In Reply to: anyone had bad experience with hawkers? posted by mcflurry on Wednesday, 9. February 2005 at 20:53 Bali Time:
Just adopt the friendly practice of saying no thank you (tidak!, terimah kasih) or sorry, no money (sing lapis). Be firm but sympathetically friendly. Keep walking as though you are on a mission. Don't look at the goods they are offering unless you are fair dinkum interested. Keep the sunnies on so they cannot see your gazing eyes. Keep your money in a bum bag draped close to your lower abdomen. Don't ever put money or any valuables in your pockets. Some hawkers get too close and when they do it is time for you to move on. Most hawkers now stay within the confines of small shops set up as a stand. Walk as though you are looking for something that is way up the road. Don't make promises like "maybe tomorrow" or "maybe later." They will hold you to it in most cases. Don't get into a slanging match with the hawkers. It is only a few hawkers who can give you the "hard hits", as most , believe it or not, are freindly and enjoy a good laugh or a joke. So should you because you are on holidays and you should be happy. I have been going to Bali for twenty years and have used this method with great effect. It is sad to hear stories of those who won't go back to Bali because of the hawkers. Final word: Don't be intimidated by them. Talk to them and a lot of times they can help you or direct you to where you want to go or give you information. You might want to know where a hotel, restaurant, shoemaker, a good driver, watch seller or pearl seller etc can be located. They usually know and have enough English to maintain a little dialect. Sometimes I offer them a cigarette (and I don't smoke but keep a packet in the pocket)which seems to erase any tension that may be starting to build up and they leave me to enjoy the rest of my holiday, even when they spot me later on. My wife who was very intimadated by them when she first went, is now a seasoned campaigner who can do a solo shopping trip by foot and deal with the best of them, while I am laying back at the pub sucking on a Binnie and reading a good book on how to avoid paying tax in Australia.