Most visitors can purchase a holiday visa for Indonesia on arrival at the airport. The visa costs $35US (have to pay in US dollars) and in Bali alone, this adds tens of millions of US dollars to the economy per month. As well as other business that tourism generates, its easy to see how important this industry is to Bali and the people. You can image how devastating the Bali bombings must have been to the local economy here but also to the many many Balinese that rely on tourism for their welfare. To talk to people here, it was a devastating time for them. They suffered.
Today is a look around the southern edge of Bali. As you fly into the airport, impressive escarpments are highly visible from the plane windows. These escarpments are solid limestone. The ocean has carved this geology into sheer escarpments, just back from beautiful beaches. To make these pretty beaches accessible,roadways are being carved through the solid limestone. The limestone taken out is put to use by breaking it up and using for construction. Breaking the rock up was being done by hand – a little man with an oversized sledge hammer. The rubble in sizeable chunks was then manhandled into the back of a big truck. This is a lot of work just to make these beaches accessible but this access isn’t free. You pay a fee to enter these beaches. Eventually resorts will be constructed on these sites. Carved into the limestone walls are spaces for huge religious carvings, out of limestone of course. Significant Hindu entities are immortalised in statues. You want one? You can. A cool $10,000 will get your name applied to one of these statues!
Lunch is at a genuine Balinese cafe close to the hustle and bustle of Kuta. Clearly not many tourists know of this place. This is where the locals eat and I love it. Its so close to the tourist strip but invisible to anyone who doesn’t venture beyond the shops.
What do you do on dusk in this part of Bali? You go down the the beach to watch the sun go through its daily ritual. It sets over the water here and with the help of abundant haze, can be seen as a huge deep orange ball over the waves. It reflects its way up onto the wet sand making for stunning viewing. But while this is going on, the beaches are alive with throngs of locals and tourists. Games are being played, drinks being drunk and live music fills the air. Everyone is having a great time and the atmosphere is happy and very comfortable. A few beers helps to amplify the experience. Even if you came to Bali just for this you would go home effected. It’s nice of the Balinese to share this with the rest of the world. And its great to see them here enjoying their beaches as much as we are.
angusmccoll 
Indonesia Visa On Arrival can be paid in any major foreign currencies including Australian Dollars. I simply pay it by Indonesian Rupiah from my last trip. Conveniently before visa on arrival pay stations there is huge ATM centre you can withdraw Indonesian money from different finance institutions. I use my regular ANZ saving card. Save me trip to money changers.
Oh that’s good to know.