Monday, October 03, 2005
Bali - how could it happen again?
I've just spent a few days on the delightful island of Bali within sight of the Hindu temple of Tanah Lot (below at sunset). The whole place is laid back and very spiritual (apart from the traffic which is manic) and the people are gentle and helpful. I was there to work and spent no time outside of the hotel complex but didn't pick up any edginess or fear.
According to Baliguide.com, 'Bali, however, has learned from the incident, and security precautions in resorts and public places as well as – most important – on the village level are today much higher than ever before.
We believe also that Bali is currently much lower on the target list for international terrorists than countries such as Australia and the U.K. – which still refuse to lift the travel warnings for their nationals to visit this island.'
The 2002 bombing took a lot of Bali's tourist trade away. According to this BBC article "In the immediate aftermath of the October 2002 bombing, hotel bookings fell by 80%, flights arrived and left empty, and shop owners put their staff on half pay.
It has taken three years of hard work to convince tourists to come back to the island - hard work that was undone in an instant on Saturday night".
Would you go back to Bali in the aftermath of the bombing? My answer (given here on Ecademy) is a definite YES. I will go to London during this coming month and firmly believe that I cannot reduce my risk simply by avoiding KNOWN risks - it will be the unknown risks that get me!
What about you?
According to Baliguide.com, 'Bali, however, has learned from the incident, and security precautions in resorts and public places as well as – most important – on the village level are today much higher than ever before.
We believe also that Bali is currently much lower on the target list for international terrorists than countries such as Australia and the U.K. – which still refuse to lift the travel warnings for their nationals to visit this island.'
The 2002 bombing took a lot of Bali's tourist trade away. According to this BBC article "In the immediate aftermath of the October 2002 bombing, hotel bookings fell by 80%, flights arrived and left empty, and shop owners put their staff on half pay.
It has taken three years of hard work to convince tourists to come back to the island - hard work that was undone in an instant on Saturday night".
Would you go back to Bali in the aftermath of the bombing? My answer (given here on Ecademy) is a definite YES. I will go to London during this coming month and firmly believe that I cannot reduce my risk simply by avoiding KNOWN risks - it will be the unknown risks that get me!
What about you?
