BALI UPDATE #284 - 25 February 2002

We Get Mail - Proposed $50 Visa Fee

Update Readers Unanimous in Giving a 'Thumbs Down' To Proposed Changes in the Visa-Free Policy.

Last week's article "Visa Facility Under Threat Again" stimulated substantial mail from readers around the world - without exeption opposed to any change that would see a $50 visa fee charged on arrival.

Here's some excerpts from our mailbag:

THE POOR WILL SUFFER MOST

Neil Trudgen of Morely, West Australia neiltrudgen@bigpond.com wrote: "I would not like to see a US $50 Visa fee for Australian citizens ... . I am a pensioner and together with my wife have visited your country four times because we can afford the holiday. If the fee is imposed then we would be forced to stay at home.

On our holidays we usually stay in home stays and move around the island and what we spend is usually appreciated by some of the less affluent people. The visa fees will most likely give your government more money for governing but will rob a lot of the poorer people as we will not be there to spend our money."

IS THIS AN ISOLATIONIST POLICY?

Tony, a reader from Australia holiday@q-net.net.au writes: "This is incredible.

I've being coming to Bali 3-4 times per year I have made many Balinese friends and this will impact on my and my family's ability to maintain these ties.... is this what Indonesia wants? Or does it want its people to understand (and) be understood and therefore respected by people of other nations? Unbelievable."

CHANGE WILL IMPACT FAMILY TRAVEL

Grant Blackman, a travel agent from Australia vegastun@iinet.net.au had some kind words for Bali Update and some harsh criticism for any proposed visa fee: "…Congratulations to Bali Update for your Frank and Informative Newsletters. I look forward to receiving them each week. I often learn more about what is happening in Bali and Indonesia than what I do from Airlines and Trade Magazines.

I am a Travel Agent from Australia who has always been a strong supporter of Bali, having been to Bali on many occasions myself. I am very disappointed to hear that the Visa Free Facility is again under threat. A charge of US$50.00 per person is very harsh as this could mean an additional cost of AU$400.00 approx. for the average family traveling to Indonesia. Selling travel in these uncertain times is difficult enough without the additional costs for Visa's to Indonesia.

Many people will look at traveling to an alternative ASEAN destination that does not require Visa's. From my personal experience I understand that Bali is still a very affordable Travel Destination, but unfortunately many travelers do not look past the initial cost of accommodation, flights, Taxes and Visa's. By removing the Visa Free Facility this is increasing the initial cost of travel to Indonesia, where as places like Thailand and Malaysia still continue to have Visa Free Facilities.

Whilst overall Bali remains a cost affective Travel Destination for Families an additional burden of about AU$400.00 may wipe Bali out of the Market, although Bali is still one of the cheapest places to eat and for entertainment, AU$400.00 will go a long way in Thailand or Malaysia. These I feel will force many travelers (not just Australians) to look elsewhere for an affordable Family Holiday.

My main concern is for the wonderfully friendly people of Bali. I would hate to see them suffer from another downturn in Travel. I understand that Indonesia needs money, but the Departure Tax has already increased by 100% in the last year, not that I think this was a bad move. Surely by bringing in a fee for Visa's this will be detrimental to what the Government is trying to achieve, because if less people travel to Indonesia the less income it will generate to everyone."

DRIVING VISITORS AWAY

Dale Morris, dmorris@smartchat.net.au, from Perth, Australia thinks the new policy is anti-visitors: "Our family are planning a trip to South East Asia in Oct-Nov 2002 we have a number of countries to choose from if Indonesia puts in a Visa 'TAX' we still have a choice of Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore. $50 US is something that will drive us away for sure."

SELF-DEFEATING

A Bali Update reader SAS dijonfs@indosat.net.id said: "A really classic case of cutting off the hand that feeds you. Don't these people READ the statistics on income from tourism????"

