In Reply to: Help - Disillussioned and Desperate! posted by minty on Saturday, 13. May 2006 at 21:47 Bali Time:
Minty, I first went there in 1984 for almost a year. Went back for a few months a year for the next 10 years. Went back occasionally after that, but found everything changing too much for it to be enjoyable for me. There was just too much development, too much traffic, too many tourists and too many people hassling me to buy something. The magic had definitely gone.
We used to stay in Legian, next to what were then the rice fields, and walk down a shaded dirt track to the beach and shelter in the Sunset restaurant and watch the semi-naked euros cavort in front of Blue Ocean. Most nights the sounds of the Gamelin practicing at the Legian Kaja bangar would drift in and there was a seeming endless succession of ceremonies at the local temple. Rush hours were at 8am and 5pm when you could barely cross jalan Legian due to the endless stream of villagers on bicycles (not cars nor motorbikes).
In desperation we tried other places in Bali. There were lots that were wonderful, but unfortuneately they didn't have surf (a definite requirement).
Recently I've tried other islands in the Indonesian archipelago and have found that I prefer them to Bali, and, there's hundreds of them to explore and enjoy.
My wife still enjoys Bali, so we spend a week or 2 there, but then its off to other places where the magic has not yet been destroyed.
Your disillusionment may be due to reasons other than mine, but whatever they are, why not try somewhere else in Bali or Indonesia?