8 choses à ne pas faire si tu vas à Bali

What Not to Do in Bali – Why?

The island of the Gods is punctuated by the relaxing, lively, very cultural and traditional life of the inhabitants. When you go there on vacation or to live there for a while, or longer if you like, there are things to know. Indonesia is another country, with its cultures and laws. It is normal and even necessary to know them, and especially to respect the place, at the risk of not making good relationships.

Indonesians are pleasant by nature, they will understand and be tolerant of many things, but knowing these rules will allow you to better understand their ways of thinking and to adapt better.

Here are some things to know :

1) Respect sacred places :

Of course you have to respect the locals and the culture everywhere on the island, but I make a point of honor on temples and other sacred places, or things related to religion, like the offerings that can be seen in the street.
Do not enter the temples of the locals - whether they are small temples in family homes, or community temples, those that are not open to the public (you can recognize them by the fact that we are not asked for taxes at the entrance for example), and where you can only enter accompanied by a local and in the appropriate traditional dress. We will also avoid if possible walking on the offerings freshly placed in the street (you will inevitably see them), and especially not deliberately trampling them or engaging in aggressive or demeaning behavior.
Same with locals and in temples, where you do not CLIMB on structures, where you do not set foot on decorations, stone structures, even low ones! You do not touch anything either.

We wear a sarong in any temple and we do not enter if we have our menstrual cycles.

We do not sit on top of a priest if you are lucky enough to enter a local temple with someone (in the sense of not being on top, for example a staircase above), and avoid walking right in front.

2) Avoid touching the Balinese's head :

Children and adults alike, we avoid touching the Balinese's head, which is considered the purest part of the body, because it is the closest to Shiva (sky).
If you are close to the person, this may not be the case, but in other cases, if you have to, apologize by doing so.

3) Cross your arms and put your hands on your hips :

This applies to Indonesia itself, these gestures are frowned upon because they convey a non-verbal language of aggression, power (superiority), discontent or impatience. We avoid showing these things.

4) Do not point and do not use your left hand :

We do not point because it is frowned upon, we nod or quickly point with our hand. This is becoming less and less the case and we can see locals starting to do it. We especially do not show with the foot, which is considered an insult because it is an impure part of the body.

We do not use the left hand, especially to receive or give something, or even to eat, because it is considered impure. The locals will understand that as Europeans we do not know this and it is different here, but it can influence their opinion of the person. For left-handed people, I have already been asked how it happens, I admit that I do not have the answer to that ...

5) Do not enter rooms (especially houses) with shoes :

Like many places in Asia, we do not enter houses (the "platforms" of living spaces) with shoes / sandals. In general, when it leaves the ground level, and what is above stairs, we will always leave them at the entrance, a question of respect and hygiene.
It does not hurt to be barefoot and closer to nature from time to time, right ? :)

6) Excessive exposure in the street :

In view of the deviance of many tourists, this is something that is good to remember I think. It is not because correct values ​​are lost in the West, that we should do whatever we want elsewhere, and this gives a very negative image of foreigners..
This goes from exposing ourselves by wearing almost no clothing outside the beach, or very (too) short things, to the deviant and suggestive behavior (or more) of some (twerking on motorcycles, pole dancing on lampposts, naked in a temple !!). We like freedom here, but there are limits to freedom anyway..

We will avoid topless on the beaches too...

7) Do not get angry, shout and insult !

This is not a place where it is normal and accepted to get angry. The locals themselves are exposed and reprimanded when they do it. Calm and respect, laughter and joy are essential here, and getting angry, shouting or even insulting is a sure way to have big problems and the police on your back. Things are done calmly and amicably if there is a problem.
We breathe and stay conscious and calm !

8) Avoid taking pictures of locals without permission :

We forget it too often, but the image is like everywhere and like at home, we ask permission, the locals are not a freak show, and they may not want to end up on the internet without knowing it !

Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, but I think it is the most important thing to know first.

In any case, stay respectful and open-minded, and everything will be fine,

And enjoy your stay there !!