COMMENTS FROM A BALI HOTELIER

Jean Luc Bonneau gm@villasekarnusa.com of Bali's Sekar Nusa Resort stated: "It is not a good marketing strategy. All Hoteliers in Bali are doing so hard to get back on track. It is purely a killing process of Bali tourism industry. Do we really need this?

All our neighbors will be happy to take the overall business from Bali.

I think all of us are really concerned by the future of Bali ... . One thing is very sure. No tourist will want to pay this fee. When you have already tried so much to find the best room rates as low as $ 30, I don't think, anyone will be so stupid to pay $ 50 per person for fees at the airport."

WILL BALI BECOME AN IMPOSSIBLE DESTINATION?

And finally, a contribution from an Australian tourism consultant, Andrew Sivijs andrew.sivijs@arts.qld.gov.au, who said: "The possibility of increased visa restrictions for Indonesia (let's face it, that's what they really are) do not bode well for Bali. As a destination struggling with visitor movements since the September 11 tragedy and even prior to it, Bali can ill afford any shortsighted adjustment to its visa program. It appears an exercise in revenue raising is on the cards but with all revenue generation; there is an expense somewhere along the line. On the ground, airport administrators will be burdened with the responsibility of collecting any visa charge. This no doubt will be a costly exercise.

Program organizers and developers, particularly in the MICE industry, will be forced to include any cost in their own programs. This has top be passed on to the market, which in turn makes Bali a less competitive option for business and industry customers. The domino affect continues through the industry...

The Australian family market will, no doubt, react to any further cost as can be expected - by staying at home or going somewhere else such as Thailand, Fiji, Malaysia etc.... A family of four can quickly accumulate mounting taxes and charges when considering international travel. As a parent, believe me, these start to snowball and some destinations simply become impossible.

Interestingly, your article does not indicate any particular reason(s) for this review of the current visa policy. What was the trigger for this and is it simply an attempt to yet again, slug the tourism industry and the visitor with more charges? This cash cow known as tourism in some countries is getting very wobbly at the knees...."

More information: Add Your Comments to the Debate

Our 'Blessed' Cars & Vans

Saint Christopher Take Note: Saturday, 23 February, was 'Tumpek Landap' Day.

The Balinese Calendar dictates the flow an ebb of daily life on this island. There are good days for planting a field, laying the foundations of a house, getting married, and even starting a family. Or, shall we say, good nights?

In the Balinese calendar, which runs for approximately six months, there are five Tumpek days - Landep, Uduh, Uye (Kandang), Kuningan, and Wayang.

Each of these days is set aside for paying homage in the form of ritual offerings to the respective component part of the physical cosmos. Landep is a day for all things made of metal, especially cars and motorcycles; Uduh for living plants, particularly the life-giving harvest; Uye or Kandang for all members of the animal kingdom, including the family's livestock; Wayang a day for blessing puppets; and Kuningan an all-encompassing ritualistic "catch all" day, dedicated to the entire world, including those items inadvertently missed on the the other Tumpek days.

Anyone driving about the island on Saturday, February 23^rd couldn't have helped but notice that most cars, motorcycles, busses and trucks were sporting beautifully intricate palm weavings hung on their front grilles and from their side view mirrors. Such ritualistic decorations proof positive that the vehicle had just been the object of prayers, food and incense offerings, and holy water sprinklings intended to ensure it and its occupants a harmonious journey through the cosmos until the next tumpek landep day, 6 month's hence.

In accordance with local tradition and our beliefs, all the vehicles of Bali Discovery Tours were duly blessed on that appointed day.

More information: Join a Tour with a Pre-Blessed Vehicle

Entry #8 - Bali Dream Holiday Contest

Our latest Bali Dream Entry from Australia.

There's still time!

You have until the end of April to send your version of what you think a perfect dream holiday in Bali would be like and you might just win 2 tickets on Singapore Airlines, 7 nights at the Fours Seasons Private Estates Bali at Jimbaran Bay, tours and transfers from Bali Discovery Tours, rafting and cycling excursions from Sobek, luxurious spa treatments from Mandara Spa, a helicopter tour from Air Bali, and Cooking Lessons from Bumbu Bali/Rumah Bali.

