The Bali government has officially banned all mountain activities on all 22 mountains for foreign and domestic tourists and locals. Here’s why…
Bali bans tourists from mountains
Beautiful Bali continues to be one of the most popular island destinations for tourists worldwide.
However, with some of the recent ‘bad behaviour’ from these tourists, the nation is looking to implement measures to help deal with these issues.
One such measure is the banning of all tourists from Bali’s mountains. The Governor of Bali, Wayan Koster, announced a ban on all tourist activities in its mountains with ‘immediate effect’ in a recent news conference.
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The governor’s decision was made after a series of indecent events occurred in the mountains, including public displays of nudity, serious injuries to tourists and bad behaviour.
He claimed that to preserve the sacred peaks amid the increasing violations by misbehaving tourists, the ban had to be instated.
“These mountains are sacred and revered. If their sanctity is damaged, it is the same as degrading the sacredness of Bali. This ban is in effect forever and is not only for foreign tourists but also domestic tourists and local residents,” Koster said, as per reports.
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The ban has been placed on 22 Bali mountains, including Mount Batur and Mount Agung, which are popular for mountain climbing and hiking.
Tourists also being deported
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Tourists have also been getting the boot from Bali all year-long, Travel News says, after they were caught behaving badly, disrespecting local culture and religion, overstaying visas and violating visa rules.
From January 2023 to May 2023, over 130 international tourists were deported from the island because of misconduct ranging from illegal cryptocurrency trading, breaching tourist visa rules, desecration at sacred monuments to public indecency, attempting to pass off fake visa identities and illegally engaging in business.
With the country being predominantly Hindu, many of its citizens practice religious ceremonies that tourists who come to beautiful Bali just to party do not respect.
