Discover the Biggest Cultural Site in Bali

I remember visiting the more authentic parts of the park before all the development but they have tried to turn it into a theme park, with the queues, and the shiny front, but minus the fun.

Not to say that I expected the fun, I would have appreciated the cultural aspects of the park if the management didn’t charge so much for the experience.

Why was this a tourist trap?

At the first entrance, we were told that our entry tickets included a buggy ride from quite an unfriendly driver (can’t fault him, it was a thankless job of driving visitors up and down a hill the entire day) to the foot of the massive statue. The statue was impressive, but when we went into the building, and walked all the way to the end of a hallway, we were the told that there was another additional charge for visiting the interior of the Garuda Wisnu building.

If not, that was it. We could either walk down or take the buggy back down to the midpoint where we could walk around to visit the other monuments. This is about the most authentic part of the experience and well worth the visit, but not the entire facade.

The tickets also included entry to some cultural shows, and a museum. All of these felt artificial somehow.