Are we there yet?

The end of October has always been a mark of the coming winter, when ski resorts pumped thousands of gallons of water through their snow makers to beat each other in opening that one little run first, and the anticipation of a Halloween snow. There is no such race here, and little notice is given to Halloween, unless you count a handful of parties and bars attended by costumed foreigners. And there is no hope that can be seen of a Halloween snow blanketing Tokyo. There are still typhoons, however.

Numbers 18 and 19, as they are creatively called, are churning their way toward the archipelago and should arrive just in time to ruin another weekend. In fact, their farthest arms are now soaking Tokyo’s gray streets and making 3:00 pm look more like 7:30. It is times like these when one looks toward the unknown, far off playgrounds of tropical islands and clear waters. The distraction worsens still more when an actual trip is on the horizon; in this case, rising with the sun, which, as previously mentioned, seems to have taken its leave earlier than usual, perhaps in its own anticipation of shining down on sun-drenched beaches and sunburning tourists.

But heading to Bali has not only fevered anticipation, but also apprehension. Here apprehension is not meant to suggest a fear or terrorist action, though that is, of course, not something that is taken lightly. Rather, the apprehension is more caused by the other annoyances of preparing to travel to a place that has become a ‘paradise’ for the western tourist.

Pouring through information and comments from official tourist sites, travel sites and comments from other travelers, those that have been there before, or in some cases are there now, it is possible to begin to prematurely tire of the tedium of such places. The official sites extol the grandness, beauty and idyllic attributes of the destination. The tourist sites offer more of the same – for a price. So far it is hard to imagine how anything can go wrong in a place were every beach is clean, every sunset ‘romantic’, every pool/garden/suite overlooks the beach and the beers are cold, the fruity cocktails fresh, the food delicious.

Then come the comments from those who have been there before, and return for more. Bali has a cult following, particularly among Australians. Entire sites* are dedicated to sharing their views and camaraderie with the world, or that portion of it that is inclined to seek it, anyway. This, it has come to pass, has been the best source of information, even while not always unbiased and at times inaccurate. But, then again, this is true of the sites of officials who know the industry is vital to the economy as a whole and the tourist sites that are more directly linked to it.

It is from the travelers’ comments that the apprehension grows as stories, though humorous and informative (at times), claw away at that idyllic vision that has been so carefully (and no doubt expensively) promoted and ingrained into the mind. It is not all negative; they, too, expound upon the beauty, friendliness and sincerity of their island hosts. At the same time they have a never-ending supply of tales of woe. Tales abound of con artists, time-share salespeople, pickpockets, dirty moneychangers, credit card fraud, taxi drivers that take you to every store that pays commission but not where you want to go, and trinket mongers. There is no need to repeat details here and now. Suffice it to say that it is these tales that raise the specter of holidays ruined and cast a shadow of doubt on the accuracy of their statements about their kind, sincere hosts.

But perhaps it is the weather here today – a cold, grey prelude to the coming storm – that has caused these tales, along with other personal experiences of similar nature in another ‘paradise’, to raise that apprehension of annoyance at being in paradise. It is perhaps, and it is hoped likely, that tomorrow, as the sun sinks into the warm ocean and casts its final pink rays across a white sand beach, that all of these little annoyances will not have materialized and it may just feel like paradise.

*http://www.balitravelforum.com