Entry's are welcome in any format, both from veteran travelers to Bali or those who only harbor a wish to visit.

Mrs. Susan Scarcella of Victoria, Australia, rocco@webpastor.com , is this week's featured entry in the Bali Dream Holiday Contest.

A Bali Dream Holiday

In 1997, I returned to Bali without one child. In 1996, my younger daughter, Tina, was with me, but she would not come this time. Let me backtrack. Years before, we became good friends with a Balinese couple studying in Australia. They had always asked us to visit them if we came to Bali.

A little girl, Ficky, was left with us as we prepared to travel westward from Singaraja, back to Kuta. Her parents were splitting up. Her father had rejected her, and her grandmother had been caring for her, but could look after her no longer.

Without a common language, Ficky and my daughter bonded. We took a beautiful photo of them on the sea wall at Pulaki. Then we went to the orphanage at Blimbingsari.

I have never forgotten Ficky's words to me as we were leaving, "Is Tina staying too?" I had said "no, she was coming with us." Pure devastation.

All I could do was promise to come back in a year.

So almost a year to the day, we headed towards Blimbingsari again.

Ficky had been sick all day, but, when she heard we had arrived, she run down the laneway into my arms. I have never cried so much.

Ficky is gone into memory now. Her mum claimed her back. That was a good thing. But I have never forgotten my few hours with her, the hugs, the whispered words of affection, and my elder daughter reading to her in English. Ficky hadn't understood a word, but she understood the love.

Ficky will always be my third daughter. Through her I have gained many other children in the orphanages.

She is there in their faces, the photos, the letters. She made my holiday a dream holiday, a dream that will never fade.

More information: How to Enter the Bali Dream Contest

Redefining 'Guest Comfort'

Arguably, Bali's Most Luxuriant Spa Opens at Four Seasons Sayan.

Not content with being ranked among the world's best spas by Conde Nast Traveler (2000 & 2001) and Travel & Leisure (1999, 2000 & 2001), the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan is determined to continue to dominate the top echelons of the world's best spas with the opening of three lavish Spa Villas at the Resort's world-famous hillside retreat near Ubud, Bali. Nestled among rice terraces and herb gardens on the banks of Bali's sacred Ayung River, the three new spacious spa pavilions enhance an existing range of spa offerings by providing unique herbal and ancient Ayurvedic traditions.

In keeping with the natural elegance and the Balinese architectural values of the resort, each of the spa pavilions will combine the textures and native warmth resulting from the combination of local stone facings; teakwood cabinets and flooring; innovative hand-blown glass wash basins; glass windows discreetly shielded with Japanese rice paper blinds; furniture covered in natural hand loomed silk from Sulawesi; customized terrazzo massage tables and stand alone soak tubs; and layered alang-alang thatched roofs. Each of the three treatment rooms has been designed to accommodate tandem treatments for couples and are connected to outside bathing pavilions offering steam showers and large treatment tubs - discreetly positioned overlooking private garden courtyards with an open-air shower. The close proximity of the fast flowing Ayung River provides a meditative ambient and a soothing natural sound accompaniment to complement the treatments provided by the Resort's highly trained therapists.

Measuring an overall generous 93 square meters and designed to encourage prolonged full and half day visitors, the Cendana Pavilion - the largest of the three units, features dual Vichy shower fixtures suspended over two massage beds permitting invigorating "tropical rain ritual" treatments. Also within the pavilion, a large sunken bath, suitable for couples, is set in the middle of a private salon surrounded by luxuriant panels of local raw silk. Outside, a private swimming pool and lounge area set in the middle of a lotus pond overlooking a verdant rice terrace suggests happy hours of pampered idolatry punctuated by specially prepared respites of spa cuisine prepared by the Four Seasons highly regarded chefs.

