nomad4ever

It’s this time in Bali again, the beginning of the New Year 1934 following the Hindu calendar.

This is celebrated with a parade of paper mache Ogoh-Ogoh monsters followed by a day of silence.

During Nyepi Day, noise and light pollution have to be avoided, to not make the monsters, demons and ghosts flying over the island to be alerted, so they can continue their journey towards other islands and not bring their evil to Bali’s inhabitants.

written by Chris

24 years ago, when Kuta in Bali was a small fishing village with bamboo huts and mud tracks, only known to late Hippies and a handful of adventurous low budget tourists, something interesting happened.

Amidst the serenity of its 8km long stretch of sand and (back then) clean waters a night club opened opened in Legian/Seminyak.

It was located directly at the beach, an open concept and opened until the wee hours of the next day. From 6pm to 6am. Thus Club 66 was born.

written by Chris

In spite of the recent Immigration Experience at Denpasar Airport by 2 female travelers from the Philippines, I was wondering, what your opinion might be about Racial Profiling at airports.

Currently a story is making waves on Blogs and Facebook, how 2 Filipina were allegedly obtained, held and questioned for 1.5 hours upon immigration without initial suspicion, or justification – obviously simply because they were traveling to Bali being Citizens of the Republic of the Philippines.

The debate, if their treatment was justified, is heated and sparked plenty of controversy so far. Here is what happened:

written by Chris

In a recent development that may seem like a two-sided sword, 2 of the most famous and notorious American Fast Food Giants make inroads by coming to Bali.

While that would certainly mean more options for fast food and pizza lovers, some might argue also that the original character of Bali might get spoiled even more.

The island is pretty much splattered with foreign franchises already, especially in the over-developed South, where Burger Joints and American(-ized) Fast Food Franchises like McDonalds, A&W, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts or KFC are operating outlets in abundance:

written by Chris

The Philippines and Indonesia are 2 of the favorite travel destinations in South East Asia for the readers of this website. Quite a few islands in the Philippines, as Bali in Indonesia are very valid options for Expats and early retirees to stay long-term and enjoying the good life in those equator paradises.

The times of expensive flights to reach them are luckily over with the introduction of budget carriers a few years back. Still, it was so far a hassle, if you wanted to commute from Indonesia’s prime holiday destination Bali to one of the other island paradises in  the Philippines. Will that finally change very soon?

written by Chris

If you are a bit longer in Bali, you might notice that the whole tourism industry is based on double standards. Tourists pay more than local residents or Indonesians; as tourists seem to be loose with their money. After all it’s their holiday and they are just out to spend and to have fun.

Shops have a ‘foreigner tax’ or steep discount for locals, while some restaurants have unofficially higher pricing for tourists than for locals. Yes, you are one of those, Warung Sulawesi! There is one area though, where this system is turned upside down. Enter the nightlife and entertainment venues in Kuta, Legian and beyond:

written by Chris

If you are into Electronic Gadgets, you might think that a holiday destination like Bali is not the right place to buy or bargain for the latest toys. Tech hubs like Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok dominate this area in Asia.

In general, you are better off purchasing your new Laptop or Android Smartphone in one of those places. But thankfully, things are changing fast and the population of Bali (and its Expat Community) are getting more and more tech affine. This provides new opportunities to sell IT and gadget gear here also and suppliers make increasingly use of it.

written by Chris

I was asked many times over, to update the Cost of Living spreadsheet on this page. Time is definitely ripe for an update, as prices in Bali soared over the last 3 years.

The economic crisis, a weakening Euro and an Indonesian Inflation (unofficially in the double digits) did all their part as well to change Bali from a backpacker’s paradise into a full-blown ‘Tourist Dollar Money Making Machine’.

Tourist numbers rose already to pre-crisis levels in Bali and are still climbing steadily. While most prices also went clearly up, there are still a handful of exceptions.

written by Chris