I do not understand the attraction of Bali

or why people want to go on holiday there. It is particularly so at present when there are reports of yet another person being detained in the hell hole of a Bali prison because of drugs. 

In this case the person has admitted that drugs were posted to him...and apparently that he has accessed more during his stay. He is apparently an "addict". He is also a father of two - and newly wed to a second partner. 

I wonder though why he went to Bali. He must have been aware of the strict laws with respect to drugs. Is anyone not aware of "the Bali nine"? Some of them lost their lives and others are still languishing in prison. 

The Senior Cat's brother went to Bali nine times. Every time he went we worried. It was not because he was likely to do anything wrong but because other people might attempt to use him as an unwitting courier or harm him in some other way. He told us that the tourist areas were places to be avoided. He went to work with some potters in a village well away from all that. He did not speak their language but some of them spoke a little English and he gave them English lessons in return for learning more about their pottery skills. It was an exchange of skills and he enjoyed it - but we still worried. 

My nephews went but they went with a local they had been to school with and not to the tourist area. He took them to a remote area where the surf was good but a few days was long enough and they left Bali early. They have no desire to go back. We worried while they were there. My nephews don't smoke and they drink so rarely they might almost be considered teetotal. It wasn't their behaviour we were worried about, rather what other people might do to two young men. 

Add to that the weather - always hot and often humid - and the sort of "entertainment" on offer and I hope I never have to go. I have never been to a night club and have no desire to go to one. The clubs there are not in any way traditional Balinese entertainment.  They are there to make money for outsiders who have set up business there not for the local people.

I am sure the local Balinese people are just as my uncle described them. They would be kind, friendly, interested, willing to share their culture and learn about ours. The problem is that most people get no further than the tourist areas, areas which have been taken over by Indonesians from other places. I feel sorry for the many local Balinese whose island has been turned into a sort of tourist theme park.