The ban on climbing sacred trees, stripping naked in places of worship or uttering profanity in public are some of the rules published on Wednesday by the authorities of the Indonesian island of Bali for foreign tourists after incidents in recent months.
The governor of Bali, Wayan Koster, recently presented the list, which prohibits entering some templesexcept to pray, "climbing a sacred tree", "behaviors that desecrate holy places" or "entering a sacred building and taking photos in a vulgar way or without clothes".
In addition, tourists will not be allowed to "use profanity, act inappropriately, cause inconvenience and act aggressively" against authorities, locals or other tourists on this Hindu-majority island, an exception in Indonesia, the country with the most Muslims in the world.
Tourists on a beach in Kuta, Bali. Photo EFE/Made Nagi
Incidents caused by tourists
These rules have been issued following multiple incidents involving tourists on the island in recent months, with at least 129 foreigners deported from Bali since January.
Most of the problems are caused by traffic accidents and visa abuse, but there have also been some cases of unseemly behavior to which the rules issued today allude almost directly.
Since last January, Bali has deported at least 129 foreign tourists.
Also, after several accidents, the island banned tourists from riding motorcycles, forcing them to travel in "vehicles provided by travel agencies."
In April, a Russian woman was deported after a photo of her posing naked on her back in front of a 700-year-old tree that is sacred to locals went viral, an action that had already been taken days before with another citizen of the same nationality who posed without pants in front of Mount Agung, a place of worship of the Balinese.
Mount Agung is considered sacred on the island where Hinduism is the majority religion, and authorities deemed the Russian visitor a "dishonorable act" serious enough to send him back home.
Authorities in Bali have denounced since the beginning of this year that the war in Ukraine has led to Russian and Ukrainian citizens working on the island illegally.
Tourists trekking to Mount Batur in Bali.
A central destination of Southeast Asia
Located east of Indonesia, very close to East Java, Bali is the most popular destination in the country, and one of the most visited in Southeast Asia, especially for its paradisiacal white sand beaches and a turquoise blue sea.
In 2019, the last year before the pandemic, its small territory of less than 5,800 km2 received no less than 6.2 million tourists fromall over the world.
Temple. In Bali, Hinduism predominates, although the country is mostly Muslim. Photo Shutterstock.
And it was also one of the hardest hit by the crisis caused by Covid: in 2021 it received no more than 50 tourists, "the lowest number of visits by foreign tourists we have ever recorded," said the island's Tourism area at the time.
With the end of the restrictions, the flow of visitors is increasing but, as is evident, it is not without problems, which the authorities are now trying to control.
Source: EFE
See also
