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Showing posts from October, 2017

The Middle Aged Spectator goes to Bali

Again. The first visit by the MAS and his wife was last year, and we went back this time for a birthday party, and a short holiday. We like Bali. We like the crowded streets and the shopping. We like the range of food and the cheap beer. We like the weather and feeling so relaxed away from the hubbub of ‘normal’ life. But most of all, the Balinese people are welcoming, friendly, easy to get along with, and it seems, happy. Of course, with the amount of money that visitors are pouring into their economy it’s not surprising, and that leads me to worry about the colonialist or imperialist nature of being an Australian holidaying in a south-east Asian nation such as Indonesia. I have seen visitors exploiting the local situation, but I figure those people who treat locals rudely or in a mean-spirited way probably do the same thing at home. So I justify myself by being pleasant; being grateful; by doing my best to ask questions and engage in some conversation; by showing an interest in