Bali scams

A bit more about our hotel at Sanur.    In my room with the aircon working well and a couple of bottles of Bir Bintang on board everything seems good, but everywhere one looks one can see shoddy workmanship and potentially dangerous electrical wiring.  A few examples...

                               Rusty metal cased hair drier

                                Power into my unit

                              Wall outlet hanging from wires only

In a pond near the hotel restaurant there is a fountain made from an aluminium kettle and in the pond are seven very hungry turtles.

When we ventured down to the beachfront at Sanur we visited the last hotel that my wife Joan and I  stayed in some 5 years ago.  The Segara Village Hotel is truly luxurious and if I return I will be booking myself in there for an upmarket holiday. The many beach restaurants in the gentle sea breeze were very attractive and we figured we would eat there one evening.

Today Val and I returned to Hardy’s, our favourite Department store.   It just so happens it is the only Dept. Store in Sanur.  There are dozens of staff wandering around and gathering in small social groups behind merchandise shelves.  They are young people, probably chosen for their looks rather than their ability.  One has to find a staffer who can speak English and keep them with you as you try and find things. Being pleasant goes a long way.  I now know a couple of young ladies who are pleasant and know where things are to be found.  The alternative is to resort to charades or draw a picture of what you are looking for.  I imagine Russian tourists have little chance of finding anyone who speaks Russian.

After making our purchases we adjourned to the tavern next door for a couple of beers  and then waited on a bench at the front of Hardy’s for a taxi to come by.   A young Balinese guy started a conversation and I didn’t realise it was leading up to a scam.  Eventually he claimed that Hardy’s was offering a promotion to advertise a new store opening.  He gave us each a sealed card and invited us to open them.  I had seen similar scams in past visits in which you won a dinner at a large hotel.  What was not mentioned was that you endured a spiel about Time Share.  Cousin Val’s card caused our man to almost scream with delight when she won a chance at ‘the top prize'.   On Val’s card there were three prizes...and when you scratched the magic square she was a cert to win either A$1,000; a week’s accommodation at a top class hotel or at the very least an Apple iPad.  Our man said all we had to do was come with him to his boss’s office close by and the taxi would take us back to our hotel. So we reluctantly got in the cab as we had nothing else to do for the afternoon and it soon became obvious that the ‘Office’ wasn’t close by and he admitted it was in Kuta which at that time of day could be a two-hour trip each way.  We started moaning and he assured us that all we had to do was verify our ID (without any documentation) and tell a white lie that we were not over 70 years of age.  At that we both told him to turn around and take us back to Hardy’s.  He kept telling us that he would miss out on his commission.  No luck mate!  And we were returned to our hotel and he was stuck with a 50,000 Rupia taxi fare.  That is only A$5 but these guys work on commission and he was five bucks down.  Tough!

Later when we were on the beachfront at Sanur I had a haircut and a short, but great head and neck massage for A$5. all up.  Best haircut I have ever experienced.