In Reply to: Bali vs Phuket: From Kuta to Kata...... posted by CISWI on Friday, 7. December 2007 at 00:24 Bali Time:
As long time travellers to, and exporting from Bali (obviously with a vested interest) we get to see a side of the place that many others dont.
It is so hard to compare holiday destinations as a lot depends on your frame of mind and stress levels etc at the time.Often,experiences in the first few hours at a new place can determine your attitudes to a holiday destination.
Sure, there are bad things about Bali, and infuriatingly, most of the bad things are still happening 20 years on, with little effort to remedy them by officialdom.
In the last year or so we have had the chance to travel to Vietnam,Sri Lanka,Mauritius and the Maldives, and this post above leads us to give a quick comment on those places as compared to our beloved Bali.
Mauritius..went in the wet season but found the beautiful scenery and white beaches on the travel brochures was trucked in by the big hotels.Not a lot to do (for us)and the only real tourist artefacts were made in Bali and overprinted "made in Mauritius".Travelling thru the capital city,Port Louis was a nightmare with the worst traffic we have seen anywhere at all times.
For us who surf there is not a lot to rave about.
Read the small print from travel wholesalers!
Vietnam...having a lot of emotional baggage as we grew up in the Vietnam era, it was an interesting experience...too many memories and guilts about the whole war thing made it a trip that in reflection should be revisited some time.Nothing like Bali and cannot be compared, altho the east coast is being developed for tourism in a big way.Surf is generally small but has endless possibilities.
The Maldives are certainly a diving haven altho where we went was full of ignorant young German instructors.The only country that seems to not take its own currency!Bali produced items were everywhere, posing as local artefacts.Expensive.
Surf is spread out and you need time to work thru where to go.
Sri Lanka was not like we thought it would be.Colombo is horrid...very busy and takes hours to get out of.Worth going if only to see the elephants in their semi natural state, altho we werent happy with the way they are treated in the parks...very touristy and seemingly cruel, until they are allowed to roam free in the rivers each day.Then it was a great experience.
A place called Hikkaduwa, south of Colombo is very similar to the way Bali was 25 years ago...very primitive and laid back, with strips of hotels along the coast,under palm trees and just off the main road.
Very expensive compared to Bali, and everyone has a Tsunami story to get money out of you.Has enormous potential if you surf altho it is very seasonal.Many places are unwise to travel to as there is a lot of internal strife.
Overall,we found that nowhere is there an arts and crafts industry like Bali,in fact most places buy from Bali and pretend they made it.
An interesting observation we have about Bali is that whatever you desire, or want,in Bali, all you have to do is walk outside your hotel, hold your money in the air and someone with a huge smile on their face will come up and find it for you.For all the so called 'professional' tourism industries in more developed countries, none are as hands on in providing for the tourist as the Balinese are.
So, while this is a Bali forum,it is always interesting to compare places, and in our humble opinion, Bali rates as high as any.