Being my first trip to Asia, and being solo, I did some research that led me to chose Bali as the desination. It is known for being quite safe. Let me tell you, I felt much safer walking around alone at night in Bali than I do at home where I live in Canada. Not once did I feel worried for my personal safety whatsoever. Not. Once.
The predominant religion on the island of Bali is Hindu. What I learned from my time there is that the Balinese people value karma very highly. There is honestly a sense of safety and kindness raidating in the air in Bali. Balinese people (generally) will not do any harm as it is engrianed in their religion that "what goes around comes around." How cool is that?!
Obviously, if you are travelling solo, use your common sense, don't get in cars with stangers, don't take drugs, and don't let anyone "hold" your bags. Shit happens everywhere.
Heath Safety
Santiation standards are dramatically different in Bali, as they are in many asian countries. Food isn't cooked as carefully as it is in North America. People who have been raised and spent their entire lives in these coutnries can generally tollerate street-food and even the water in some cases. As someone coming from such a pristinely clean environment, you have to be extremely careful, or else you will get sick. Almost every traveller I met suffered through some level at food poising, and many also had a trip to the doctor for one reason or another. Myself being the sensitive and unlucky gal that I am had a 4 day hospital stint (pictured below) whilst I was there. I'm fine now, but that was obviously not ideal! At least I can report to you that the healthcare in Bali is great!
What you can do to avoid hospital time in Bali
There are reccomended vaccines that you can get before your trip. I think that the main ones are Hepititis A, B, and typhoid. I actually didn't get these, and I was OK (what I got couldn't have been vaccinated against) but better to be safe than sorry, especially if you are planning on visiting more remote areas of Bali or it's surrounding islands with reduced sanitation.
Don't drink da wataaaaa. Always just order a bottle at restaurants. In terms of ice, I have been told that if theres a hole through the middle, that's the ice made from bottled water. Otherwise your drink could be contaminated, especially at a more budget friendly restaurant. Also, some of my friends went as far as to only brush their teeth with bottled water, but hey, I like to live lilfe on the edge and that is way to high maintenane for me. Although, I'm the one who ended up in the hospital so maybe don't follow my lead.
DO NOT EAT STREET FOOD. No matter how delicious and cheap it appears to be, your body is not used to the unsantiary standards under which it is prepared.
People have told me to not eat "raw" fruit or veggies unless you peeled them yourself. I didn't follow this advise as it seems a bit extreme, but hey- I'm the one that ended up in the hospital.
Use your common sense when picking a place to eat. Eat where there are others eating, especially other tourists. If there's food sitting out behind glass, I can confirm it tastes AMAZING, but take into consideration the climate and how long the food might be sitting in the wet heat possibly accumulating bacteria. Just sayin'.
Another fun tip someone told me on my LAST NIGHT which didn't make a difference for me but could for you, is to wipe down the lip of your beer bottle before drinking it. Just one more step to fighting bad bacteria!
Also, beware the monkeys! Monkeys are a huge tourist attraction in Bali, and are a really cool part of it's natural lanscape. Most people will make a stop at the Monkey Forest Ubud, which is a really cool attraction, but be careful, and don't touch them or try to hold them! I've heard quite a number of stories of horrible monkey attacks leading to hospitalization.
This is a photo of me and some (insanely adorable) locals at an AirBnb in Uluwatu.
To stay safe in Bali, use your common sense, buy health insurance, and always wear a helmet on your scooter.
Have fun. Any hiccups along the way help make up the journey.
C
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