One more snake fruit before I board a plane and fly off this little lovely island. Everybody in this premier lounge is nicely dressed and carrying suitcases – and I came stomping in with a backpack, an old plastic bag, harem pants, and sandals. I have the highest elite tier of my airline alliance but right now I think my appearance here is a good joke.

Speaking of plastic bags, and all jokes aside: Bali is changing so fast it is almost frightening. New villas pop up everywhere, people become wealthier, and Balinese nature and the ecosystem become poorer. The traffic is unsustainable. In Ubud there is a graffiti work of art on the wall of a house, depicting the elephant god Ganesha with a gas mask.

But fortunately some resorts and restaurants are jumping on the green bandwagon as they have realized that there is money in green thinking. Many people who come to Bali are health- and environmentally conscious. Several cafés now offer to refill water bottles for less than store-bought ones, and plastic shopping bags need to be purchased in the shops.

Plastic… like anywhere else, it is also the greatest nemesis over here. There is not that much of it compared to a Western country, but it is not properly disposed of and thus it is everywhere: by the road, in the rivers, on the beach. And perhaps you know that a plastic bag looks very much like a jellyfish, and great sea turtles eat jellyfish? A plastic bag in the intestines is possibly the most common non-illness related death of sea turtles.

Increasingly, people seem to care, though. Maya Ubud resort offers no plastic water bottles at all. Many resorts and cafés advertise their sustainability programs. It feels as if Bali is on a tipping point. Hopefully the driving force of environmentally conscious tourists is strong enough to mold the future of this island into something that will actually carry it far into the future.

(Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia; September 2016)

6 pm and the sun has disappeared into the jungle. The night cicadas have relieved their afternoon colleagues from the concert shift. While I sit in a luxurious open-air lounge, sipping on my sunset drink, I cannot help but feel something I can only describe as “colonial”. We arrived here from busy Ubud where we stayed at a little homestay B&B, rode around on motorbikes with locals, and ate simple food for about one quarter of the prices here. But “here” is a resort in the cool woods, where 4 bellboys fussed about our arrival and luggage, whisked us onto couches for welcome drinks and registration, and then showed us the way down to the spa – using an elevator in the jungle.

I cannot help but think of how far from reality this place is, and what kind of experience Bali is for those who only come to stay here. Most of the average Balinese could not afford a dinner here, not to mention a 3-night stay like ours. Laundry service costs 10-fold compared to our bungalows downtown. Water costs 12-fold (because there is no other way to obtain water without a drive down to Ubud). For day guests, access to the spa and a Balinese massage costs 4 times more than a very good Balinese massage in Ubud. Starters here cost more than mains in a very good, organic, Western-style café in Ubud. The prices for some menu items cost more here than back in my home country, Finland. I cannot help but wonder what the Balinese think of this ridiculous opulence. Indonesia gained its independence from the Netherlands in the 1940s, right after World War II. I understand that here it is difficult for a resident foreigner to own anything; everything has to be held in the name of a Balinese partner. It makes much sense. With the invasion of the Westerners who, like me, fall in love with Bali and want to stay, they would quickly outnumber the Balinese themselves and their capital, in practice reversing the sovereignty of the Balinese and their claim on their island and administration.

As I savored my drink amidst all the beauty (and before check-out and settling the balance!), I wondered if the Balinese silently resent us Western Bali lovers, or shake their heads at us, while offering us drinks with a smile? Do they think of the Dutch colonials and resent in particular Dutch tourists? I doubt I would love to constantly share my hometown and streets, and often my day, with tourists.

This lovely night, as the stars come out, I am grateful that the people who meet me here are openly proud of their island, and at least do their best to welcome me amidst them. I hope to be able to meet their expectations as a visitor and contribute my share so that we visitors are still welcome back in in the future.(Maya Ubud resort, Bali, Indonesia; September 2016)