your room or the WIFI might be shit but much like my earlier comment on breakfast, you can't really complain about this kind of stuff at this price. A place to sleep and a bathroom is really all you're getting. There are always exceptions to the rule however, and I was able to find a very nice hostel in Jaisalmer for 100 INR.

With a roof terrace

And a bay window bed.

250-400 INR. This is what I consider the standard hostel price. This is a price range you would encounter in many countries like Malaysia, Thailand (Bangkok), Indonesia (Java),  These can easily be found in nearly every place where tourists can be found. Some of the major Indian hostel chains compete within this bracket and with fierce competition come great deals for buyers. 'GoStops' and 'LaVaca', and 'Mr Moustache' are 3 names I saw brandished around quite often during my hostel scouting.  You will find most of the customers are foreign backpackers although it's still possible to find a decent number of Indians in some locations. Because of the competition, a lot of places within this range either include breakfast or offer it at a nominal cost.  Breakfast is a fixed set (ie not unlimited) and usually consists of toast, chai, scrambled/boiled eggs and some jam.
Front-of-house staff here tend to speak quite good English, to the point where they can even tell jokes from time to time. Service staff don't really speak English although I'm not sure if it's even possible to find service staff who speak conversational level English.

These places will usually have a rooftop terrace common area. It's common to find floor seating arrangements with low tables surrounded by thin mattresses and cushions. It is believed that this type of fit out is the optimum environment for millennials and people who like to smoke hashish.
Dorm rooms may be fitted with individual fans instead of AC, however this seems to be places which fall on the lower end of this grouping.

Mattress seating

450-500 INR. 'Luxury' hostels. There is an upmarket hostel chain called 'Zostel'. AC dorms is all I can say. I believe at this price range, you're likely to run into young middle or upper middle class Indians.


500-1500 INR.  You're leaving the hostel zone and entering the budget private room zone. On the absolute bottom end of this range you may be sharing a bathroom but the majority will have an ensuite. Hotels within this range almost entirely consist of establishments run under the 'OYO' franchise. I don't know if OYO mandates certain standards across all their hotels but I can say for sure that you'll be greeted by reception staff with rudimentary English speaking skills and service staff who know about 2 words of English.  The customers here seem to be pretty much all Indians although there may be the odd couple from white people land staying at these places.
Expect basic facilities with poorly installed/slightly damaged fixtures as a guarantee. Something in the bathroom will be leaking, the doors hinges will be loud as fuck, or the contractors will have cut massive holes in order to get pipes or wiring through, and then failed to cover it up. At the very least the all tiles or cladding will be of a stone pattern containing zero variation and all installed the same direction, making it looks like a Windows 95 desktop background set to 'tile'.

Wow, did they source those real stones from the Ganga river?? Or were they the cheapest
'stone' tile that they could find

There is a chance that as a foreigner, you may not be given a room. All foreigners must complete an entry into a large record book as mandated by the Federal Indian government.
This bracket of accommodation tends to be quite popular with Indians and so I imagine the extra paperwork of admitting a foreigner might just be a hassle when they could just exclusively fill the place up with locals of whom are not required to complete as much paperwork.

The facilities will consist entirely of rooms and a reception. Don't expect to lounge around in these places.

Fields to complete include: Full name, your fathers name, city where your passport was issued, visa expiry date, next destination, previous destination... the list goes on.

1500-3500? INR. Mid range hotels. Every time I stayed at a place within this range, it seemed like I was getting scammed.
Front of house staff will speak a good enough level of English but not to a conversational level. They will also probably be wearing formal attire and the lobby with be quite nicely decorated. The strength  and or availability of WIFI will be inversely correlated with how well dressed the staff are.
The breakfasts here are usually served on a buffet basis and a usually very good although depending on the number of other guests, you will have to come in early as there is a chance everyone else finishes the food before you arrive (and they don't make more). At the low end of this range, you may encounter some absolute jokes of a breakfast given how much you're paying, If I'm paying $20-25+ a night, I'm going to want more than 4 pieces of toast, 2 boiled eggs and a glass of orange juice.

