for the past two years bali has been a private
paradise no tourists beautiful nature that you can enjoy in private cheap accommodation
and world-class cuisine barley definitely has been hard to beat
here we are in 2022 and tourism is back with a bang construction is an all-time high
and traffic is wild and if you're looking for that instagram spot and a waterfall
you're gonna have to join some queues literally
so i asked myself what is bali like now let's rewind a little bit bali's always been known as
being in the heart of asia with its amazing deep rich culture gorgeous natural scenery amazing
people and world-class surf and fitness scene bali was always at the top of most travelers
bucket lists it really didn't matter where you were going to you could come to changu for that
sleepy surfer vibe and a nice environment you could go to kuta if you wanted the big
party nightlife you could go to ubud for the spiritual awakening sanur for the old people
seminyak for the nice family lifestyle and it was a gateway to the gili islands for those of you
looking for something a little bit more unique and no one had ever heard of sesay but then
bali absolutely stopped and everybody moved to changu exploring the island became very
private and personal you could go anywhere and basically see it on your own everything became
super cheap places like ubud seminyak kuta they became very quiet as everybody came to changu
and everything was rosy let's fast forward to today the visa on arrival is back tourism is in
full swing as bali welcomes literally thousands of people every day to this beautiful island
so what has that meant for the island
like lots of places in asia the infrastructure has gone
through the roof at an alarming pace and the road network just hasn't been able to catch up
there are 4.2 million people that live in bali so you can imagine that the traffic
is already bad well add the six million tourists that join us here every year and it gets something
a little bit like this with so many scooters and so many cars and everything like that the
traffic here is crazy everybody's trying to wiggle around on these very narrow little roads we are in
changi at the moment which is probably the worst area for it but everywhere is still pretty bad
construction is rife everywhere in bali but as land prices soar people are being forced to move
their investment further and further up the coast in 2022 it's predicted that there's going to be
250 billion dollars worth of investment in bali alone it seems like everywhere you turn there's
new construction being built here there and everywhere construction is one of the biggest
economies for locals here in indonesia people come far from as far as java the next big island across
and they come and work and live on site here until the construction's job is done it's not really the
biggest problem for people living here you kind of get used to the the view of it all and just seeing
new construction everywhere but the noise can be somewhat annoying particularly if you've booked
into quite a nice hotel and then all of a sudden at seven in the morning construction happens
because they do work early here so if you're looking for that restful night's sleep
be careful where you book and there's no longer any food deals prices have hiked before you can
get a good meal for 50k a lot of places had like a 50k special and now that's the normal
prices accommodation has also gone through the roof you used to be able to get really
good little long-term deals but a lot of places now are not even accepting long-term residents
they're even kicking out people that have been in there for a long time during the kobe period
to favor short-term rental so accommodation has gone super expensive
well what to say about the drum tourists except uh i'm probably a little bit jealous i'm too
old to join them but they're no bother they're just a little bit annoying when they're on the
road dream driving scully tourism spots are getting busier and busier as the island gets
more and more people here if you're looking for that sort of precious uh nice quiet vibe you're
gonna have to be a little bit patient and maybe even join a queue if you're looking for those
cheeky photos and if you want to go for a restaurant on a friday night you better book
but that was all very negative let's talk about some positives now that everything's reopened
well first and foremost and probably the most important the local economy
is recovering locals are getting back into work and just the local
economy is getting stronger which has got to be the most important thing
the vibe is electric here at the moment with a real sense of optimism that things are finally
open and back to normal there's also no more ghost towns places like ubud and kuta and seminyak which
were really really quiet and now lively again you can feel life and energy there which is awesome
the next best thing is that all the amazing restaurants that i've opened
there's so many restaurants new bars new clubs loads of new things opening and like
this is paddle tennis and this is quite new to bali but has already taken it by storm
so sure construction is rife at the moment but because of the way it is occurring
and the construction is spreading down the coastline that'll mean that the areas will soon
be disseminated a little bit and the population will spread out down the coast rather than all
congregating in one area which still at the moment is probably changu
but really the vibe here in bali is back it's such a great boost to the area local people
are benefiting from tourism again really the only downside is the bad traffic and the traffic is bad
so as the sun sets on a busy day here in bali i wanted to finish with my final thoughts and go
back to my original question what is bali like now and is it still a world-class destination
well the simple answer to that is yes of course it's a world-class destination it's
stunning there's some gorgeous things to see and do here amazing people beautiful culture the
long answer is a little bit more complicated is what they're doing ruining barley time will tell
and there's certainly one thing to consider and that's its noisy neighbor next door
the potential future of indonesia and that is lombok thanks very much guys i hope you've
enjoyed this video if you have please think about liking and subscribing it would really help us out
we make two videos a week and yeah thanks very much peace out