Lockdown In Bali – One Expat’s Experience

With all that is going on in the world at the moment, many people are asking what the situation is like in Bali. That’s BALI, not Indonesia. I understand that there are a lot of people that do not understand the difference.

I’m looking at YOU, International Media.

So I have decided to make the first blog post on here about the situation here in Bali. I travel all over Indonesia, when I can, but my primary base is in Bali. Subsequently, lock down was spent in Bali at the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic. As such, we have seen the island go from a thriving tourist hub, to a quiet island with deserted streets and “ghost towns”. Now, we are experiencing something slightly different. With the opening of domestic tourism there has been a slight shift, and now we are living in a strange grey world of surrealism. A world that is promising that things might start the slow and awkward move forward, but is still clinging onto the past 6 months, threatening to slide backward again.

It is that slide backward that has everyone worried. Wherever we go there is the talk about coronavirus, how it has affected us all, and if we will ever escape it’s clutches. As it is everywhere else in the world, I can only imagine, the talk on every corner always seems to come back to that very subject.

But in Bali the people have suffered. Stalls, markets, shops and businesses have shut their doors, pulled down the shutters and the owners have seemingly disappeared. Most have gone home to their villages, because that is where they can survive. Bali has withdrawn into it’s very own, unique culture, and have embraced their own like a loving mother wrapping her arms around her suffering children. Back in their villages they are able to get food and shelter, provided by the local Banjar who distribute it to it’s constituents accordingly. In return all of those shopkeepers, cooks, sales assistants and tourism operators return to their roots, working the land and providing for the village that feeds them. This is Bali.

With all of that said, it does not mean that people are not suffering. They may be getting the food and shelter they need, but tourism is still the life blood of this island, and Bali needs it to survive long term. There are still many that are working, eking out every little cent that they can to keep their business afloat. They will not let go, because for many it has taken their whole life to get to where they are. They will not just give up.

Nor will they complain. The people that live on this island are resilient. They protect each other and stand firm in their beliefs. You will never hear them complain out loud, and they will not pass the blame. Don’t get me wrong, they shake their heads and mourn the corona virus Pandemic just like everyone else, but not for one instant will they just give up and cite that corona virus send them under. No. They will keep fighting.

That is why, as expat’s living in Bali, we will do all that we can to assist our hosts and neighbors. Most of us are suffering too, but we know that we have it better than the locals do. We will eat out at their warungs as often as we can, and when we move around the island we stay in home stays rather than hotels. It is THOSE people that need our business, after all. We will tip, even when we don’t need to, and make it generous when we can. These people need as much help as we can give.

Bali is different right now. If we can feel it, then the locals certainly can. No one knows if or when it will begin to recover. One thing is certain and that is that it will not happen until tourists are allowed to return. For now, no one knows when that will happen, and that is probably the hardest part.

This is NOT like the Bali bombing. Sure, people here are comparing this pandemic and it’s effect on Bali to that event. The thing with the bombing, though, was that tourists were always going to come back. Once it was over it was just a matter of people feeling safe enough to return. Planes were still flying and tourists were still coming and going. This is different. The whole world is shut down and no one knows when it will open up again. Even the government cannot give us any idea.

And so we try to move on.

In Bali during lock down the streets were empty. During the height of the Lock down I found myself in the streets of Kuta where you could have fired a cannon down poppy’s lane without harming anyone. Recently I returned there and it was still the same. You can ride from Seminyak to Kuta Square in under 10 minutes. Jalan Legian hardly has any traffic. Once, I rode down Padma and wanted to turn into Garlic Lane and nearly missed my turn. All my landmarks had disappeared. The landscape is completely different.

What is scary is that no one knows if it will ever recover. If it does, and I want to say “when” it does, things will forever look different. Many of those shops and warungs may never open again. Even when tourists all return to the island, we fear that many of the businesses will never open their doors again. The longer this goes on, the more that is likely to happen.

As an expat living here, it is a surreal life. I have always known Bali to be a bustling and thriving hub. Now, it is a poor shadow of itself. Besides the southern tourist district being devoid of life, the rest of Bali is the same. I didn’t really realize the full extent of that until I took a trip up to East Bali and visited Lempuyan Temple (Heaven’s Gate). This is a place that tourists would normally be lined up for over an hour just to get photos.

It was empty.

We were the only one’s there. The whole place was a ghost town, and the staff looked at us with blank faces as we entered. After chatting to us for a little bit they took our photos and we stayed, enjoying the temple and an opportunity you just don’t normally get. Before we left we got more photos, simply because we could.

When I climbed Mt Batur, the mountain was nearly deserted. On the summit there were literally about two dozen people up there, and half of them were guides and warung owners. Normally there are about 300 climbers every morning!

The same situation is still occurring everywhere we go. Tanah Lot was a ghost town. There were two vehicles in the car park. There simply are no tourists in Bali, and that is hard to explain but it’s just as hard for us to comprehend, even when we are here witnessing it.

As a result of this, things are happening that have not happened for a long time. Locals are enjoying Bali again in places that they have not been able to for years. Along the beach front at Nusa Dua people are riding their bikes and walking their dogs. They are even swimming in front of the big resorts, places that they have not been allowed to go near for years. Places normally reserved for high paying tourists.

For us that live here, we are doing the same. We are taking advantage of being able to move around Bali without the restrictions of traffic and crowds. Why wouldn’t we? It is wonderful to be able to go to a waterfall like Leke Leke and have it to ourselves and be able to soak up the peace and quiet that only a place like that can provide.

Then there are the other strange occurrences. Things that you don’t even really think about until they happen. Like when someone asks for a photo with you, just because you are a Bule (foreigner). This especially happens away from the tourist hubs, and actually happened to me when I took a trip to Java and Tumpak Sewu. An occurrence that used to happen to visitors 30 years ago is now coming back, simply because once again a western face is rare.

Indeed, when I was staying in Kuta for a couple of weeks I was the only foreigner there. Personally I was not even aware until I noticed I was getting some strange looks on my scooter. It was then that I realized that I had not seen any faces other than Indonesian for over a week. How long has it been since THAT happened in Kuta? Only yesterday I was in a bar with several other expat’s. It was actually strange.

Even on the beach. Kuta beach for that matter. Every sunset it is packed with people, as it always has been. But not by tourists, as is usually the case. No, the locals have started to come back to enjoy the sunsets. Every afternoon the beach is alive with people, music and Beach sellers. But there is hardly a western face amongst them.

So yes, Corona virus has touched and affected many in Indonesia. But Bali is doing well. We don’t exactly know why, but other than the economy it has had a lot less effect on the island than many would have thought. Some believe that the virus ripped through here back in Dec/Jan and therefore most people have already had it. They could be right.

One thing that is true is that the people of Bali have done the right thing. When told to stay at home they did. No one questioned it. No one complained. They just did it. When told to wear masks they did, without one complaint about their “rights”. Even when they began to suffer and things got hard, they still did what they were told, and so far they have survived.

Now, other countries that cannot keep their population under control are pointing the finger at Bali, and Indonesia in general. We don’t know why, and suspect it is simply to try and deflect attention from their own failings. International Media has always done that. Especially in Australia. Only a few days ago a major news outlet in Jakarta flagged an ill informed article in Australian media that was doing just that.

They notice.

And so do we. The expats that are living here, and those that are just stuck. We are in the same basket as the locals who are also here, and we are the ones who are left to apologise for our “experts” back home. You know the ones – they are the ones that say we are all doomed.

Bali and Indonesia have embraced us. They have made it easy for us to stay here and ride it out with them, and in return we are doing all that we can to return that favor.

After all, it’s the least that we can do.

J

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