The Spa Pavilions at the Four Seasons Resort at Sayan will be the first spa in Bali to offer the treatments based on the based on the healing traditions of Bali, Java and India using wholesome natural - herbs, spices, oils, aromatics, flowers and Ayurvedic formulations. More than 5,000 year old, the Ayurvedic "Science of Life" offers holistic approaches to preventive health care believed to enhance longevity and natural healing. Herbal oils dripped on the individual's Cakra Dahra (energy points), followed by simultaneous massages from two therapists are intended to detoxify of the human system.

Resort Manager, Royal Rowe, explains that the Resort's decision to add the Spa Pavilions to its existing state-of-the-art fitness center and highly regarded spa services reflects the high demand of the treatments already on offer and as being emblematic of the Four Season's commitment to continually redefine the ultimate in guest comfort and customer care.

Royal Rowe explained, "the quest to achieve an unequalled level of customer care and then, once achieved, to immediately raise the bar and redefine that standard, epitomizes the unending challenge the Four Season's management and staff have set for themselves. In that quest we'll continually seek new levels of service we can offer to our guests, whether that requires that we call on the latest technology or delve back 5 millennia to uncover ancient Ayurvedic healing traditions to do so."

More information: Book a Stay at the Four Seasons Sayan

A River Runs Through It

Puri Wulandari Resort Mobilizes Staff for Ayung River Clean Up.

Getting down was easy.

Members of the management and staff of the Ubud luxury boutique property Puri Wulandari recently climbed down the 100 meter embankment of the Ayung River, in front of the hotel, to undertake a clean up campaign of the river and its surroundings.

Armed with blades for clearing the underbrush, trash bags, and an arsenal of traditional "sapu lidi," traditional brooms, the team removed fallen trees and branches left by recent rains, cleaned the riverbank, and celebrated it call with a light picnic repast on the riverbank.

The event, held on February 2, 2002, was part of the Resort's regular monthly cleaning "blitz" done to preserve their natural surroundings.

"It is a wonderful exercise to grow the staff’s' sense of belonging, while making sure that they are aware and concerned with the surrounding environment," said owner Rudy Nooryaldie. "We should never forget that we are just a small part of this great surrounding of natural beauties and it is our responsibility to make sure that everything is well-kept and in-place," he added.

More information: Book a Stay at the Puri Wulandari

Charles Cham at the Ganesha

'Opposite Attraction' - Malaysian Artist Returns to Four Season's Ganesha Gallery.

Critically acclaimed Malaysian Artist, Charles Cham, returns to the Ganesha Gallery at the Four Seasons Resort at Jimbaran Bay through April 4, 2002.

In a show entitled "Opposite Attraction," the artists will launch his 15^th solo exhibition since 1995, revisiting his favorite theme of Ying and Yang - the duality of life and the attraction of opposites. The artist believes that everything in the physical world has another side, whether visible or not. He is also a strong believer in the art of drawing and in the simplicity of forms. "Simplicity is the most profound stage one can achieve, in art and in life."

According to the Artist, "There is no painting without drawing. For a painting to be strong, it has to come from a drawing. Drawing is the basis of it all - the mother of art. Drawing is the idea, the thought; painting is the emotion, the expression. I believe that drawing is thinking and painting is feeling. Therefore, I draw what I think and paint what I feel. As there is no feeling without thinking, there is also no painting without drawing. Sometimes I feel more comfortable calling my works painted drawings rather than just paintings."

Charles Cham maintains a permanent studio and gallery in Malacca, Malaysia, and has exhibited in Singapore, Hong Kong, Bali, Australia, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Portugal and Malaysia.

The exhibition Opposite Attraction by Charles Cham runs February 27 until April 4, 2002, from 10.00 a.m. until 6.00 p.m. daily at the Ganesha Gallery at the Four Seasons Resort at Jimbaran Bay.

Bali Hilton's New Logo

Bali Ties of International Resort Emphasized.

Bali Hilton International have announced a new corporate logo identity centered around the hotel's distinctive Wantilan lobby - a huge Balinese meeting hall adorned in fine art and statues from across the island.

