The poverty I had encountered was shocking.But poverty I understand.I was born into poverty.What became incomprehensible to me was the squalor accepted as the way of life.At the end of the 45 days I thought I had seen it all and could not be shocked again.
And then I came to Bali.
The cruise terminal in Benoa is nice and clean.The tender provided by the port authorities to ferry us from the ship to shore was luxurious in comparison with the Queen Victoria's own boats.The bus that waited to take us on an 8 hour tour to the Water Palace and the village of Tenganan was comfortable and had a working air-conditioner.
As we drove away from the port the island of Bali appeared no better and no worse than many other islands I'd visited-personable buildings mixing with those that could barely stand,the occasional pile of rubbish or a broken piece of furniture leaning against a wall or a lamp-post.
And then the personable structures became sporadic,the shacks prevalent and the pile upon pile of rubbish and broken beds,chairs and other pieces of furniture everywhere.And when I thought it cannot get worse it got worse, much,much worse and I came to realize that one man's paradise is another man's hell.
The squalor the likes of which I had not seen before, everywhere.
Bali is a part of the Indonesian Archipelago. Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country.The ethnic mix in Indonesia is overwhelming.The riots in recent years have pitched Muslims against Christians,developing in the Maluku Islands and in Poso in Cenral Sulawesi into full-scale civil war.
Bali is Hindi.There are 100 ethnic groups,speaking more than 300 different languages on the island.
In 2002 there was a terrorist bomb attack in Kuta on Bali.
Having seen how the Balinese live I understand the resentment many of these people who have so little feel towards the foreigners who appear to have so much.
What I do not understand is why the hotel chains do not do more to help.
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