Richard (27): he became a millionaire in Bali and tasted the world's most expensive coffee
Richard Blahut travelled to Bali for three weeks. He decided to spend the pre-Christmas period a little differently than the hectic search for Christmas presents. Asian culture has always attracted him and he wanted to experience a bit of it on this island. Plus, the currency made him a millionaire for a little while. In Bali you pay in Indonesian rupees and one million Indonesian rupees is less than 1,700 crowns...
How far in advance do you think it is necessary to prepare for a trip to Bali?
I would definitely recommend looking at airline tickets at least six months in advance. What you can leave out, however, is accommodation. I booked it before my trip, but I regret it today. It's far better to book accommodation for the first few days and deal with the rest on the spot. That way you have a perfect overview of what the place looks like and you don't often just go by distorted photos.
Social media is also full of beautiful photos from Bali, so what is the reality?
Of course the photos on social media are real and the places in them are real, but the truth is that you're waiting for a photo like this along with fifty other people trying to snap the perfect shot, and often you only have to take a certain cutout so you don't have all fifty tourists in the photo. They often leave behind a mess that doesn't belong in the jungle. I found this a bit disappointing in Bali. Some places even charged for photos.
It's quite common to pay for taking photos in museums, for example, but in the countryside I find it really strange...
Many places are accessible only after paying the entrance fee. At almost all waterfalls you have to pay 20,000 Indonesian rupiah (roughly 35 crowns), which is of course a negligible amount because you get to see a beautiful natural park. But there are also some places, like Handara Gate, where you have a historic gate with nothing interesting around it, and you only pay for an Instagram photo in the end. People looking for authentic Bali should avoid the Kuta area, where there are too many tourists and annoying locals who will sell you everything. Their own products, taxis, and even massages. However, for all the instagram enthusiasts, Bali is literally a must. (laughs)
You've probably met a lot of instagram photo hunters here, right? (laughs)
Yes, of course I also tried to capture interesting images, like everyone else. And there are plenty of people like that in Bali. After all, it was also the Instagram pictures that convinced me to come to Bali. On the other hand, I have to point out that it's hard to find someone to meet here. Beware, because Grindr has only worked for me to a very limited extent. (laughs)
So there is censorship at work here?
I don't know exactly. (Laughs) Anyway, in some places you can't get into apps like this at all, even on ticklish sites and Netflix. (Laughs) Be prepared for that. However, I have to say that I had one beautiful encounter, and that was when I almost drowned.
Tell me...
First of all, I'll start by saying that the locals didn't exactly double my appeal, but if I mention the tourists, that was a different league. I went swimming one day, but there were big waves and black flags flying on the beaches, so I wasn't deterred. But then I got into a situation where the waves were taking me further and further away from the shore and at that moment a French surfer appeared and dragged me onto the beach. I kind of regretted not having to give me mouth-to-mouth breathing. (laughs)
This dream didn't come true, but it made you a millionaire, which not many people can say...
It's true that every traveller who goes to Bali becomes a millionaire. (laughs) But besides that, I took away one more experience, I tasted the most expensive coffee in the world, which is called kopi luwak (civet coffee, ed.). It is special because a local civet beast called the spotted woolly adder first eats the fruit of the coffee tree and then expels the beans along with the excrement. These coffee beans are then finer and have a less bitter taste. Very little of this coffee is produced in a year, which is why the price is so high (up to a thousand dollars per kilo, ed.) and I definitely recommend trying it. However, I thought I would be much more interested in the local food.
Didn't I?
If you're vegetarian or vegan, the food selection here is huge. But I'm an omnivore, so I wasn't that satisfied with the selection. The food here is cheap, but that's mostly in the locals' restaurants where all the food is fried. In these establishments, however, it doesn't smell quite inviting and you can see oil everywhere. If you want to eat really well and "clean", you have to pay extra in restaurants for tourists, which often cost even more than in the Czech Republic. However, I have to recommend the coconuts, which you drink water from and then get a spoon and can scoop out. To my surprise, the coconut was slimy inside but the taste was still amazing.
What advice would you give to all travellers planning to go to Bali?
Never buy things at the market for more than half the original price and bargain constantly. I would also recommend hiring a driver for trips around the area and since there is no public transport, it's a good idea to use apps like GoJack and Grab which work on a similar principle to Uber. If you visit a bar, beware of happy hours that run throughout opening hours, which can often backfire. (laughs)
