Interesting Discoveries: Bali

It seems not long ago that tourists could find an entire village where attractive girls were allowed to walk around topless without risking police arrest. Try it today, the military may interfere!

Then there is a change in the behavior of some people on the island, coming from outside the community. There was a time there that you could drop some money on the street and nobody would think of taking it. Instead, the finder would look for the owner.

People were afraid of stealing for religious reasons. So corruption was against tradition. But reports of street muggings and car thefts now appear frequently.

In spite of the deadly terrorist attacks in Kuta that killed many innocent people, including many foreign tourists, Bali is now drawing more visitors.

It may be because the festivities and the offerings to the gods are continuing throughout the year, like the creation of new artworks and dances.

Museums of foreign painters like Le Mayeur and Antonio Blankco, who married Balinese beauties, also have become main tourist attractions.

But to me personally the big surprise was that I could get The Jakarta Post much earlier in the morning than before, but in spite of the official price of Rp 5,000, I had to pay the street price of Rp 25,000 a copy.

I was told by the shop owner in Ubud that the Post is now printed in Bali by remote printing. “And you can get it earlier than Kompas daily,” he added with a smile.