In Bali, Wantilan halls are typically used for important village meetings, hosting celebrations and royal gatherings. Incorporating both a watermark and a logo in the new identity, the watermark features a traditional pattern on perada - a Balinese technique of cloth making using gold dust and paint. The Hilton's watermark portrays heavenly birds surrounded by lotus blossoms and leaf tendrils, traditional symbols of the divine and material world.

The new corporate identity is intended to portray the unique air of magic and majesty that prevail on the island. Accordingly, the Hotel has adopted a slogan of "Bali Mystique. Hilton Magic." to underline this theme.

More information: Book a stay at the Bali Hilton

AWAIR Suspends Flight Operations

Says Cutthroat Fare Competition As the Reason and Vows to Be Back Soon.

AWAIR - PT Air Wagon International one of Indonesia's recent start-up carriers announced that it would suspend all flight operations from March 8 until June 1, 2002.

Flying with leased aircraft, AWAIR says the suspension was the result of unhealthy price competition in the marketplace and that they would utilize the 3 month hiatus to upgrade operational systems and undertake staff training programs.

AWAIR commenced flight operations on June 22, 2000, initially using Airbus A310 equipment, upgrading to A320 jets in late 2001. The airline presently operates three different routes between Jakarta - Denpasar (Bali); Jakarta - Surabaya; and Jakarta - Medan.

In a related development, the Director General of Air Communications announced last week that 7 new airlines have declared their intention to commence domestic and international flight operations.

Details on equipments and routes are still sketchy, but the new airlines names have been announced: Alatief Alair International; Asia Avia Megatama, Bali International Air Services; Nusantara International Services; Rusmindo Internusa, Indonesian Airlines Avi Patria; and Mataram Airlines.

Alhamdulillah! Reason to Celebrate

Bali's Moslems Receive Long-Awaited Good News from the Island's Government during Local Eid Celebrations.

Bali's minority Moslems joined their Islamic brethren around the world to celebrate the holiday of Eid-ul-Adha on Friday, February 22, 2002. This festival marks the end of the Haj, season commemorating the day on which God stilled the prophet Abraham's hand just before he was about to to slay his own son, Abraham, as an offering, replacing the boy with a wild ram that suddenly appeared at Allah's behest. Symbolically recreating the event, Moslems pass this day in organized prayers at local mosques after which goats, cows and other livestock are traditionally slaughtered with their meat offered to the poor.

Following this year's prayers local Islamic leaders were pleased to announce that the Government had set aside a 10,000 square meter plot of land at Mumbul, Jimbaran to serve as the official cemetery for Bali's Moslem community. Located 14 kilometers southwest from the capital city of Denpasar, the gift of land from the Governor's office helps address the long-standing problem of finding a suitable final resting place for local Moslems.

What's Cookin' in Bali?

The Food of Bali - Subject of a New Website and CD-ROM from Chef Heinz von Holzen.

The award-winning maestro of the Balinese Kitchen, Heinz von Holzen, continues to amaze and delight with his dedication in promoting the food of his adopted home.

The author and photographer of the best-selling cookery book, The Food of Bali, Heinz has now launched a new website featuring news on his cooking school, recipes, cooking tours, food competitions, and information on ethnic restaurants in Bali at www.indochef.biz . Simultaneously, Heinz has launched a new CD-ROM called "The Food of Bali," containing 75 Balinese recipes backed up with "how to" video clips.

All the recipes are introduced by Heinz and his lovely Balinese wife and fellow-restaurateur, Puji.

The Swiss-born Heinz came to Bali in 1990, first working as the Executive Chef of the Grand Hyatt Hotel and, later, as the Food & Beverage Director of the Ritz Carlton Bali. He eventually ventured out on on his own, establishing the Bumbu Bali Restaurant, named Bali's best ethnic restaurant by the island's Governor. Last year Heinz and Puji opened Bumbu Bali - a large entertainment venue that plays host to Balinese-themed private functions and is also the location of their popular cooking classes.

More information: Learn to Cook with Heinz von Holzen