Bali — Tegallalang Rice Terraces, Bali, Indonesia
An interesting and yet disappointing visit
September 2015
My last visit of the day was to the Tegallalang Rice Terraces.
To enter the Tegallalang Rice Terraces, there was a charge of 20,000 Indonesian Rupiah (£1 GBP; $1.50 USD), and then additional charges of 5,000 Indonesian Rupiah (£0.25 GBP; $0.38 USD) to use various bridges and pathways. These extra charges were framed as 'donations' to access different family fields. Some of these charges were demanded in quite a threatening manner, and the ‘families’ would often complain if they felt your donation wasn’t enough.
Several locals also hung around the fields asking for ‘donations’ if you took their photograph or if they ‘helped’ you somehow.
The gentleman below I snapped in the Tegallalang Rice Terraces as I thought he was just sitting there, but it turned out he was ‘posing’ for photographers and demanding a fee for his efforts. It is a good shot, though, and one of my favourites from my trip to Bali.
The Tegallalang Rice Terraces are very popular, and there were regular ‘tourist jams’ on the narrow paths.
Although the place felt touristy, with lots of ‘chancers’ hanging around trying to collect ‘donations’, the fields were still being used for rice production, and it was good to see the terraces being worked.
The scenery was spectacular.
And it was amazing to stop and contemplate the amount of work that had gone into the construction and maintenance of the terraces over the years.
The Tegallalang Rice Terraces were spectacular and worth visiting to see such a unique and interesting landscape — watch out for the ‘scammers’ on the paths demanding money.
There was a little old lady helping visitors to cross a stream — for money. The steam was one stride, and help wasn’t needed, yet money was demanded.
One particularly inventive ‘demand’ was for the locals working hard carrying heavy loads up and down the paths in baskets. Yet, a close look at the baskets often revealed they only contained a few leaves and twigs.
Some local schoolchildren were also asking for donations for their school. Whether this was a genuine donation to a school or the money was going into the parents’ pockets, it was hard to tell.
The most annoying ‘donation’ was to the families that owned the fields. I have no problem paying such charges, but an entrance fee had already been charged. If the families were not receiving money from the entrance charge, there is a question about where it is going.
What was particularly worrying about the ‘donations’ was there was no fixed fee. If you didn’t hand over enough (and the amount seemed to vary from tourist to tourist based on your perceived wealth), then you couldn’t enter. Plus, the ‘donation’ was demanded in quite an aggressive manner.
The constant demand for ‘donations’ took the shine off the visit to the Tegallalang Rice Terraces. The terraces were amazing, but being constantly bothered for ‘donations’ detracted from the experience. I have no problem paying to visit places, but a one-off fee would be better, or a less aggressive approach to ‘donation’ collection would be appreciated.
FourSquare: Tegallalang Rice Terraces
