It’s not actually hard to avoid upsetting the Balinese locals | Nathan Davies

The Balinese people have been incredibly tolerant since tourism in their beautiful part of the world really ramped up in the eighties and nineties, writes Nathan Davies.

Nothing fires up a travel snob more than telling them you’re going to Bali.

“Ohhh, lovely,” they’ll say, but you can tell they’re thinking “why on earth would you go to that bogan-infested hell hole when you could be in Portofino?”

Well I love the place. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve been, it’s probably eight or ten.

I first went as a wide-eyed 19-year-old. It was my first trip overseas and the casual chaos of the place after growing up in orderly Australia was intoxicating.

It was back in the days when even an average surfer like myself could still get waves at Bingin and Uluwatu (I’d never manage to nab one from the rabid pack in 2023), and after we’d gorged ourselves in the surf we were gorging on land with 50c nasi goreng, cold longnecks of Bintang and exotically scented clove ciggies.

Our explorations took us further afield – to Java, Lombok, Sumbawa – any island with relatively uncrowded waves, but I was always happy to get back to Bali. It felt homely.

And while I’ll admit we weren’t always angels on the Island of the Gods – a couple of nights at the infamous Sari Club spring to mind – we were always mindful that we were guests on a devoutly Hindu island in a devoutly Muslim country where behaving like a complete knob was probably not a great idea.

That mindset seems to have fallen by the wayside recently.

A naked German tourist faces possible prison time after disturbing a Balinese dance performance in Ubud. Picture: Twitter

Viral footage shows her on the back of a motorbike committing the indecent act. Picture: Instagram/niluhdjelantik

Behaving badly in Bali has become something of a national sport in recent years. That’s a little unfair, perhaps. It’s actually become an international sport.

From drunkenly drop kicking locals from scooters to a naked rampage in the deeply religious enclave of Aceh (both Aussies) to a Danish lady exposing her … um … danish while riding a motorcycle to, and this one might actually take the cake, a German lady recently crashing a religious ceremony at a temple in Ubud while completely naked.

And then there was the “influencer” arrested for posing naked on the roots of a sacred banyan tree and Russian bloke deported for dropping his dacks on the summit of Mt Agung, another place of great importance to the Balinese people.

It’s a great example of the saying “this is why we can’t have nice things”, and the Indonesian government and local authorities are now considering whether there needs to be a cap on visitor numbers and a shift away from a reliance on tourism to drive the economy.

There has even been talk of introducing a $150 tourist tax to raise funds for awareness campaigns to curb bad behaviour.

Of course none of this would be under consideration if people just behaved with a modicum of respect.

The Balinese people have been incredibly tolerant since tourism in their beautiful part of the world really ramped up in the eighties and nineties, but there are lines that – if crossed – will make even the most tolerant angry.

Thing is, though, it’s actually not that hard to stay of the right side of the locals while visiting the island that Indian statesman Jawaharlal Nehru dubbed “the morning of the world”.

We can start with keeping our clothes on.

That’s actually a fairly easy thing to do, and most people manage to achieve this on a daily basis in their home countries.

Secondly, go easy on the arak.

Yes, it’s cheap and easy to drink when you mix it up with some tropical juice, but in a culture where public intoxication is frowned upon – to say the least – it’s probably not a great idea to get drunker than ten men on Jalan Legian.

And lastly, and this is the really easy bit, just show a little respect. Realise that the trees, the mountains and the temples are often deeply sacred places with stories stretching back thousands of years.

Stop and watch a funeral or a religious ceremony – they’re not hard to find in Bali as religion is interwoven with daily life – and maybe get a little understanding of Balinese Hinduism.

Go and watch a gamelan performance or a wayang kulit puppet show.

And if you do decide to neck a bottle of arak, a bag of mushrooms and 22 Bintangs before stripping naked and visiting a local temple then remember you’re on your own and the embassy won’t be able to magically spring you from jail.

Selamat jalan!