Your chances of stumbling into other backpackers are very low here and what other foreigners you will meet are probably those who had someone from a tourism office book the place for them.  Most of the clientele will be middle aged Indians followed by middle aged Americans who are probably responsible for the tipping practice which can be seen at almost every tourist restaurant I've visited. If you're staying in these kinds of places as a backpacker, then you might be having an identity crisis (or maybe you were convinced by a smooth salesman into buying a tour package of Rajasthan).

These places tend to hire an abnormal amount of staff, non of whom can speak English.

There may be an attempt at creating a common area however they tend to be half-assed attempts or simply due to the clientele, they go unused as people prefer to stay in their rooms.

Expect people to rip you off big time if you mention you're staying at one of these places.

"God this country can get expensive" says the guy staying in a 2 star hotel.

Two weeks ago I was sitting in an awkward tourist restaurant scanning the restaurant menu, completely bypassing the meat section. 'Fuck why is the rice so expensive' I thought to myself. By this time I was well into my travels in India.  This situation I had found myself in was not the first, nor would it be the last and unfortunately it would take me some time after visiting these sorts of tourist establishments to develop the skills necessary to navigate them on my own terms.

After choosing the the 'lentils and rice' option I sat there waiting, with borderline negative thoughts simmering in the back of my mind, such as:

'How 'shredded' (or rather 'skinnyfat') am I going to get in India?'

'Man I fucked up!'

'How can a bowl of boiled rice cost $3?'

'Why are there only 3 people (tourists) at this restaurant when there's capacity for about 50 people?'

'Do I even have to buy my food here?'

'This place doesn't even have wifi'

'Am I being stingy?'

'Am I being careless with money?'

'Am I a stupid idiot?'

'Would it be reasonable to pretend to visit the Taj Mahal so I don't have to spend money on an entry ticket (and then sneak off to buy street food)?'

So many thoughts. I knew I had the power to bring closure to some of those questions but the more I thought about it, the further away I found myself from taking action.

I ate my meal by myself, without the use of a phone to distract myself from the present moment.

You might be thinking, 'but Sean, you're an independent cheapskate backpacker, why aren't you ordering street food or eating at a grimey dhaba"?

My answer this question leads to an explanation on how I got 'robbed' by some smooth criminals. You see shortly after flying into New Delhi I ended up forking over $1500 NZD for something which probably cost around 1/3 of that. If you've ever been to New Delhi before, then perhaps it would come as no surprise that this huge chunk of money made it's way from my hands and into that of a tour agency. Technically speaking it was a consensual exchange of money for services, but when you take things into perspective, it's kind of like paying $30 for a handful of cinnamon sticks and cardamom seeds and then later on finding out you could have payed $5 (that's another story)

Is this worth $30 NZD (1500 INR) I dunno but I get the impression that perhaps it isn't. (I could be wrong)

At the time I was preparing myself for a luxurious 3 1/2 weeks of living like a baby but in reality all it amounted to what could essentially be described as having some dude log onto Booking.com and book 2 star hotels (and ticking the overpriced airport transfer option) on my behalf.

For the first few days I had a driver to take me around the 'Golden Triangle' of Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur.  These first days were perhaps my greatest shock to me as for the first time ever, I had jumped on board  the expensive and fast moving train of the mainstream tourism industry.  I am the sort of traveller who sacrifices luxury for economy and take things very slowly. I get that some people travel to countries like India with a time-frame of 1 or 2 weeks before returning home and because of this, try to squeeze as many activities into their day as possible. I on the other hand have plenty of time and have been known to spend hours playing pool in the hostel, hand washing my clothes by the side of river, and even visiting the public library for an entire day.

And so my journey in India began with me sitting in an overpriced tourist restaurant, re-evaluating my life choices.

 Expensive is not always better, especially in India

I don't wanna be that guy, but I paid at least $20 a night here and I was disappointed to get 4 bits of toast and 2 sickly boiled eggs for breakfast @ Taj Village

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