A touching paradise, I became a victim of its success

Bali, the famous tropical paradise in Indonesia, has enchanted many tourists over the years.

But it also leaves an increasing number of disappointment – and recently, among them Zoe Ray.

“Since landing in Bali, nothing has felt for us completely,” she said in a video on YouTube in July.

“We came to Bali with great expectations because we saw on social media everyone who has a beautiful time.”

She added: “If you take a picture of the cafe and enlarge it, you will see what reality is.”

Mrs. Ray did not describe the reality she saw – and she did not answer BBC questions. But it was annoying enough to make her book an improvised trip to Dubai to continue to celebrate her marriage there instead.

One does not need to search for evidence.

Social media publications on “expectations for reality” in Bali.

Deners enjoy the sunset at the beach side restaurant – piles of garbage along the dilapidated stairs to get there.

The bikini, which falls in front of a waterfall, is put forward, while a line of tourists is waiting for their role on the slippery rocks.

Outdoor juices with bamboo straw, along with motorbikes that make soot stuck on the spraled roads.

Millions flow to Bali every year in search of a Changri, not the promised spirituality in the memoirs of Noughts, Film Eat, Pray, Love.

I instead received the crowds, traffic and kakovon in construction, which rose alongside a post -guardian mutation in tourism.

The increasing pressure on the island produced a lot of IUD and grumbling, but the events of this month took a bleak turn.

More than ten people died In rare floods on the island. Officials said that poor waste and urban development had worsened.

The local government has since announced that it will restrict the new construction. But many see such interventions very few, very late.

How did Bali, which she celebrated for decades in the name of “the last paradise”, reached this point?

Western adventurers have appeared in Bali since the early twentieth century, when he was seen as a strange background, home to Hindu temples and rice fields.

Spirituality and reverence for nature works deeply: monkeys, cows and birds carry holy import, and it is believed that the old old trees put spirits, and it is believed that the mountain of the volcano of popular trips is protected by gods.

“Bali” was one of the first places that there was all this talk about Utopia, beauty and wonderful culture, “says Gisella Williams, a travel writer based in Berlin, who has been visiting the island since the 1990s.

“It is a worn -off Hindu culture that created this myth for the place.”

Over the past decade, tourism to the island has risen from 3.8 million visitors in 2014 to 6.3 million last year.

This year seems to be a standard breach: the island appears on the right track to welcome more than seven million foreign tourists.

Instead of unique or ideal traditions, Bali today is famous for the beach clubs and waves.

Alcohol is easily available and huge clothes are more acceptable compared to the rest of Indonesia. Most visitors also want to indulge in luxurious Bali hotels, villas and resorts.

“You have a lot of Westerners who really benefit from the ability to withstand luxurious lifestyle,” says Williams. “Since social media has been seized, it is a very shallow way to understand somewhere … you only see a picture, then go.”

The disappointment of Amal Zoe Ray reveals with the reality she faced in Bali, the ideal image that many informal travelers keep.

In response to the Post, Mr. Ray, Holly Marie, the creator of the British content that lives in Bali, warned in a video clip that “searching for Bali on Instagram only will give you a distorted fact for the island itself.”

“Bali’s problem is that people come here and stay only in certain areas because they want to see nice cafes, and visit Instagrammable places. They miss the fact that Bali is a very culturally rich island,” says Mrs. Mary to the BBC.

Those who live there, or explore beyond the clear betting, will tell them about my natural beauty alive and in good health, from viewing and diving explorations, to the lush landscape in the quieter north.

Kanye Claudia, who moved to Bali from the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, says the island is “much more” than “parties” that tourists tend to visit.

“If you think my mind is crowded, you are not only in the right places.”

However, local residents say their island has definitely changed under the demands of tourism.

And when they hear complaints that these are not the travelers of Paradise, they participated in them, some of them point out that such comments are falling in paradox.

“When the tourists said they are disappointed that Bali will be more crowded, they are also part of the crowd,” says Vakananda, a worker who is defending the protection of the island’s nature and its people.

“It seems as if we were in traffic, we are like” Why is there a lot of traffic? “But we are in a car.

Ni Kadik Centia, 22, remembers a time when she used to ride steam biking across Canggu in the past, where she would take the lunch break.

Five years later, Canggu has some of the worst traffic on the island. Mrs. Centia’s journey to her job is lined up in a spa with villas and cafes, followed by the honor of patience along the way.

“I will not disturb the stop, not to mention the rest there,” she said. “Now every time I ride that spot that used to sit (in), there is a feeling of sadness. I feel that my mind is eroding day after day.”

With the height of tourism, hotels, cafes and bars were coming from the crowded south of the island.

The latest Moheb’s destination is Canggu, a sleeping hunting village once that has become a magnet for a browser from all over the world.

Canggu follows in the footsteps of other neighborhoods, from uluwatu to seminyak, the calm background areas that turned while tourists are looking for new “hidden gemstones”.

This migration has witnessed modern cafes, gyms and common work spaces floating along narrow rural roads.

Berenn, to the north, is now welcomed as the most comfortable Canggu.

To the north, in the Obod forests, the resorts market themselves as a resort to escape from the hustle and bustle of the south.

“There is real hunting 22,” says Marie. “On the one hand, it is always good to encourage people to visit different areas … but I think there is a danger to it as well, because this will encourage people to build everywhere and anywhere.”

In addition, she adds, “People treat me like the field.”

Busty a month passes without the bad behavior of tourists. Sugar motorcycle ride or without helmets; Foreigners have been deported to get Naked in the holy sites; Others faced a drunk quarrel.

In addition to recent tensions, thousands of Russians and Ukrainians who were settling in my mind after fleeing the war.

Head of the National Drugs Agency in Indonesia Recently, he warned of an increasing problem With the Russians and the Ukrainians participating in criminal activities in Bali.

Local dissatisfaction rises, as it puts vigilance on social media tourists who misunderstand the explosion – even while maintaining the world -famous hospitality.

“Many tourists believe because they have money to spend on our island, we must be well with everything they do,” says Ms. Centia, who relies on the stability of a tourism profession.

“I can feel besieged, because we live in tourism. So if we stop tourism, what will we survive?” She says.

Despite the “uncontrolled growth” of tourism, Mr. Vakananda, the researcher, believes that “the development of my mind and the harmony of nature is still possible to preserve.”

“I am still optimistic. Especially with the participation of young people.”

In fact, companies and activists have launched efforts on the basis to encourage sustainable development, from the education of waste management to beach cleaning operations.

The authorities, who have been criticized for not organizing tourism enough, are trying to clean the island.

Earlier this year, Bali banned that one -use plastic and behavior instructions for visitors “to ensure that Bali’s tourism remains respectable and sustainable, and in harmony with our local values.”

The police were deployed in the popular areas to ensure that visitors follow the rules.

“The Indonesian government has understood that Bali is also natural origins, it is not just a tourist market that must be exploited,” Maria Scholinberger told the Financial Times editor to spend it in the BBC magazine.

“Bali is a crucible in many ways of turmoil,” she says.

“But regardless of where you go in the world, I think it is important for people to remember that you must, the traveler, to engage in responsibility with the destination.”