Bali is in rebound, no doubt about it.
Since reopening for international tourism in March, the island has seen arrivals climb from 15,000 in April to an estimated 40,000 in May, with Australians leading the way.
The Indonesian government is hopeful that 1.4 million Australians will have visited by the end of the year, but that will still leave Bali a long way short of its pre-Covid 6.3 million internationals a year.
The trendy parts of Canggu, Seminyak and Kerobokan are crowded again, restaurants full and pretty young things are driving way too fast on motor scooters everywhere you look.
But in subtle ways, it’s a different Bali from the one we left in 2019. While the lack of international tourists (51 in 2021) has devastated the local economy, many Balinese retreated into the sanctity of their villages and picked up where they left off, growing their own food and living the simple life.
We were talking about this with some expat friends the other night and it was suggested that we try a little beachfront home stay on the east coast where they’d effectively turned back the clock 50 years. Sworn to secrecy about its name and exact location, we drove up there last weekend.
When I first came to Bali 48 years ago I stayed in a simple losmen, one cow paddock back from the beach, generator electricity a couple of hours a day, a crouch toilet and cold water mandi. Breakfast of tea and bananas was left at the little table on the concrete slab porch. This was right about where the Hard Rock Hotel is in Kuta today.
Our weekend hideaway up the coast took me right back there, and the journey was wonderful. Having stripped back staff to just immediate family and reduced rates, our hosts were busy and happy as they fussed about us, just like they did in Kuta all those years ago.
Okay, our alang alang roof bungalow had power 24/7 and a sit-down toilet, and even the mandi shower set up had some concessions to modernity, with a plastic bucket taking the place of the old concrete well. When grandpa and a couple of grandkids hauled in our hot water supply in another insulated bucket, we were in sheer bloody luxury!
And from our tiny terrace we looked across a cow paddock (with cows) to the Lombok Strait.
Breakfast of banana pancake and Bali coffee was served on a deck at the water’s edge. Beautifully simple and simply beautiful.
I don’t know whether the return to simple local-style accommodation is a trend or just an aberration, but I hope it’s the former.
Disclosure: I’m writing this from my poolside office in the villa we’ve stayed in for years, and it’s a little bit luxurious. But it’s nice to have the option of revisiting your roots.
